Freida High Wasikhongo Tesfagiorgis


Freida High Wasikhongo Tesfagiorgis is a painter, art historian, and visual culturalist who focuses on African American, modern and contemporary African art, African Diaspora, and modern European Art and Primitivism. She is Professor Emerita, Departments of African-American Studies, Gender & Women’s Studies, and Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2021 she was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 31st Annual James A. Porter Colloquium on African American Art at Howard University.

Education

Tesfagiorgis received her A.A. from Graceland College, Lamoni, Iowa, her B.S. from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, her M.A. and M.F.A. from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her Ph.D. from University of Chicago.

Publications