Trailblazers in Black History: Edmonia Lewis, Sculptor

 

Mary Edmonia Lewis was an American sculptor who worked for most of her career in Rome, Italy. She is the first woman of African-American and Native American heritage to achieve international fame and recognition as a sculptor in the fine arts world. Her work is known for incorporating themes relating to black and American Indian people into Neoclassical style sculpture. By the end of the 19th century, she was the only black woman who had participated in and been recognized to any degree by the American artistic mainstream. She emerged during the crisis-filled days of the Civil War. In 2002, the scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Edmonia Lewis on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans. 

Additional information and samples of her work are available here.

Source: Wikipedia