Long before social media made it easy for us to create cartoon versions of ourselves, Eskenazi School Associate Professor Malcolm Mobutu Smith inspired an avatar. "Li'l Tuffy" was created by the artist's mother Jean Pajot Smith in 1970 to represent and empower her children of color. The character launched two books published by Ebony Jr!
A widely collected ceramicist with two pieces in the Eskenazi Museum, Smith has reprised the character throughout his oeuvre as an antithesis to negative stereotypes. Learn more in a talk by Smith on Wednesday, September 24 at noon in the Eskenazi Museum of Art's Martin Commons.
