05/22/2026
Hattie McDaniel on Sugar Hill
By Artist Ashley Joi
24” x 18”
Acrylic, Gel Pen, Paper, Beads, Glitter, Sugar, Lentils, Dried Rose Petals on Stretched Canvas
This mixed-media portrait honors Hattie McDaniel, the groundbreaking actress, singer, and entertainer who became the first Black woman to win an Academy Award. The piece uses layered textures and unexpected materials to mirror the sweetness, struggle, and resilience that shaped her life. The inclusion of sugar evokes the historic Black neighborhood of
Sugar Hill in Los Angeles, which was a community where McDaniel found pride and belonging, even as she was later forced to leave her own home due to racially restrictive covenants that denied Black residents the right to live where they chose. The portrait also nods to the painful contradictions surrounding her 1940 Academy Award win. Despite her historic achievement, McDaniel was required to sit at a segregated table at the back of the room during the ceremony, barred from sitting with her Gone With the Wind castmates. Yet she carried herself with grace and resolve, continuing to open doors for future generations. In a final act of legacy and generosity, she bequeathed her Oscar to
Howard University in Washington, D.C., gifting it to the next generation of Black scholars and artists.
Radiating warmth, dignity, and quiet defiance, this piece celebrates McDaniel’s artistry and honors the complexity of a woman who carved space for herself, and for so many others, in a world determined to limit her.
Gallery open today (5/22) until 6PM.
SATURDAY (5/23): Join us for “Tea at the Gallery” from 1PM - 3PM. No reservations required. All are welcome.
