MSU professor鈥檚 original art to be featured on U.S. postage stamp
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 faculty member in 海角社区鈥檚 College of Architecture, Art and Design is putting his stamp on American culture and history with help from the U.S. Postal Service.
Alex Bostic, an MSU associate professor of art and illustrator with more than 40 years of experience, will see his original art 鈥淓dmonia Lewis鈥 featured on one of several new USPS stamps being issued in 2022. The Edmonia Lewis Commemorative Forever stamp鈥攖he 45th stamp in the USPS鈥檚 Black Heritage Series鈥攚ill be released Jan. 26 and available for purchase in sheets of 20 at .
A dedication ceremony for the Edmonia Lewis Commemorative Forever stamp is being held Jan. 26 at 12:30 p.m. EST at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. For more event details, visit .
鈥淚 am proud to have my art on a U.S. postage stamp. I have done stamps for other countries, but this is my first for the United States,鈥 said Bostic, who has taught at MSU for 11 years. 鈥淓dmonia Lewis was a perfect subject for me because of what she went through to be an artist, particularly as an African American.鈥
Born in Greenbush, New York, Lewis is regarded as the first African American and Native American sculptor to achieve international recognition. Her father was African American, and her mother a Chippewa Indian whose nomadic tribe Lewis lived with after being orphaned before the age of 5. With her brother鈥檚 encouragement and financial assistance, Lewis moved in the early 1860s to Boston, Massachusetts, where she began sculptural studies under portrait sculptor Edward Brackett. Lewis produced medallion portraits of well-known abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, Charles Sumner and Wendell Phillips. With sales of her portrait busts of abolitionist John Brown and Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, Lewis financed her first trip to Europe in 1865.
After traveling to London, England; Paris, France; and Florence, Italy, Lewis settled in Rome and rented a studio during 1865 and 1866. Lewis quickly learned Italian and became acquainted with two prominent white Americans living in Rome, actress Charlotte Cushman and sculptor Harriet Hosmer.
According to the Smithsonian American Art Museum website, a number of other American sculptors were living in Rome at this time because of the availability of fine white marble and the many Italian stonecarvers who were adept at transferring a sculptor鈥檚 plaster models into finished marble products.
The Smithsonian site said Lewis was unique among sculptors of her generation in Rome as she rarely employed Italian workmen and completed most of her work without assistance. Her motivation, according to the SAAM, was probably twofold鈥攍ack of money and fear of losing originality in her work.
Lewis specialized in subjects depicting her dual African American and Native American ancestry, and portrait busts of abolitionists and patrons, such as Anna Quincy Waterston. She also completed several mythological subjects, at least three religious subjects, and copies of Italian Renaissance sculptures. The sensitively carved 鈥淗agar鈥 is probably the masterpiece among her known surviving works, according to the SAAM. Lewis was last reported living in Rome in 1911. For more, visit .
Bostic鈥檚 stamp art is a casein-paint portrait based on a photograph that Augustus Marshall took of Lewis between 1864 and 1871 in Boston, Massachusetts. USPS art director Antonio Alcal谩 first saw Bostic鈥檚 work in a show in Virginia 18 years ago. Alcal谩 contacted him in recent years about doing the Edmonia Lewis stamp, which he designed with Bostic鈥檚 original art.
Bostic said he recently took a sculpture class that inspired him to 鈥渟ee things in a more three-dimensional way,鈥 and it gave him a deeper appreciation for the craft for which Lewis became known.
鈥淚taly also is one of my favorite places on the planet鈥擨 taught a summer study abroad course there for seven years鈥攁nd that鈥檚 where she was,鈥 Bostic said of Lewis.
Bostic said he hopes the new stamp inspires people鈥檚 curiosity about Lewis鈥檚 life, and he encourages others to find and discuss books or information about the sculptor.
鈥淓ducating the public is something that is greatly needed in the Black community鈥攑eople need to know about our heritage and what we鈥檙e capable of achieving,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a big proponent of art, and I hope that more of our children will be artists. I want kids who grew up like me to get more support from their families, from the ground up.鈥
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Bostic developed a love for the arts attending weekend lessons at the Pratt Institute, from which he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration in 1979. He also holds a Master of Arts in illustration from Syracuse University.
Housed in MSU鈥檚 College of Architecture, Art and Design, the Department of Art offers concentrations in photography, graphic design and fine arts. For more on the state鈥檚 largest undergraduate studio program, visit .
MSU is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .