Sana Musasama facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sana Musasama
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Musasama and Janet Olivia Henry
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| Education | BA The City College of New York (1974), MFA Alfred State College of Ceramics (1987) |
| Known for | Ceramic, sculpture |
| Awards | Anonymous Was a Woman Award (2002) |
Sana Musasama is an amazing African-American artist from New York City. She creates art using ceramics (which is like clay) and other materials. Besides being an artist, she also teaches and cares deeply about human rights, especially helping women and girls who have been forced into difficult situations. She teaches at Hunter College.
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Early Life and Education
Sana Musasama was born in Saint Albans, New York. She studied art and education at City College, earning her bachelor's degree in 1974. Later, she earned her master's degree from Alfred State College of Ceramics in 1987.
She continued to learn about ceramics in many places around the world. She studied at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Montana, and at the Gakium Designer College in Tokyo, Japan. She also learned at the Tuscarora International School of Ceramics in Nevada. A special part of her learning happened at Mende Pottery in Mendeland, Sierra Leone.
Art Career and Inspiration
Sana Musasama's art and her teaching are inspired by her many travels. She has visited countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, like Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Japan. She travels to learn about different cultures, especially how women live and the challenges they face.
In the 1970s, she lived and worked in Mendeland, Sierra Leone. There, she saw firsthand some harmful practices affecting young girls. This experience made her want to learn more about other issues impacting women. For over 20 years, Musasama has researched these important topics. She then creates artwork to share her feelings and ideas about them.
The Maple Tree Series
From 1992 to 1994, Sana Musasama created a special group of sculptures called the Maple Tree series. About thirty of these sculptures are tall, tree-like ceramic pieces. They are inspired by a group of people from the 1790s called the Maple Tree Movement. These people wanted to end slavery on sugar cane plantations. They hoped that maple syrup could replace sugar, which would stop the need for enslaved labor.
The sculptures in the Maple Tree series look like trees with organic, body-like shapes. They are made from different types of clay and other materials like stone, beads, and moss. These sculptures are about the same size as a human, ranging from 3.5 to over 5 feet tall. Some of them are named after the places where Musasama created them during her artist residencies.
Two sculptures from this series, Stop (1994) and Sugar vs Sap (1992), were shown in an art exhibit in 2018.
Helping Others and Teaching
Besides being a professor and teaching ceramics workshops, Sana Musasama also volunteers her time. In New York City, she has helped organizations like GEMS (Girls Educational & Mentoring Services). This group works with young people who have survived difficult situations. She also volunteered at CASES (Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment).
Internationally, she has worked with AFESIP Cambodia and Together1Heart. These organizations are dedicated to helping and rescuing girls and young women who have been forced into difficult situations.
Where to See Her Art
Sana Musasama's artwork is part of many important art collections. You can find her pieces at the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Hood Museum of Art. Her work is also at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and the Mint Museum of Craft and Design. Outside the United States, her art is in the European Ceramic Center in the Netherlands. Other places include the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Montana and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York.
Art Exhibitions
Sana Musasama's art has been shown in many exhibitions, both by herself and with other artists.
Solo Exhibitions
- 2024: Returning to Ourselves, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
- 2022: I Never Played with Dolls, Tiger Strikes Asteroid New York
- 2010: Unknown/Unnamed, June Kelly Gallery, New York
- 2010: The Hand, Meta House Gallery, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- 2009: Women, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 2007: A Season of Abundance: The Maple Tree Series of Sana Musasana, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
- 2006: ETHOS, Social Consciousness and Craft, Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC
- 2005: Shhh…Secrets, Status, Society, June Kelly Gallery, New York
- 2001: Outer Beauty, Inner Anguish, June Kelly Gallery, New York
- 1998: Maple Tree Series, Fine Arts Gallery, Southampton College of Long Island University, Southampton, New York
- 1984: From the Studio: The Studio Museum in Harlem Artist-in-Residence, 1984, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
Group Exhibitions
- 2016: 50 Women-A Celebration of Women's Contribution to Ceramics, American Jazz Museum, Kansas City, MO
- 2013: Body & Soul, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
- 2013: History, Haunting and Palimpsests, Anya & Shiva Gallery, John Jay College, NY
- 2009: Modern and Contemporary Art at Dartmouth, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, New Hampshire
- 2006: Edges of Grace, Fuller Craft Museum, Boston, MA
- 2002: New Works, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
- 1999: Cultural Influences in Craft, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC
Awards and Recognition
Sana Musasama has received many awards for her amazing work. In 2002, she won an Anonymous Was A Woman Award. She also received a Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant in 2013. From 1983 to 1984, she was an Artist-in-Residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem, which is a special program for artists.
