Augusta Savage

Augusta Savage sculpted works of art that brought people together. She incorporated that sense of community in her sculpture titled The Harp.

Book: Augusta Savage Renaissance Woman

I initially was attracted to her story because of the fact she didn't let her personal life overshadow her career. As a working woman with children it can be difficult to find that balance. Especially, as a working African American woman in the arts during a very difficult time period. She paved the way for artists of color, women and inspired many sculptors, painters and more. Augusta Savage was an artist, educator and activist, a true Renaissance woman.

“Untitled” New Orleans Series by Gwendolyn Knight, 1941

"Untitled" New Orleans Series by Gwendolyn Knight, 1941 

Augusta Savage – Sculptor

In the 1920s Augusta Savage received commissions to create portrait busts of W.E.B. Du Bois and black nationalist Marcus Garvey; both pieces were hailed for their power and dynamism. On the strength of these works and especially the poignant Gamin (1929)—a portrait bust of a streetwise boy and one of Savage’s few extant pieces—she received a Julius Rosenwald Fellowship that enabled her finally to study in Paris in 1929–31.**