{"id":746,"date":"2014-04-21T04:15:18","date_gmt":"2014-04-21T04:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=746"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:53:53","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:53:53","slug":"sculptor-selma-burke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/04\/21\/sculptor-selma-burke\/","title":{"rendered":"Sculptor Selma Burke"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Burke <\/a>
Burke in 1976. (Post-Gazette photo) <\/div> <\/div>
\"At <\/a>
At age 92, Burke worked with children from East Hills Elementary School in an art class. (Peter Diana\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"This <\/a>
This bronze relief, created in 1975 by the Burke and titled Together, was installed in an outdoor courtyard of the Kaufmann Center. (Bill Wade\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Selma Burke, one of the 20th century\u2019s most prolific artists and sculptors, went to the White House in 1943 to draw President Franklin Roosevelt. The semi-classical image she created showed the nation\u2019s leader with his head held high, prominent cheekbones and a taut jaw.<\/p>\n

The likeness was intended for a new Recorder of Deeds building in Washington, D.C. \u00a0but was later adopted for the dime. First, however, all of the Roosevelts had to approve it.<\/p>\n

Eleanor Roosevelt dropped by Burke\u2019s New York studio on Jan. 10, 1945. While Mrs. Roosevelt liked the drawing, she felt the artist had made her husband look too young. But Ms. Burke replied that she wanted the presidential profile to be timeless.<\/p>\n

Born into poverty in Mooresville, North Carolina, Ms. Burke dug her fingers into riverbank clay as child. She was one of 10 children born to an Episcopal minister and a mother who did clerical work and lived to be 103. The family moved to Washington, D.C. \u00a0and Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Ms. Burke arrived in Harlem for that neighborhood\u2019s famous cultural renaissance during the 1920s. She earned her living as a nurse but continued to study art during the Depression.<\/p>\n

She married Claude McKay, a poet and one of the older Harlem Renaissance figures. The couple\u2019s social circle included the witty Dorothy Parker, novelist Sinclair Lewis, the playwright Eugene O\u2019Neill, poet Langston Hughes, singer Ethel Waters and artist Max Eastman.<\/p>\n

The couple had a stormy marriage and later divorced.<\/p>\n

In the 1930s, Ms. Burke traveled to Europe, where, along with photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, she studied drawing with Henri Matisse in Paris.<\/p>\n

After World War II broke out, Ms. Burke joined the U.S. Navy, driving a truck at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. \u00a0While on the job, she injured three discs in her back and was hospitalized. Doctors told her she would not walk again.<\/p>\n

Regardless, she entered the nationwide competition to draw President Roosevelt and won.<\/p>\n

Her other work included likenesses of Booker T. Washington, abolitionist John Brown and President Calvin Coolidge. Her sculpture also can be seen at Hill House in the city\u2019s Hill District.<\/p>\n

Ms. Burke taught art in Pittsburgh for 17 years and operated her Selma Burke Art Center in East Liberty from 1972 to 1981.<\/p>\n

In 1979, Ms. Burke was 78 when she was honored for her contributions to visual arts at the White House by President Jimmy Carter. He praised her as a \u201cshining beacon\u201d for aspiring artists.<\/p>\n

Ms. Burke retired to New Hope, Pa., where she died at age 94 in 1995.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Born into poverty in Mooresville, North Carolina, Ms. Burke dug her fingers into riverbank clay as child.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesSculptor Selma Burke<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":748,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066],"tags":[1167,1034,1036],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_n48bvqJHlg1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=864%2C834&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":550,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/06\/16\/the-faltering-love-life-of-a-golf-champ\/","url_meta":{"origin":746,"position":0},"title":"The faltering love life of a golf champ","date":"June 16, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Who cares about spectacular victories? 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