Meet Jasmine Green, the artist behind Black Girl Absolute.
visual artist, poet, artivist, teaching artist, educator
Creating art for Black women is a transformative process.
I am a Black visual artist born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I am self-taught, engaging in an active artist practice for over 10 years. While I work in a variety of media, including digital, gouache, and block printing, my primary media is acrylic paint. Growing up in Pittsburgh, I hadn’t seen much in terms of positive representation of Black people, and not out of a lack of supply as I would come to find out as I grew older. Pittsburgh, being heavily segregated with an ever-shrinking Black community, was not prioritizing the visibility of all who lived here. It was through acrylic painting that I realized there was something, albeit a small part, that I could do to change that. This is around the time that I discovered “artivism”, which describes a practice of using arts to help advance activist movements. As the existence of Black women is inherently political, I use my work in support of movements that advance the lives Black women and girls through celebrating our beauty and advocating for futures that allow us to thrive.
“Pittsburgh…was not prioritizing the visibility of all who lived here.”
My art centers Black women and girls as a means to celebrate our beauty and to advocate for futures that allow us to thrive. The subjects of these pieces and their surroundings are saturated in rich and bright colors on large canvases. The colors are also paired with organic features, specifically flowers, water, animals, fruit, and insects. The subjects themselves almost swallow up the entire foreground to be as close as possible to the audience, oftentimes leaving little space for either solidly colored or lightly decorated backgrounds. This is to reinforce our humanity, where their size and approximation makes it almost impossible not to connect with us, both times of celebration and of loss or pain. The addition of organic materials represents a resilience of spirit and a refusal to give in to one’s oppression.
Focusing on Black women in my work is such a transformative process. There are both layers of similarity and variability between us that this work causes me to think deeper on my own identity and where I fit within a greater whole. Through this art I can engage with Black women across the diaspora through commonality while also expanding my own understanding of Black womanhood outside of my own personal experience. I believe it also transforms those who view Black women in art as well. To be a Black woman and see yourself as a muse-a cause for inspiration and worth the effort to recreate your features; a face beautiful enough to adorn a space-such a realization is paradigm shifting for the way you maneuver through this world. I hope to continue to inspire these internal revolutions in people, to realize that they are truly enough without the need to appeal to value systems outside of themselves. That as they are and as they will change, that they will always be worthy.
“To be a Black woman and see yourself as a muse-a cause for inspiration and worth the effort to recreate your features; a face beautiful enough to adorn a space-such a realization is paradigm shifting…”
Jasmine is currently the Director of Education at, as well as a visual artist with, 1Hood Media, a non-profit arts and media organization whose mission is to build liberated communities through arts, education, and social justice. She participated in Activation Residency in 2019, which is a Black trans-led artist residency that aims to generate a safe, collaborative space that adapts to its residents’ needs and creates portals to futures that are needed now; the residency is located in Woodridge, NY.
She has participated in the 2018, 2019, and 2020 1Hood Artivist Academy cohorts, was an initiative associate and artist for the 2021 Black Lives in Focus initiative with the University of Pittsburgh, and has been featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and WTAE's "Project CommUNITY".
Visual art created by Jasmine Green. Photographed by Kitoko Chargois of the Pittsburgh Foundation. “Breathe Back” photographed by Jasmine Green.
CV Condensed
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Director of Education at 1Hood Media Academy | North Oakland, PA
February 2022 - Present. In this position, main responsibilities include designing programs curricula relevant to areas of media literacy, financial literacy and performing arts that supports the mission of the organization, as well as developing and evaluating curricula, teaching procedures and educational materials in collaboration with colleagues.
Workshop Assistant - Center for Creativity at the University of Pittsburgh | Oakland, PA
March 2020 - February 2022. The main thrust of this position is to work with members of the University of Pittsburgh to cultivate and inspire creative expression. This is done by learning and educating about different art styles and mediums, developing workshops to help participants refocus on a type of creative expression, and by creating content that explains our creative processes in new and inventive ways.
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Don't Look Away: Because Mattering is the Minimum; An exhibition at the University of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA
September 2021. This exhibition recognizes the work done and the work still left to do to achieve true equity: to not only honor the lives we have lost and affirm that Black lives do indeed matter, but also to celebrate and spotlight the Black experience as essential to our community’s future. Works might retrieve the lessons learned from past generations about love, family, and supporting one another; reflect on breaking cycles of generational trauma and how to create new and just futures; respond to the contemporary movement and how it has changed the public consciousness; and remind the world that outside of death, there is Black life. Because mattering is the minimum.
