Jacci Gresham

Jacci Gresham (born 1951) is the first known Black female tattoo artist in the United States.[1] She is from Flint, Michigan, US.[2][3] She has been based in New Orleans since 1976. Her shop, Aart Accent Tattoos & Body Piercing, is Louisiana's oldest continuous tattoo business.[4] At the time of its opening, she was one of only five practicing female tattoo artists in the United States, and the only woman doing tattooing in New Orleans.[2] In 2011, she was honored as a Pioneer of Female Tattoo Artists.[5]

Jacci Gresham
Born1951
Flint, Michigan

Early life and career

Gresham enjoyed drawing as a child. In college, she studied architecture and engineering. After graduating, she began working for General Motors designing floor plans for car dealerships. At the age of 25, while working at an engineering firm, she met Ajit "Ali" Singh. Both later visited New Orleans in search of work, but were not successful. At the time, there were only two tattoo shops in New Orleans. Upon this discovery, Gresham and Singh then opened up what was then the third tattoo shop in New Orleans. When they opened this shop, Gresham had no experience, and did not even have a tattoo of her own. Subsequently, the two existing shops have closed, making Aart Accent the oldest in New Orleans.[2]

Jacci Gresham in front of her shop near Rampart Street

1950s - 1970s

Between the 1950s-1970s, females in the tattoo industry were very scarce. Women only gained acceptance into tattoo shops if they were dating or married to one of the tattoo artists. In the early 1970s, Jacci Gresham became a pioneer of female tattoo artists who helped pave the way for the rise of other female artists entering the industry.[6]

References
  1. Video, Tweed (March 28, 2019), Lifers - Jacci Gresham, retrieved April 7, 2021
  2. Riess, Jeanie. "The oldest tattoo shop in New Orleans". Gambit. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  3. DeMello, Margo (2014). Inked: Tattoos and Body Art around the World. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 234.
  4. Simon, Matt (May 29, 2008). "Making Their Mark". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  5. "Aart Accent Tattooing-Jacci". Tattoo.com. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  6. Thompson, Beverly Yuen (2015). Covered in ink : tattoos, women, and the politics of the body. New York. ISBN 978-0-8147-8599-7. OCLC 951103392.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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