PEOPLE: AUGUSTA SAVAGE

Born in 1892, Augusta Savage began her interest in sculpture through crafting small figures out of clay sourced from the natural landscape of her hometown of Green Cove Springs, Florida. Eventually moving to New York where her work was greatly admired amongst her peers during the Harlem Renaissance.

One of Savage’s largest commissions, for the World’s Fair of 1939, depicts a group of black singers as the ascending strings of a harp. Unfortunately, this work didn’t survive as it was destroyed when the fairgrounds were eventually torn down.

Savage working on her sculpture “The Harp”

In 1923, Savage won a prestigious scholarship with the Fontainebleau School of the Fine Arts in France, however due to the racial climate of the time, this scholarship was withdrawn after the school discovered she was black. In 1929, however, Savage managed to get to Paris as a part of a fellowship she had won for her piece entitled “Gamin” and captured the attention of the wider public. After returning to Harlem in the 1930s, Savage focused her attention on teaching, eventually founding her own art school - Savage Studio of Arts and Crafts. After her passing in 1962, many remembered Savage as a gifted artist and passionate activist for the black community, especially those in the art field.