Modeling Resilience: The Art and Legacy of Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller

Name: Modeling Resilience: The Art and Legacy of Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller
Start: 2026-05-04T19:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-05-04T20:30:00+02:00
Location: Reid Hall

Schedule

Mon May 04 2026 at 07:00 pm to 08:30 pm

UTC+02:00

Location

Reid Hall | Paris, IL

Scholars and curators will present on Fuller's Paris years and her trajectory as an artist in the United States.
About this Event

Organized by the . With the support of a convening grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art. With the participation of the , , and the , and the .

To be notified of upcoming Paris Global Center events, we invite you to.

—

This event will be livestreamed. Register here to access the Zoom.

In 1899, a young sculptor from Philadelphia arrived in Paris to study art. She came with strong letters of recommendation, a scholarship behind her, and the support of painter Henry Ossawa Tanner, who had promised her family to look after her. Upon arrival, she was turned away from the American Girls' Art Club — the building now known as Reid Hall — because she was Black. Undeterred, Meta Vaux Warrick went on to win the admiration of Auguste Rodin and French art dealer and galerist Georges Petit. She also exhibited with the American Woman’s Art Association and at the Salon des Beaux-Arts, and later became one of the most important American sculptors of her generation.

This public evening event, held in the very building that once excluded her, celebrates Fuller's remarkable life and lasting legacy. Scholars and curators will present on her Paris years and her trajectory as an artist in the United States, followed by a panel discussion with curators from the Danforth Museum — caretaker of the Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller Special Collection — the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and David Fuller, Meta Vaux's grandson.

The evening opens with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. open to all attendees.

Program to be announced

—

This event will take place in Reid Hall’s Grande Salle Ginsberg-LeClerc, built in 1912 and extensively renovated in 2023 thanks to the generous support of Judith Ginsberg and Paul LeClerc.

Reid Hall, the Columbia Global Paris Center, and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination are not responsible for the views and opinions expressed by their speakers and guests.