Spelman College has always had an affinity for art. Since the 1930s, the College has collected unique pieces, usually gifted by alumnae and trustees. Decades later, in 1996 during the tenure of president emerita Dr. Johnetta B. Cole, the College established the Spelman College Museum of Fine Arts.
Since the Museum’s installation, the College has become the premier space for artists to showcase their work, garnering the attention of students, alumnae and visitors. Now, the campus is the new home of a traveling sculpture honoring the life and work of Lorraine Hansberry — legendary activist, journalist and the first Black woman playwright to have a play produced on Broadway for her work, A Raisin in the Sun, in 1959.
Designed by contemporary artist, Alison Saar, the sculpture has toured in New York City’s Times Square and Howard University in Washington, D.C. Currently exhibited on Spelman’s campus, the sculpture can be found directly in front of the newly renovated Rockefeller Arts Building.
Making space for the artwork on Spelman’s campus solidifies the College’s commitment to excellence in the liberal arts and impactful social change — two things closely tied to the life and work of Hansberry. According to The Lorraine Hansberry Initiative, her “strength of character and verbal presence was legendary in Civil Rights circles.”
At Spelman, the Initiative is now on a mission to help fund the education of women and non-binary playwrights of color.
“This (program) is to encourage women playwrights to go on to graduate school, and to support a scholarship that would enable them to pay tuition and their living expenses,” said Aku Kadogo, senior lecturer in the Department of Theater & Performance at Spelman. “They can they study playwriting in the footsteps of Lorraine Hansberry.”
Scholarships are funded by The Lilly’s, an organization that honors the work of women in American theater. Established in 2010, the Lilly’s launched the Lorraine Hansberry Initiative in 2022 with a national tour of the sculpture.
The artwork places a specific emphasis on thought and community. It is entitled To Sit A While and features Hansberry surrounded by five chairs, representing a different aspect of her life and work. The chairs encourage the public to literally come, sit for a while and think in Hansberry’s presence.
“We are a women’s college and we are sending women out into the world to become playwrights, producers, technicians, actors, performers, content creators,” said Kadogo. “(The sculpture) absolutely should be here!”