Both Edmonia and Samuel expertly navigated the first wave of American identity politics in the nineteenth century and its reactionary aftermath, by using art, self-fashioning, and entertainment to build communities across difference. A master of the neo-classical style, Edmonia upended many artistic and cultural norms. She infused American themes of freedom and individuality in her practice, sculpting subjects ranging from literary figures to her abolitionist peers. Her most famous sculptural subjects—Cleopatra and the biblical figure of Hagar—countered the era’s figurative stereotypes and connected these foundational stories of Western culture to the Black diaspora.

Chisel & Razor contributes to Edmonia’s growing art historical recognition by including Samuel, a foundational but largely forgotten figure in Montana’s past. Arriving to Montana in 1866, Samuel was a founding member of a Black settler community that flourished in Bozeman after the Civil War. A skilled barber and developer who became a prominent, respected community figure, Samuel was also an entertainer, who performed as a musician and magician delighting local audiences across the state. Tinworks is the first art institution to bring Samuel’s story to light, engaging contemporary artistic voices in dialogue with Montana’s local histories.

Tinworks Art gratefully acknowledges the generous support of VIA Art Fund for the production and exhibition of Edmonia Triumphalis by Auriea Harvey, and the Vilcek Foundation for their support of Sunflowers, to follow the wheat by Agnes Denes, an ongoing ecological intervention in Tinworks’ field. Major program support for Tinworks Art is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Tinworks Founding Director’s Council. Additional support is provided by coal tax revenues allocated to Montana’s Cultural and Aesthetic Projects Trust Fund.