Portrait of a Community Member

Object Details

Artist
Georgette Seabrooke Powell
Date
February 24, 1995
Medium
Wax crayon and felt-tip pen on paper
Dimensions
35 13/16 × 24 in. (91 × 61 cm)
Caption
Bright primary colors animate the sitter in this portrait. The loose style of the black felt-tip pen drawing gives the impression of the woman’s features—such as her round earrings, short, curly hairstyle, and smile—rather than depicting them in exacting detail. The viewer is invited to imagine the elements not clearly seen, and to consider the story behind the sitter. Artist Georgette Seabrooke Powell made this portrait to help local students do just that: consider the stories of people, places, and objects in their community of Anacostia, a neighborhood in southeast Washington, DC. In February 1995, Powell led fourth, fifth, and sixth graders at Lucy E. Moten Elementary School in art workshops where they learned how to depict their community, part of an ongoing partnership between Moten and the Anacostia Museum. In turn, students recorded oral histories and created portraits of community members. Their documentation culminated in the exhibit, Anacostia: Not the Same Old Story. Georgette Seabrooke Powell (1916-2011) was an artist, activist, art therapist, educator, and organizer who moved to Washington, DC in 1959. Throughout her career, she joined and created organizations that allowed her to work collectively with her peers and the public, including the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project, the DC Department of Recreation, and Tomorrow’s World Art Center, a nonprofit arts center in southeast Washington, DC.
Accession Number
1995.0007.0001
Type
drawing
See more items in
Anacostia Community Museum Collection
Data Source
Anacostia Community Museum
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dl8bfa14578-b7d4-469c-b0e0-ce1bd135c2e2
Record ID
acm_1995.0007.0001
Back to Top