Augusta Savage : Renaissance woman
(Book)

This catalog accompanies the exhibition of the same name at Cummer Museum of Art, Jacksonville: October 12, 2018 to April 7, 2019; New York Historical Society Museums & Library: May 3-July 28, 2019; Palmer Museum of Art , Pennsylvania State University, August 24-December 8, 2019; Dixon Gallery & Gardens: January 19-March 22, 2020.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 152-154) and index.

This is a timely, visual, exploration of the fascinating life and lasting legacy of sculptor Augusta Savage (1892-1962), who overcame poverty, racism, and sexual discrimination to become one of America's most influential twentieth-century artists. Her story is one of community-building, activism, and art education. Born just outside Jacksonville, Florida, Savage left the South to pursue new opportunities and opened a studio in Harlem, New York City, offering free art classes. She co-founded the Harlem Artists' Guild in 1935 and became the first director of the federally-supported Harlem Community Art Center. Through her leadership there, Savage played an instrumental role in the development of many artists: William Artis, Gwendolyn Knight, Gwendolyn Bennett, Norman Lewis, Jacob Lawrence, Robert Blackburn, Romare Bearden, among many others. This ground-breaking volume features fifty works by Savage, and those she mentored or influenced, as well as correspondence and period photographs.