Spelman College Museum of Fine Art Fall Exhibitions (sundays)

Critic's Pick
Through Sat., Dec. 6

Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art — In 1918, sculptor Nancy Elizabeth Prophet became the first Black woman to graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design, having specialized in painting, portraiture and free-hand drawing. She went on to study at L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and soon established a presence in France’s émigré scene. Prophet also studied woodcutting and marble carving, and taught art classes to make ends meet. At the time she was considered a member of the Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement. Returning to the United States in the early 1930s, Prophet took on the role of professor at Atlanta’s Spelman College where she added architecture, modeling and history of art to the syllabus. Dr. Liz Andrews, the museum’s executive director, says this Cosby Center Gallery exhibition “is a homecoming for a beloved founding mother of the arts at Spelman.” — Kevin C. Madigan