Poet and painter Margaret Burroughs has integrated art throughout her life to grow personally and professionally.

“I am what I am. I am a lover of life; I am a lover of self; I am a poet. I am a lover of life; I am a lover of people,” Burroughs said. About 75 people attended her speech Wednesday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Her presentation was the last portion of Iowa State’s Black History Month celebration.

Burroughs said she hopes her efforts will inspire others.

“I hope to educate people through my work because I want everyone to get along,” she said. “Most of the pictures I show have people of all colors in them: white, black, red and yellow.”

Dennis Raverty, assistant professor of art history, said Burroughs has made a contribution to society through her art.

“Margaret Burroughs has been a prolific painter, internationally recognized for a number of decades, as well as a writer and a poet,” he said. “She has been instrumental in the founding of the WPA Era South Side Community Arts Center, the only WPA Art Center still in operation.”

Burroughs, 83, said she has been painting and writing as long as she could remember.

“Growing up, I had a lot of encouragement from my family,” Burroughs said. “I have learned that you can get whatever you want out of a child with some encouragement.”

Burroughs taught high school art and humanities for 27 years in Chicago. She also founded the DuSable Museum in Chicago and was its director for 25 years.

She said she tries to experiment with her paintings by using different mediums such as watercolors, charcoal or oils and also using different subjects, including still-life, portraits, landscapes and modern art.

“You should be able to use any materials to make an artistic impression,” Burroughs said. “Watercolors are one of my favorite mediums because they are cheaper than oils. We couldn’t always afford oils.”

One of the slides she showed was titled “Friends,” which depicted a white girl and a black girl together. Burroughs said she passed out posters of the painting to schools to promote unity, saying “a picture says a thousand words.”

“In schools, they don’t have many images of black people, so I went around passing out some of mine along with the picture of ‘Friends,'” Burroughs said.

Burroughs said she published a book of her poems on her own, as well as two children’s books, but she said bookstores do not carry any of her work. People usually have to go to her if they want a copy.

“She is at the forefront of a lot of 20th century art and culture, but you won’t find Margaret Burroughs in any anthologies,” said Jay Berry, assistant professor in English and African-American studies. “The only way people have access to her work is to come to one of her readings.”