Secrets of the Forest

                                                                 Series One,  Day 7 "Realization" by Augusta Savage Augusta Savage was born in 1892, as one of fourteen children in Florida to a very poor family. It is known that one of her first sculptures as a child was a duckling family, which she made out of natural clay found in her hometown and would most likely have been her toy. Her life was not an easy one and as an African American woman, who left her children with her parents to pursue her beloved art, in 1920, it never could be. It is said she arrived in Harlem with less than five dollars in her pocket! What belief in self, what passion drove her to make such a risky move! Augusta Savage was a major influence in the Black Harlem Renaissance. She taught some of its greats includ...

                                       Empress of the Blues by Romaire Bearden Day 6, Empress of the Blues by Romaine Bearden Romaire Bearden was known as "Romie " to his friends and family. He was born in Charlotte North Carolina in 1912 but moved when he was young to Harlem NY. His parents were politically active and W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, and Romie's cousin Charles Alston were among the artists and activists that visited the Bearden's home. It was the time of the Harlem Renaissance, a time of great promise after the Great Migration from the south (which occurred from 1916-1970. It was a time where artists encouraged each other. A time when even though African Americans still struggled to have their work shown in galleries because of racism and had to have a fulltime (often menial) job to support their art. It was a time they believed in themselves and...

                       " I am with you                         But the history walks                         With me too!"                                                 Quote from Jean Michelle Basquiat                                                                                         D ay Five Jean Michael Basquiat' s "Defacement" 1983 Jean Michel Basquiat was a painter in the mid -1980's. He was an incredible colorist. His father was Haitian and his mother Peurto...