Celebrating Black History Month Through the Work of Kabuya Pamela Bowens-Saffo

February 2026

Kabuya Pamela Bowens-Saffo is a renowned printmaker and artist. Born in Richmond Heights, Florida, her work examines social and political relationships through historical references central to the African American experience. She began her artistic journey at the prestigious Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Howard University. There she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She further pursued her studies at the Pratt Institute, working as a master printer with the late Robert Blackburn at the Printmaking Workshop. Founded in New York City in 1947, the workshop is recognized for its commitment to collaboration, access and artistic excellence at a time when artists of African descent faced significant barriers within traditional art institutions. Bowens-Saffo’s experience in this environment was formative, strengthening her technical expertise and artistic activism with social and political issues rooted in African American history.

While studying at Howard University, Bowens-Saffo adopted the name Kabuya after befriending an African student who told her it was his grandmother’s name. He explained that if she were to visit Kenya, his community would regard her as a person of special significance. "I liked the name, and I kept it," she said in a 1986 interview with The Miami Herald.

For decades, Bowens‑Saffo was an active participant in Miami’s arts community. In 1969, Black art students at the University of Miami created the Black Arts Council (BAC) of Miami. Later in 1970, the BAC opened the Miami Black Arts Workshop (MBAW) in Coconut Grove to provide free services to all Black and working-class communities, including free art classes for children and older adults, breakfast programs, field trips, continuing education and mentorship. Founded by artists Roland Woods Jr. and Walter Dennis, Bowens-Saffo joined the MBAW as one of the earliest members. During this period, she also worked as an art educator at the Barnyard Community Center located in the historic Coconut Grove neighborhood.

In 1986, Bowens-Saffo was among the artists involved in In Print Miami, a monotype project created for the Miami Book Fair, in which each artist was paired with a poet to translate words and images into large carved plates printed on site using a steamroller. This innovative public art initiative transformed traditional printmaking into a performative, community-centered event. By participating in projects like this, Bowens-Saffo and her peers helped create access to public platforms for Black artists and reinforced Miami’s role as a dynamic center of cultural and artistic experimentation.

Bowens-Saffo went on to also participate in exhibitions at the Miami-Dade Public Library System, including a presentation of works from the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. As part of the related programming, she served on the panel Printmaking: A Social Process, alongside Robert Blackburn and other printmakers, engaging the public in discussions about everyday Black experiences, political realities and the cultural legacy of African American communities in South Florida.

Her work has been featured in multiple groups and solo exhibitions at the Library, and she generously donated several pieces to the Library’s Permanent Art Collection.

Bowens-Saffo’s extensive career includes support from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts Mid Atlantic program and the Bronx Council for the Arts, as well as artist residencies in the United States and Europe. She is the founder of THINKING CAP, a collaborative arts initiative that brings together artists, architects, engineers and environmental scientists.

Although she currently lives and works in Tallahassee, Florida, serving as chief curator at the Anderson Brickler Gallery, her longstanding commitment to arts education and mentorship, particularly during her many years in Miami, helped shape a generation of local Black artists.

To explore her artworks, along with related documents from The Vasari Project Archive, available through the Digital Collections, please click here.