ReSOURCE
Artists
Marion Perkins
Marion Perkins (1908–1961) was born in Marche, Arkansas, and moved to Chicago at the age of eight to live with family. Perkins was an avid reader, committed to staying informed on local and global current events. As an adult, Perkins worked various menial jobs for the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression and eventually bought a newsstand at 37th Street and Indiana Avenue. After experimenting with materials like wood and soap, Perkins began his formal practice as a sculptor by stone-carving outside of his newspaper stand. He often salvaged stone and other objects from demolition sites in buildings across Bronzeville. His aesthetic approach communicated his fervent commitment to social reform and racial equity. His sculpture, Ethiopia Awakening, was carved from a green marble column from an abandoned mansion in Bronzeville to commemorate the mass protests led by Black Americans in support of Ethiopia after the Italian invasion in 1935. As his reputation grew, Perkins was invited to be a keynote speaker at the first National Conference of Artists held in Atlanta in 1959, and also taught at Jackson State University in Mississippi. A long-time Bronzeville resident, Perkins regularly engaged with the South Side Community Art Center, having both exhibited and taught in the space.