Searching for Augusta Savage, a new documentary about the acclaimed Harlem Renaissance sculptor, art educator, and The Cooper Union School of Art alumna, screens as part of the Gardiner Foundation Great Hall Forum series. Following the screening, the film’s creators, Charlotte Mangin and Sandra Rattley of Audacious Women Productions, are joined by curators Jeffreen M. Hayes, Ph.D., and Tammi Lawson for a conversation about Savage’s life and work, including why many of her works of art have been lost or destroyed and why evidence of her accomplishments appears to have been erased. 

Savage, who graduated from The Cooper Union in 1925, finished her degree in just three years. She opened the first gallery in the U.S. dedicated to exhibiting the work of Black artists and founded two organizations that provided free art education and training to over 2,500 people, mentoring a generation of venerated artists such as Romare Bearden, Gwendolyn Knight, and Jacob Lawrence. 

The documentary is part of American Masters Shorts, a new PBS digital-first documentary short series.

Registration required. Please note this free in-person event is first-come-first-served, and an RSVP does not guarantee admission.