Q: First off, who is Edmonia Lewis?

A: Edmonia Lewis was the first African American and Native American sculptor to achieve international acclaim in the 19th century. She was extremely well known in her day. After arriving in Boston in the 1860s, she gained a large following of patrons who supported her move to Italy, where she worked on an international stage. But after her death in 1907, her name fell out of popular awareness. Over the last century, sculptures have gone missing and much of the archival record of her life no longer survives. That has made it difficult to keep her story visible — especially as histories of American art have too often left artists of color out of the narrative. This exhibition pushes back against that kind of forgetfulness, recovering Lewis’ role in the larger American story.

Q: One of Lewis’s works has a remarkable “lost and found” history. Can you share that story?

A: Lewis debuted The Death of Cleopatra at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, but it didn’t sell and was later sent to Chicago. From there, it was left behind, ended up in unexpected places (including a saloon and a racetrack), was even covered in house paint and was later stored in a shopping mall. Ultimately, thanks to the efforts of committed scholars and curators, it entered the Smithsonian’s collection, where it remains today as a true national treasure. The sculpture’s story — disappearing and reappearing — reflects something essential about Lewis’ legacy and what it has taken to recover it.

Q: What will visitors see in Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone? What themes run through her work?

A: Said in Stone includes 30 sculptures by Edmonia Lewis, the largest number ever brought together. This exhibition is the first large-scale survey of her art. We’re placing those works in conversation with works by fellow sculptors and painters, photography, archival materials and Indigenous belongings to give a fuller picture of her creative vision and the world her sculpture emerged from. Across her career, Lewis explored subjects tied to antislavery and emancipation, and later religious and mythological themes. Taken together, these works speak to larger themes of reform, resilience and community.

Q: PEM worked with external advisors and collaborators to help shape this story. Why was that essential?

A: This exhibition reflects the institutional commitments of both partner museums. The Georgia Museum of Art has long been committed to collecting and exhibiting African American and African diasporic art, and PEM has a long history and commitment to Native American art and culture. In Said in Stone, we can tell a wide-ranging story of the first Black and Indigenous woman sculptor to find international fame. We convened an advisory group of artists and scholars to help us navigate a complex story shaped by entrenched racism, ongoing legacies and questions of how to place Lewis within her communities. Their guidance also helped us think carefully about how to bring Lewis’ sculptures into conversation with Indigenous belongings, and how to evoke the visual world that shaped her creative vision.