Corita Kent was an educator, artist, and social justice advocate who believed that art could be a tool for dialogue, reflection, and change.
While chair of the Art Department at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, Corita asked her students to participate in “slow-looking” exercises. Using a paper viewer tool that simulated the experience of using a camera, her students were able to select, isolate, and examine details of the world around them. This resulted in numerous drawings that taught students how to slow down and see the world from a new perspective.
This message of being present and curious permeated every chapter of Corita's life and work. From the 1950s until her death in 1986, her art progressed from modernist interpretations of traditional religious themes to pop-infused political statements and introspective examinations.
The Blackwing 93 is a tribute to Corita and her message of slowing down and finding gratitude in everyday life. Each pencil features one of the six colorful brushstrokes that make up Corita's iconic rainbow.
Commissioned in 1971, the rainbow adorns a 140-foot-tall natural gas storage tank along Interstate 93 in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
The pencils contain Blackwing's signature soft graphite.
With each pencil we have included a set of 2 replacement erasers in the same color as the pencil.
Sold individually or in boxes of 12 pencils
