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Artist givesF E A T U R EBY NETTIE COLLINS ROWLANDL i f eS throughc u l p t u rJames Barnhill, an adjunctp rofessor in No rth Caro l i n aAgricultural and Technical St a t eUn i ve r s i t y’s art depart m e n t ,k n ew little about Booker T.Washington when he was commissionedin 1995 to do a sculpture of there n owned educator. But since that time,he has become ve ry knowledgeable ofWashington and his many contributionsto society.Ba r n h i l l’s portrait bust of thehistorical figure has been mounted on a5-foot granite pedestal and placed at theBooker T. Washington Na t i o n a lMonument in Ha rd y, Va. The inscriptionon the sculpture reads BookerTa l i a f e r ro Washington 1856 – 1915, “AR ACE, LIKE AN INDIVIDUA L ,L I F TS ITSELF UP BY LIFTINGOTHERS UP.”Barnhill was contracted by re t i re deducator Mae Cynthia Lee to do thebust, which was unveiled June 24 duringWa s h i n g t o n’s family reunion.“I was honored to do a sculpture ofBooker T. Washington,” said 44-ye a r - o l dBarnhill. “I was thrilled to meet some ofhis descendants during his familyreunion and delighted that they liked theb u s t . ”Barnhill, who has read a number ofbooks about Washington said, “It amaze sme as to where he came from and whathe rose to be. He must have worked hardand stayed with his quest. Wa s h i n g t o nhad great dignity.”It took the art professor approx i-mately six to seven months to completethe sculpture. It was not an easy task.“I only had two photographs tow o rk from,” Ba r n h i l lsaid. “I had to rely onwhat I knew about thehuman form. It ise x t remely hard tow o rk from photos andmuch easier to workf rom a live model.”Born in Asheville,N.C., Barnhill begindrawing when he wasfour years old. T h ea rtist believes he inheritedtalent from hisf a t h e r, whom he saidhad the gift but neve rpursued it seriously.Barnhill re c e i ve dan art degree in educationfrom theUn i versity of No rt hC a rolina at ChapelHill in 1977. He discove red his love fors c u l p t u re in 1980while pursuing a maste r’s degree in fine art sf rom the Un i versity ofNo rth Carolina atGre e n s b o ro.“I was taking ab reak from one of mypainting classes, whenI went to a sculpture class and saw somestudents working on a bust,” Ba r n h i l lsaid. “I was so intrigued that I asked myteacher if I could finish my course dow nSculptor James Barnhill stands next tohis latest creation, a bust of Booker T.Washington – the former slave whofounded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.4 A&T TODAY/FALL 2000