"Flowers While We're Still Living" in collaboration with the Women in the Arts Network, a group hosted by the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council | Pittsburgh, PA
August 2020. A virtual arts exhibition centered around the theme: “Why do we so often only talk about Black lives once they have been lost? While it is important to fight for those who were killed unjustly and tear down the systems that allow such injustice to continue, we must also be willing to speak up for, celebrate, and protect those who are still among us. Don’t wait until we are dead to give us our flowers; let us have them while we can still smell them." Artists selected to participate presented works centering on the themes of life, grief, mental wellness, and the movement for Black lives.
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Panel Appearances
“Arts, Aesthetics, and Social Ministry” Panel - Metro Urban Institute 30th Anniversary Symposium | Pittsburgh, PA
A symposium featuring arts-based activists and facilitators who will share descriptive, analytical, and performative dimensions of the work they do in connecting creative arts, aesthetics, and social engagement.
Radical Artivist Panel - Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit | Pittsburgh, PA
When Bessie Smith—the Empress of the Blues—recorded “Back-Water Blues”, she did not have just any flood in mind. It was the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 about which she sang and the Black residents of Tennessee who withstood the heaviest damage from where the flood started whose experiences she immortalized. When Octavia Butler wrote the “Parable of the Sowers” and “Parable of the Talents”, she did not have just any apocalyptic society in mind. It was the institution of American democracy gone awry with fascism and modern slavery that she envisioned vividly as a warning sign; the people’s efforts in the novels were her blueprint for how communities could resist, reshape, survive. What is the role of the arts—especially intentional, critical, radical art—in a time of collective turmoil and grief? How might the arts and the artists spark transformation and carry movements? Our panel of radical artists and artivists will explore these critical questions in our last 75-minute panel of the Summit.
Black to the Future: A Festival of Art, Social Justice, and Dreaming (Panelist) | Pittsburgh, PA
Black to the Future: A Festival of Art, Social Justice, and Dreaming is a reframing of what it means to celebrate Black History Month. The festival has an eye toward the relationship between remembering and reimagining; it’s a way to honor the past while simultaneously imagining the future we want to live in. With concepts from AfroFuturists in mind, the festival brings together “the imagination, technology, the future, and liberation” via experimentation and a redefinition of culture and blackness itself. It also focuses on the critical impact of art, poetry, and music in helping to change culture so that what we dream might actually become reality.
University of Pittsburgh Television 1-Week Film Festival (Judge) | Pittsburgh, PA
This is a weeklong festival themed “America Today”, in which creators would create short films reflecting what the country looked like to them.
Media Appearances
United Shades of America; S5 Ep1: “WHERE DO WE EVEN START WITH WHITE SUPREMACY” (Interviewee)| Pittsburgh, PA
In this episode, W. Kamau Bell interviewed artists within 1Hood Media on our perspectives regarding white supremacy and homelessness, as well as the important role art plays within activism.
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Artist Residency - Short Term
Activation Residency: Where Stars and Bodies Collide | Woodridge, NY
This residency was a black and queer informed 4-day residency focusing on how marginalized artists communicate through artwork in primarily white cishet spaces. Piece cultivated through this event, “No Cream No Sugar” was gifted to the curator of Residency
Studio Membership
Redfishbowl Studio | Lawrenceville, PA (September 2019-October 2020)
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Competition & Showcase Awards
Honorable Mention - Sociocultural Topics | The 2020 Art of Diversity Showcase and Competition with the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Diversity and Inclusion
The Art of Diversity Showcase through the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Diversity and Inclusion gathered thousands of submissions relevant to aspects of cultural identity, sociocultural topics, or social justice issues. Each category resulted in two honorable mentions and one overall winner. Jasmine received an honorable mention for her poem “Thrift” in the Sociocultural Topics category.
Second Place Finalist | The 2018 Black History Month Poetry Slam; the Black Action Society with the University of Pittsburgh
This was a poetry slam held by the Black Action Society within the University of Pittsburgh as part of their month-long celebration of Black History Month. Jasmine performed the poems “Spine”, “Analog” and “Passive” in this slam, and finished as the second place finalist.
1st Place Finish | The 2011 Talent Show with Woodland Hills High School
This was a talent show available to all students within Woodland Hills High School. Jasmine won the talent show with the poem “Passive”.
Individual Artist Grants
1Hood Media Artivist Academy | North Oakland, PA
Artivist Academy grant is meant to aid selected artists in the creation of new activist arts, across a wide range of mediums and styles. Participated in the 2018-2019 cohort (resulting in the creation of the Skin Like Barbed Wire series), and the 2019-2020 cohort (resulting in the Safe and Sound piece)
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Art Instruction - Long Term
Art Teacher - Manchester Youth Development Center | Manchester, PA
• Designed class plan per semester in line with STEAM guidelines, to fill a need for visual arts education in the after school program that was not yet met.
