Best known for her figurative sculptures carved in wood and stone, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet was born in 1890 to parents of Narragansett and African American heritage. She became RISD’s first documented graduate of color, completing her degree in 1918. In 1922, seeking new opportunities as a young female Afro-Indigenous artist, she relocated to Paris. During her 12 years there, Prophet created and exhibited sculptures, gaining critical recognition but also struggling with poverty. In 1934 she moved to Atlanta to co-found the art program at Spelman College, returning to Rhode Island in 1944 to pursue her own art. She remained here until her death in 1960.

In recent years, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet’s work and personal narrative have been embraced by art historians and artists. Her sculptures are now widely appreciated for their depth of presence, uniquely straddling European classical traditions, modernist influences, and her own experiences as an Afro-Indigenous woman. Her commitment to making her art provides a model of unshakable artistic determination and unwavering personal resistance to racist and sexist expectations. Fiery, elegant, and above all tenacious, she is characterized by a 1929 entry in her diary: “I will not bend an inch.”

Throughout her career, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet sought artistic recognition in the form of a solo exhibition of her work. This presentation realizes that vision, assembling the entirety of her existing sculptures and works on paper and providing photographic documentation of sculptures that are lost or were destroyed.