I’m into adult coloring books.
In fact, my best friend gifted me Calm the Fuck Down: An Irreverent Adult Coloring Book for Christmas because she gets me.
I’m also pretty into Ruth E. Carter. I mean, she is a legend and has designed the costumes for some of your favorite black-ass films. I have to say, it was pretty damn great to be in the room when the Academy finally put some respect on her name in 2019 and awarded her the Oscar for Best Costume Design for her gorgeous work in Black Panther.
That’s why I was excited to see that the legendary designer is partnering up with the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures to highlight the beauty of history and art with their #ColoringWithRuth project. Every week, the museum will debut new coloring pages featuring illustrations that will be available to print or color from your smartphone using apps such as Recolor, available on iOS and Android.
In fact, it was the perfect way to celebrate Carter’s 60th birthday, which was on April 10.
Said Carter of the cover pic above, titled, “Yorubaland”: “Combining the aesthetics from around the African continent from north to south. Celebration is a form of the creative spirit. Imagined with pattern and color that indicted the origin.”
Though we are self-isolating and social distancing, we can still bond from afar because the Academy is encouraging everyone to share their complete colorful works of art by tagging @academymuseum and using the hashtag, #ColoringWithRuth. The Academy will then choose their faves to feature on their social media pages.
We already spy a cute one!
“It feels like my work has not been in vain,” Carter recently told The Glow Up, in reference to directly witnessing the influence her work has had on young people. “That there was someone that I was to reach back and influence; that that same passion and power that I felt about doing the work, others are receiving the work. And that’s the best I could give.”
Carter’s best is the best…and it’s an honor to receive any gifts she bestows upon us.
You can learn more about this dope partnership and download images to color at academymuseum.org.