One of her most noteworthy bodies of work is a collection based on the writings of African-American novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston.
In order to relax her separation anxiety from her mother on the first day of school, the teacher gave Tanksley crayons and beads.
[1][2] Following graduation from college she married fellow Homewood native John Tanksley and they moved to Brooklyn, New York.
The organization was founded by artists Kay Brown, Dindga McCannon, Faith Ringgold, and others associated with the Black Arts Movement.
One of Tanksley's early group exhibits was the collectives 1972 show, “Cooking and Smokin”, held at Weusi-Nyumba Ya Sanaa Gallery in Harlem, NY.
[4][5] Tanksley exhibited as early as the late 1960s, but her work began to garner critical acclaim and greater recognition in the 1980s and 1990s.
[6] A career turning point was her creation of a large body of work based on the writings of Zora Neale Hurston.
Although the book was never published, Tanksley ultimately created more than 200 paintings and black-and-white monotypes based on Hurston's writings.
Her love of life despite social barriers and frustrations is promoted in her work for audiences to witness and accept, for there is little to reject in Tanksley’s world of art.
These are all present in the works of Ann Tanksley.”[10] The Educator’s Guide to the Hewitt Collection of African American describes Tanksley as having "a sensitive eye for form and style.
Her graphic style incorporates flat areas of intense color that emphasize line and form, prompting comparisons to the work of Paul Gauguin and Henri Matisse.