Wednesday February 17th at 7:00 pm, join artist Paul Glenshaw for this incredible presentation about the history and context of Augustus Saint-Gauden’s Shaw Memorial. Use our recurring workshop link in our schedule of events to join.
About the presenation: The African-American soldiers of the Massachusetts 54th in Augustus Saint-Gauden’s Shaw Memorial stride confidently toward battle for a cause they are willing to die for—freedom. Almost half the members of the Massachusetts 54th, including their white commanding officer, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, would be killed in the July 1863 attack on Fort Wagner, South Carolina. The original memorial stands in Boston Common, with a plaster version on display at the National Gallery. Saint-Gaudens took great pains to make sure each solider was a portrait. Who were the Massachusetts 54th and Colonel Shaw? What brought them together? How was the Civil War—and these soldiers in particular—being remembered in 1897 when the memorial was unveiled?
Paul Glenshaw’s career covers several disciplines, all fueling the same goal: storytelling. A lifelong practicing artist, he is a drawing instructor and lecturer on history and art for the Smithsonian Associates, a contributing author to the Smithsonian’s Air & Space magazine, and has written and drawn for the Folger Shakespeare Library’s Shakespeare and Beyond blog. Paul is co-director, writer and producer of the upcoming documentary The Lafayette Escadrille. During the 2020 pandemic, he co-created The Seven Tones Project, pairing musicians and filmmakers to create short films based on the music of Duke Ellington. He began his career at the National Gallery of Art, selling postcards in the bookstore. He is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis. More about Paul with links to current and past projects at www.glenshawcreative.com.
Seema Reza is a poet and essayist and the author of two books: A Constellation of Half-Lives and When the World Breaks Open. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Writing and Community Building from Goddard College. In 2010 Seema began working with service members, veterans, and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and has since developed a unique multi-hospital arts program that encourages the use of the arts as a tool for narration, self-care and socialization. In 2015, the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore awarded Seema the Col John Gioia Patriot Award for her work with service members in military hospitals. Seema is a 2019 George W. Bush Institute Stand-To Veteran Leadership Scholar.
