Breaking barriers

Born in Greenbush, New York, in 1844, Lewis became the first sculptor of Black and Indigenous (Mississauga) descent to achieve international recognition. Beginning her career in Boston in 1863, she traveled to Rome in 1866 to join the leading American sculptors of her generation, breaking international, racial and gender barriers.

“Sometimes the times were dark and the outlook was lonesome, but where there is a will, there is a way,” Lewis recalled in 1878. “That is what I tell my people whenever I meet them, that they must not be discouraged, but work ahead until the world is bound to respect them for what they have accomplished.”

Following her death in 1907, Lewis’ legacy endured in Black communities yet her contribution to American sculpture has largely been underrecognized. Some of her great masterpieces were rediscovered decades later, while others remain lost today.

Her vivid, naturalistic stone sculptures feature abolitionists and social reformers, engage with Indigenous identity and give new life to religious and mythological figures.

Discover the first museum exhibition of its kind to gather the full range of Lewis’ art alongside works by her contemporaries and the generations of artists she influenced. Together these 100 objects foreground Lewis’ life and work within her worlds and reveal her true mastery of marble.

The exhibition is co-organized by the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts. It will open at the Peabody Essex Museum(opens in new tab) (February 14 – June 7, 2026) and travel to the North Carolina Museum of Art (April 3 – July 11, 2027) after its run at the Georgia Museum.

Curators

Jeffrey Richmond-Moll, George Putnam Curator of American Art, Peabody Essex Museum, and Shawnya L. Harris, Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art, Georgia Museum of Art

Sponsors

Major support is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art