Augusta Savage was born on February 29, 1892. She was an American sculptor and educator who battled racism to secure a place for blacks in the art world

Augusta Savage was born on February 29, 1892. She was an American sculptor and educator who battled racism to secure a place for blacks in the art world.

She founded and became the first director of the Harlem Community Art Center in 1930, which played a crucial role in the development of many young African-American artists. During this period, too, she became the first black elected to the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. Savage also fought successfully for the inclusion of Black artists in Works Progress Administration projects. In the late 1930s Savage opened a gallery specializing in art by blacks, but it did not long survive.

She apparently abandoned her art in the 1940s, isolating herself on a farm in Saugerties, N.Y. Many of Savage's sculptures were never cast in permanent materials and have been lost. Among the few extant pieces is the poignant Gamin 1929, a portrait bust of a street-wise boy. Augusta Savage died March 26, 1962 in New York City.

Much of her work is in clay or plaster, as she could not often afford bronze. One of her most famous busts is titled Gamin which is on permanent display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.; a life-sized version is in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.