Tina Allen

Tina Allen

Allen and her statue of Frederick Douglass
Born Tina Powell
(1949-12-09)December 9, 1949
Hempstead, New York City
Died September 9, 2008(2008-09-09) (aged 58)
Los Angeles
Education University of South Alabama
Known for Sculpture

Tina Allen (December 9, 1949 – September 9, 2008) was an American sculptor known for her monuments to prominent African Americans, including Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and George Washington Carver.

Early life and education

Allen was born Tina Powell in Hempstead, New York in 1949 to father Gordon "Specs" Powell, a jazz drummer who played in the Ed Sullivan Show band, and Grenada-born Rosecleer Powell.[1] Allen was an artistic child who began sculpting at the age of 13, when she was assigned to make an ashtray and instead created a bust of Aristotle.[2] She was mentored by the Lithuanian-American sculptor William Zorach declared her a prodigy.[2] She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of South Alabama in 1978.[1] After college she volunteered for AmeriCorps VISTA and for several years hosted a local television show on the arts in Mobile, Alabama.[3]

Career

Her first major work was a nine-foot bronze statue of A. Philip Randolph, leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Commissioned in 1986, the piece is displayed in Boston's Back Bay commuter train station and is featured on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.[4]

Over the next two decades Allen continued creating realistic sculptures of black activists for display in public spaces. Her work is also collected by museums, corporations, and private collectors.[1] Explaining her motivation, she said in an interview, "My work is not about me, it's about us."[5] Not only does her work serve to emphasize the contributions and aspirations of the African Diaspora but also works to create a "visual landscape that is nurturing and life affirming to people of color" in celebrating the beauty of African Americans.[2]

One of her best known works is a 13-foot bronze likeness of Alex Haley, which was installed in Morningside Park in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1998.[6] Her statue of George Washington Carver is the focal point of the George Washington Carver Garden at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis.[7] Her 12-foot bronze monument to Sojourner Truth is displayed in Monument Park, Battle Creek, Michigan.[8] Her bust of Frederick Douglass is on display at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute; it was featured in a scene in the movie Akeelah and the Bee.[9][1] Other subjects include Ralph Bunche, Sammy Davis Jr., Charles R. Drew, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Jr., Betty Shabazz, and Tupac Shakur.[3]

Personal life

She was married twice and had three children, Koryan, Josephine, and Tara. She died of a heart attack due to complications of pneumonia in Los Angeles on September 9, 2008.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Rourke, Mary (September 12, 2008). "L.A. sculptor whose subject was African Americans". Los Angeles Times.
  2. 1 2 3 "About the Cover". Journal of The National Medical Association. October 2008. p. 1115.
  3. 1 2 3 Hawkins, Shirley (September 10, 2008). "Sculptor Tina Allen passes". Our Weekly.
  4. ↑ "South End Walk". Boston Women's Heritage Trail.
  5. ↑ Painter, Nell I. (2006). Creating Black Americans: African-American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present. Oxford University Press. p. 417. ISBN 9780195137552.
  6. ↑ "A Statue in Tennessee Honors Alex Haley". The New York Times. Associated Press. April 25, 1998.
  7. ↑ "General Display Gardens Tour". Missouri Botanical Garden.
  8. ↑ "Monument Park". SojournerTruth.org.
  9. ↑ Gray, Jeremy (September 15, 2008). "Sculptor whose work adorns Civil Rights Institute dies". Alabama.com.

Further reading

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