Beauty and Struggle

Nancy Elizabeth Prophet was an American artist of African-American and Native American ancestry, known for her sculpture. She was the first African-American graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1918 and later studied at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris during the early 1920s.

I first learned of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, about forty years ago when I was taking some classes at RISD. She fascinated me. I loved her work and found her story of struggle very sad, yet, she persisted!

I first met Sylvia Ann Soares about that long ago also. We were both in Nicaragua, mixing cement and pointing cement blocks as we worked together on a project, building a school in the remote village of Niquinohomo. We went out separate ways after that and I recently discovered this wonderful piece she has done on the life of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet. I share it with her blessing.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It is about 40 minutes long, but really worth the time. Grab a drink, settle in a comfy chair and let this super storyteller walk you through a little bit of Nancy's life.