John Outterbridge
decade
1930s
1933
John Outterbridge is born in Greenville, North Carolina.
decade
1950s
1956–63 1956
John Outterbridge moves to Chicago and becomes very involved with various South Side arts organizations, including singing in a choir at St. Anselm Catholic Church.
1956/57
John Outterbridge attends the American Academy of Art in Chicago.
1950s 1957
John Outterbridge cofounds the artist co-op Seventy-Ninth Street Collective. They show and sell artworks out of a space called Gallery 79, located at 79th Street and Cottage Grove.
decade
1960s
1963
John Outterbridge and his new wife, Beverly McKissick, leave Chicago for Los Angeles’s warmer weather and bigger art scene.
1960s 1965
Because of Charles White’s frail condition, John Outterbridge drives him around Los Angeles.
mid-1960s 1965
John Outterbridge begins teaching at the Watts Towers Arts Center.
1967–74 1967
John Outterbridge works at the Pasadena Art Museum as a preparator.
1968–70 1968
David Hammons, Senga Nengudi, and John Outterbridge, along with other artists, gather at Suzanne Jackson’s Gallery 32 to eat and talk.
1968–75 1968
John Outterbridge teaches at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and Pasadena City College.
mid-1960s 1968
John Outterbridge begins teaching at the Compton Communicative Arts Academy (CCAA).
decade
1970s
1970
John Outterbridge is included in a group exhibition at Gallery 32.
1970
John Outterbridge becomes director of the CCAA.
1971
1971
John Outterbridge has his first solo exhibition at Brockman Gallery.
1975
John Outterbridge becomes director of the Watts Towers Arts Center.
decade
1980s
1988
John Outterbridge has a solo exhibition at Watts Towers Art Center.
decade
1990s
1995
Senga Nengudi and John Outterbridge are included in the Watts Towers Art Center's 25th anniversary exhibition, Homecoming.
Featured images
Photo: Roderick “Quaku” Young