Selma Burke
Selma Burke | |
|---|---|
Burke with her portrait bust of Booker T. Washington, c. 1935 | |
| Born | Selma Hortense Burke December 31, 1900 |
| Died | August 29, 1995 (aged 94) New Hope, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Columbia University, Winston-Salem State University |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Awards | Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award, 1979 |
Selma Hortense Burke (December 31, 1900 – August 29, 1995) was an American sculptor and a member of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Burke is best known for a bas relief portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt which may have been the model for his image on the obverse of the dime. She described herself as "a people's sculptor" and created many pieces of public art, often portraits of prominent African-American figures like Duke Ellington, Mary McLeod Bethune and Booker T. Washington. In 1979, she was awarded the Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award. She summed up her life as an artist, "I really live and move in the atmosphere in which I am creating".