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Augusta Savage’s formative ties to West Palm Beach highlighted by local historian
Summary
Janet Naughton described sculptor Augusta Savage's early connection to West Palm Beach, including local mentorship, an early exhibition at the South Florida Fair, and later national recognition; the interview noted gaps about the World's Fair date and current location of a replica of her work.
Janet Naughton told the City Center podcast that sculptor Augusta Savage spent formative years in the West Palm Beach area and received early support there. "She was actually the first Black person to exhibit at the South Florida Fair," Naughton said, describing how local mentor George Graham Curry displayed Savage's work at a county fair and that she sold the pieces she brought to the show.
Naughton said Savage later went to study in Harlem and France, opened a school in New York during the New Deal era and exhibited a large work called "The Harp" at a World's Fair. The podcast account notes that the interview did not fix the World's Fair date precisely and that Savage lacked funds to have the Harp bronzed; as Naughton put it, "at the end of the fair, it ended up being busted up because she didn't have the funds to get it bronzed."
The interview suggested local recognition for Savage is limited but growing: Naughton said a children's book and adult biography have renewed attention, and she expressed interest in a public replica on display in West Palm Beach. The podcast did not identify a current public location for a replica of The Harp nor give a definitive World's Fair date in the interview.
