Taking Steps: Recognizing 19th Century African American Abolitionists, Entrepreneurs and Family
RFQ submission deadline: October 10, 2022, 11:59 MST.
Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to honor William Brown and Martha Ann Tulip Lewis (Brown), Sojourner Truth, and Frederick Douglass. The approximate size of the framed portraits being commissioned is 5’W x 7’H for Truth and Douglass and 7’6’W x 10’6” H for the Browns. The portraits will become a part of the Worcester County Mechanics Association permanent collection and installed in Mechanics Hall’s acoustically perfect grand auditorium located in Worcester, MA. The three portraits will hang prominently alongside Abraham Lincoln, William Lloyd Garrison, Abbie Kelley Foster, Lucy Stone, and others of their contemporaries. https://www.mechanicshall.org
This request for qualification is the first stage to the selection of three artists to individually create a portrait of one of the designated honorees. Ten finalists will receive $1,000.00 and asked to present a draft of their proposed image. Direct all enquiries related to this RFQ to Gloria D. Hall via email gdb5hall@gmail.com.
RFQ submission deadline: October 10, 2022, 11:59 MST.
APPLY ONLINE ONLY: https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=10718
Email: gdb5hall@gmail.com with questions.
Information on William Brown and Martha Ann Tulip Lewis (Brown) is available:
The American Antiquarian Society holders of the family’s manuscripts and miscellaneous photographs. Search William Brown @ www.americanantiquariansociety.org https://www.americanantiquarian.org/Inventories/Portraits/87.htm and https://pastispresent.org/2021/good-sources/martha-ann-brown-community-leader/
“Black Middle Class Family in Worcester in the Nineteenth Century”, an unpublished paper from February, 1993 by Rosemarie Dinant, a Clark University student. It is a great resource for information and to understand the Browns’ life in Worcester, MA. Download here
Information on Sojourner Truth is available:
“Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol” Nell Irvin Painter the consummate biography with photographs of Truth.
“Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave” Dictated by Sojourner Truth https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/truth/1850/1850.html
www.sojournertruthproject.com is a great source for Truth’s “I Am A Woman’s Right”, her famous 1851 speech at the Women Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. All should read and listen.
Information on Frederick Douglass is available:
“Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave”. Written by Himself, Frederick Douglass. https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/menu.html
“My Bondage and My Freedom” Frederick Douglass 1845. https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass55/menu.html
“Frederick Douglass, Prophet of Freedom” David W. Blight. A Pulitzer Price winner biography with many photographs.