A new portrait of Opal Lee, 鈥淕randmother of Juneteenth,鈥� will be displayed at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, today through Sunday. After that, it will be on its way to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.
the Fort Worth artist who painted the portrait, debuted the piece last week at Talley Dunn Gallery in Dallas.
Special event at Amon Carter
The new painting will be displayed in the first-floor gallery near the atrium, said Kimberly Daniel, an Amon Carter spokesperson.
鈥淚t is so complex to capture someone鈥檚 essence in a painting, especially someone with the poise and vitality of Opal Lee,鈥� said Maggie Adler, Curator of Paintings, Sculpture, and Works on Paper at the museum. 鈥淲hat a photo might miss, the texture and nuances of a life, Huckaby captures with his signature warmth.鈥�
Lee and Huckaby will talk about the painting Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in the museum's auditorium. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served.
A meet-and-greet follows in the atrium with signed copies of Lee鈥檚 book, 鈥淛uneteenth: A Children鈥檚 Story,鈥� available for purchase.
This special event coincides with the closing of the Carter鈥檚 exhibit 鈥�Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation.鈥� Co-curator Adler will give a final tour Sunday at 3 p.m.
Opal Lee's march to Washington
Lee campaigned to create as a federal holiday. It had been celebrated for decades in Texas. She walked from Fort Worth to Washington D.C. in 2016 鈥� at 89 years old 鈥� and presented 1,500,000 signatures to Congress.
She was successful, and people nationwide started celebrating Juneteenth in 2021. A group of mostly Texas Congressional lawmakers nominated her for the .
represents the date of June 19, 1865 鈥� two-and-a-half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and more than two months after the Civil War ended 鈥� when enslaved Texans heard that they were free.
"An Afternoon with Opal Lee," Sunday at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.
- 2:30 p.m. portrait talk, museum auditorium
- 3 p.m. meet-and-greet Opal Lee and Sedrick Huckaby
- 3 p.m. final tour of "Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation" with co-curator Maggie Adler