Savage, Augusta (1882 - 1962), Sculpture
Augusta Savage was born in 1882 in Green Grove, Florida. At the age of six, Augusta started modeling small clay figures. Her minister father strongly objected, but Augusta had such a talent for sculpting, even her father could not take it away.
While still in high school, Augusta taught other school-mates how to model clay. Augusta loved teaching, but her desire to learn more about sculpting often distracted her. This desire soon took her to New York's Cooper Union. There, she became one of the first women to study sculpture. However, because she was poor, she almost had to drop out of school. Her instructors were so impressed with her talent that they convinced the school board to give her financial support.
At about the same time, the New York public library hired her to do a sculpture of W.E.B Du Bois. Augusta's bust of the famous black leader is considered the finest sculpture of Du Bois in existence. Other sculptures followed, and Augusta was on the path to a long career in the fine arts.
In 1930, Augusta won a scholarship that allowed her to study in France. When she came back to Harlem, she opened a school of her own, The Savage School of Arts and Crafts, where she taught young people for no cost. It was there that fine artists such as William Artist, Norman Lewis, and Ernest Crichlow learned to be such fine artists.
In 1938, Augusta was hired to do another sculpture. Augusta was to sculpt for the 1939-1940 world's fair in New York. This sculpture was considered Augusta's best. Because funds could not be found to have the sculpture cast in bronze, it was destroyed after the world fair closed, but Augusta Savage's work still lives on in the work of the students- just as she had hoped.
eference: Great Women in the Struggle and Augusta's Story
