July 21, 2020  -  March 23, 2021

Philadelphia artist Hope Hummingbird is a ceramicist and a street artist who installs her tiles on walls throughout the city. Her body of work is based on the theme of hope with a goal to inspire others. Hope solely uses porcelain with blue glazes reminiscent of historical Delft tiles combined with subject matter that addresses current societal movements by re-introducing aspirational women of history, women who created change, and women whose stories are still relevant today.  

Here, Hope is representing Philadelphia’s-own Marian Anderson. She said that “the first time that I heard Marian Anderson’s voice it moved me to tears. After learning about the history of her performance at the Lincoln Memorial and watching the footage of her singing, she became an unforgettable inspiration to me.”  

Anderson, born in Philadelphia, is considered “one of the finest contraltos of her time.” Like many African American artists of the early 1900s, Anderson found greater acceptance and success in Europe than in the United States. She returned home in 1935 and one year later, performed for the Roosevelt’s at the White House. Despite her success, in 1939, Anderson was denied a performance at Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C. The public was outraged  

and Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, scheduled her to perform at the Lincoln Memorial instead. A crowd of 75,000 people were in attendance to hear Anderson sing.  

She opened with My Country, ‘Tis of Thee—its original lyrics are “to thee I sing.” Anderson altered that line and sang “to thee we sing.” She said, “We cannot live alone and the thing that made this moment possible for you and me has been brought about by many people whom  

we will never know.”  

Visit @hope_hummingbird