Minnie Julia Riperton was more than the woman behind the high notes.

She was a force to be reckoned with....

Minnie was a multi-faceted conceptual artist—writer, vocalist , actress, dancer and visionary. She wrote much of her music and helped shape the concepts, visuals, and worlds surrounding her work. Minnie understood art as more than performance; but as a language through which we could explore and share the fullness of the human experience.

Her artistry made room for nature. For love. For pain, longing, joy, motherhood and the quiet moments between them all.

And while her battle with cancer became a part of her human experience - she never desired or allowed it to define her.

She was a fighter long before her diagnosis—a woman deeply committed to expression, imagination, and the freedom to explore what it meant to be human.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, one of eight siblings and named after her grandmother - Minnie moved through the landscapes of Chicago, Florida, California and many other places in which she gathered experiences that would shape an artist of extraordinary depth. She desired to move through genres and creative disciplines with a curiosity that resisted limitation.

Yet, for all that Minnie gave to music and culture, the depth of her influence has not always received the recognition it deserved.

In honoring Minnie, we also hope to support other artists who continue to create through their own seasons of adversity and provide them resources to continue.

The Riperton Suite is an invitation to keep creating. To keep exploring. To keep becoming.