Lewis sculptures @ Williams College Museum of Art

Shortly after the U.S. Postal Service released the latest stamp in their Black Heritage series honoring American artist Edmonia Lewis (ca. 1844–1907), (Issue date 1/26/22) the busts of Hiawatha and Minnehaha by Lewis are back on display in our permanent collection exhibition Remixing the Hall. Visitors can now come and see these extraordinary 19th-century sculptures by a Black and Native woman artist who earned international recognition in her lifetime, was largely forgotten for decades after her death, and whose work has found renewed appreciation in the 21st century.

Click the link to read a New York Post article about Lewis’s life, the Black Heritage stamp, and a recent visit to WCMA to see Hiawatha and Minnehaha by East Greenbush, NY town historian and Edmonia Lewis champion Bobbie Reno.