17 Facts About Beulah Woodard

Beulah Ecton Woodard was an American sculptor and painter based in California.

Beulah Woodard Ecton was born near Frankfort, Ohio, on November 11,1895.

Beulah Woodard was the daughter of Mr and Mrs William P Ecton.

Beulah Woodard's father was a freedman, Civil War veteran, and farmer.

Several of Beulah Woodard's relatives were artists; one of her grandmothers was an expert weaver and dyer, while a male relation was a sculptor.

Beulah Woodard developed a lifelong fascination with African culture at the age of 12 when her family was visited by an African national.

Beulah Woodard attended Los Angeles Polytechnic High School, where she studied architectural drawing.

Beulah Woodard started experimenting with clay during this period, but her family dissuaded her from the pursuit in 1926.

Beulah Woodard's teachers included Glen Lukens, Paul Troubetzkoy, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art co-founder Peter David Edstrom.

Beulah Woodard had her first show in February 1935 in the storefront window for the California News weekly.

In 1937, Beulah Woodard exhibited her work at Stendahl Art Galleries.

Beulah Woodard next became the first African American artist to exhibit a one-person show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art with her 1937 exhibition of her African masks.

Beulah Woodard used various media to produce sculptures, including bronze, wood, terracotta, and papier-mache.

Beulah Woodard's terracotta work Maudelle is a realistic portrait of African-American concert dancer Maudelle Bass Weston, made without the use of sculptural models or drawings.

Beulah Woodard won first prize in sculpture at the Los Angeles All-City Annual Outdoor Arts Festival in 1953.

Beulah Woodard was active in the Los Angeles artists' community and lectured at various educational institutions.

Beulah Woodard died in Los Angeles on July 13,1955, at the age of 59, before she could embark on a touring exhibition of museums in Germany.