People, Locations, Episodes

Inge Hardison, Sculptor born

Inge Hardison

*Inge Hardison was born on this date in 1914. She was an African American sculptor and photographer.

From Portsmouth, Virginia, She attended Tennessee A&I University, Vassar College, and the Arts Students League during the 1930s. Inge Ruth Hardison is a sculptor whose major interest is contemporary and historical portraiture. Many of her works, done in wax, clay, and plaster, have been done at clients' request and then cast in other materials, such as bonded bronze. Much of Hardison’s work is emotionally involved with her heritage as a woman of African descent. She has created a series of busts of African American heroes called Negro Giants in History.

Hardison is often seen wearing pieces of her work, a two-inch pin depicting Sojourner Truth. The original piece was a two-foot work given to Nelson Mandela by (then) New York governor Mario Cuomo in 1990. In addition to being a sculptor, Hardison is an accomplished photographer too. She was the only woman among the six artists who formed the Black Academy of Arts and Letters.

Hardison once said, “During my long life, I have enjoyed using different ways to distill the essences of my experiences so as to share for the good they might do in the lives of others.” A life loyal to creativity and art speaks of the life of Inge Hardison.  She died on March 23, 2016, in New York City.

To be an Artist