• Introduced students to different technologies such as projectors and laptops to aid in the artistic process
• Instructed students on how to identify qualities of iconic artwork and how to incorporate these qualities into their own works
• Incorporated warm-up activities into the beginning of each class to instill creativity, the transition between playtime and class time, and solidify bonds between classmates
• Increased student involvement into their own education by having them decide as a class their final project and steps to get there
• Guiding students through the presentation of their works, in order to bolster public speaking skills, as well as the process of learning through teaching others
Art Instruction - Short Term
Saturday Crafternoon with Assemble | Garfield, PA
In this course, I led a group of 5-11 year old children in a class called “Superheroes of Intention”. The class learned about the use of shape and color as symbolic imagery and used those skills to envision themselves as superheroes. Shapes and colors were used to identify superpowers and personality traits so that others could depend on them when they needed help.
1Hood Media Academy Intensive IV: Who am I, Who are We? Visual Media Course | North Oakland, PA
In this course, I and another 1Hood visual artist lead a course on portraiture and mural artworks, and how this reflects in the black and PoC identity of understanding the self and how one fits into the greater whole.
Paintings of Intention - Birthday Party | Homestead, PA
In this instruction, I created a project called “Paintings of Intention”, inspired by the person who was being celebrated. These paintings consisted of the use of colors and symbols to express goal building and motivation to reach an aspiration for the upcoming year. From there, we went step by step with building a foundation to their goals, identifying the behaviors and attitudes that would help them along the way, and centering the goal itself with a symbol to stand out among the rest.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Painting and Creativity Activity | Oakland, PA
In this instructional session, I led our group of 30 "Bigs and Littles" in an open creativity painting activity, in which the pairs had to paint what they were excited about for Summer.
“Art with a Sip” Black Action Society | Oakland, PA
In this instructional session, I aided 40 people in painting a black woman’s profile and aiding them in exploring acrylic paint and color theory. This took place as part of the Black Homecoming celebration week.
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Performances
“F**k the System” : Multi-disciplinary performances by Jasmine Green & Farooq Al Saïd; hosted by City of Asylum and 1Hood Media | North Side, Pittsburgh, PA
In this performance, I recited 13 original poems relating to systems of oppression, including classism, racism, intersectional injustices, social erasure, and police brutality. This show was put together by City of Asylum and 1Hood Media, working in collaboration to host three nights of art and activism performances.
Individual Exhibitions
Weeklong Celebration of Black Womanhood at Kimbo Gallery | Oakland, PA
The Path Forward, A Conversation with Dr. Cornel West | East Liberty, PA
Black Families in the Fight with Michael Eric Dyson, Christian Carter, Michelle Kenney, Traci Johnson, and Jasiri X | East Liberty, PA
A Conversation with Rakim & Bakari Kitwana at The Andy Warhol Museum | Allegheny Center, PA
Group Shows & Exhibitions
A Spectacular Black Girl Art Show | Chicago, IL
Black Lives in Focus | Pittsburgh, PA
Westmoreland Museum MLK Celebration 2020 | Westmoreland, PA
A Spectacular Black Girl Art Show | Atlanta, GA
Ujamaa Collective Holiday Market | Hill District, PA
“Mysterious Sh*t” Album Release Party | Lawrenceville, PA
Deustchtown Festival | North Side, PA
All Scene 6 | Millvale, PA
Under the Bridge | Homestead, PA
Human Chain | Homestead, PA
Lawrenceville Art Crawl | Lawrenceville, PA
“Dear White People” Movie Screening and Convo w/JCC | Hazelwood, PA
Free Sudan Feed Yemen | North Oakland, PA
Antwon Rose Benefit Concert | East Liberty, PA
Wilkins Block Party | Oakland, PA
1Hood Artivist Academy | North Shore, PA
It’s a Natural Thang Pittsburgh Natural Hair Meetup | East Liberty, PA
Writings on the Wall Series | Shadyside, PA
Canvas of Words Poetry Series II | East Liberty, PA
Canvas of Words Poetry Series III | East Liberty, PA
First Friday Gallery Exhibition at Level Up Studios | Garfield, PA
Women’s Empowerment Week with Pitt Program Council & Student Government Board | Oakland, PA
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Independent Contracted Work
PittMed Magazine Fall Issue Cover 2021 | Oakland, PA
Carnegie Museum of Art: Celebration of Teenie Harris | Oakland, PA
Pipeline Album (Album Art Designing) | North Oakland, PA
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Traditional Education
The University of Pittsburgh | Oakland, PA
Bachelors of Arts in Social Sciences (Psychology, Anthropology, Africana Studies), 2012-2018
Woodland Hills High School | Churchill, PA
HS Diploma, 2009-2012
Training
1Hood Media Teaching Artist Praxis | North Oakland, PA
6-week course on effective art education methods and strategies for engaging students in the material