Minnie Evans

Minnie Evans (born December 1, 1892, Long Creek, North Carolina – died December 16, 1987, Wilmington, NC) was an American visionary artist best known for her intricate, spiritually charged drawings and paintings. Largely self-taught, Evans created highly detailed works filled with faces, eyes, botanical forms, animals, and symmetrical patterns, which she described as emerging from dreams, visions, and divine inspiration. Her art reflects a deeply personal cosmology shaped by spirituality, African American folk traditions, and a lifelong practice of introspection. Evans worked for decades as a gatekeeper at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, where she produced much of her art and gained recognition for a body of work now considered foundational to American visionary and self-taught art.