Augusta Savage: A Woman of Her Word

By National Gallery of Art
When: Sun, June 23, 2019 — 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Where: East Building Auditorium 4th Street and Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20565

An outstanding sculptor associated with the intellectual and cultural awakening known as the Harlem Renaissance, Augusta Savage (1892-1962) overcame poverty, racism, and sexual discrimination in pursuit of her goals. Creating new visions of black identity in her work, she was also an activist, campaigning for equal rights for African Americans in the arts. The traveling exhibition Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman and its accompanying catalog is the first to reassess Savage’s contributions to art and cultural history in light of 21st-century attention to the concept of the artist-activist. In celebration of the Washington, DC, book launch on January 27, 2019, exhibition organizer Jeffreen M. Hayes discusses the life, work, and lasting legacy.