ShoutOut hosts a two-part celebration honoring the Harlem Renaissance artist, teacher and activist Augusta Savage, one of Saugerties most notable and glamorous historical residents. Savage was an admired sculptor, art teacher, and active supporter of Black artists in Harlem in the 1930s. Savage graduated from Cooper Union, taught art classes in Harlem, created sculptures of everyday people, and in time received commissions to sculpt well-known political figures such as W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey. The first director of the esteemed Harlem Community Art Center, her most celebrated work was a commissioned piece for the 1939 World’s Fair, a 16-foot-tall statue titled Lift Every Voice and Sing, aka The Harp.
ShoutOut’s 2026 celebration of Savage highlights her years in Saugerties and contributions to the community. “Miss Savage,” as the local press called her, offered neighbors friendship and her famous chicken foot soup. She taught Sunday School at the Lutheran Church of the Atonement, and welcomed young students from New York City through the Fresh Air Fund. At a community club lecture in Quarryville, it was reported that she had “many of her works on display.” Some lucky families received a lasting gift from Savage, a sculpture, often of their child.
Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in the sculptor, as evidenced by the documentary Searching for Augusta Savage, which aired on PBS American Masters in 2024. Her highly praised sculpture Gamin was shown at the 2024 Metropolitan Museum's Harlem Renaissance exhibit; this past year New York Public Library selected Marilyn Nelson’s lyric biography of Savage to include in their first-ever Teaching Sets, which reaches hundreds of students. One of the most impressive honors is the endowed position in her name at the Smithsonian, entitled the Augusta Savage Curator of African American Art, to “permanently elevate her legacy as a trailblazing sculptor, activist, and educator.”
To shape this celebration, ShoutOut has assembled an exceptional group of artists and Savage experts:
Marilyn Nelson: Award-winning author of Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor’s Life. She is the recipient of the Lion and Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry; the $100,000 award by the Poetry Foundation for her lifetime contributions to American poetry.
Sharon Washington: Acclaimed stage, screen, TV actress and writer (Joker and Sing Sing); Tony nomination for co-writing the musical New York, New York, wrote and performed the award-winning solo show Feeding the Dragon and is currently in the City Center revival of La Cage Aux Folles.
Charlotte Mangin: Documentarian and co-director of Audacious Productions, a woman-led documentary company that made the award-winning Unladylike 2020. Her program, Class of 2006, about women’s rights in Morocco, won an International Documentary Association Award.