From childhood, an artist lived inside the colorful mind of Nellie Mae Rowe. Born in Fayette County on July 4, 1900, Rowe produced art that received national attention, including a spot in the Smithsonian.
In recognition of Rowe’s accomplishments, the Fayette County Historical Society, and the Fayette Heritage Project in conjunction with the Georgia Historical Society is erecting a marker in her honor at Heritage Park in Fayetteville. A dedication ceremony is planned for May 15th at 11:00 a.m.
“The story needed to get out there,” Fayette County Historical Society President Deborah Riddle said. Riddle and County Historian John Lynch credited the late Tony Parrott with getting the marker. Long-time Historical Society member and president of the Fayette Heritage Project, Parrott, passed away last November. “He took the ball and ran with it,” Riddle said.
Both Lynch and Dr. Katherine Jentleson, the Merrie and Dan Boone Curator of Folk and Self-Taught Art at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, believe the marker is well deserved. The High recently featured the exhibition, “Really Free: The Radical Art of Nellie Mae Rowe,” which is on a national tour through this year, and a documentary about her life, “This World is Not My Own,” is being screened in the U.S. and Europe.
“She is one of the greatest artists to come out of her county, state, and country in the 20th century,” Jentleson said. “Fayette County should embrace her legacy of resilience and creativity.”
Born into slavery, Rowe’s father farmed and worked as a blacksmith and basket weaver. Her mother was a skilled seamstress and quilter. Inheriting their talents, Nellie Mae enjoyed drawing and making dolls as a child. Her Fayette County upbringing would be a lifelong influence on her art.
“Growing up in Fayette County meant that many of her core memories were of the farm her family kept and the historic church where she worshipped and went to school, (Flat Rock AME Church, where Rowe is also buried)," Jentleson said. "Animals they kept, like chickens, mules, and cows, feature prominently in her work, and that probably would not have been the case if she had grown up in the city.”
Rowe married young and eventually moved with her husband to Vinings. After his death, she remarried and when her second husband died in 1948, Rowe, who was childless, worked as a domestic for many years until her long-time employer died.
“She saw the opportunity for creative freedom that finally presented itself to her in the last decade and a half of her life, and she embraced it,” Jentleson said.
Rowe created colorful two-dimensional works with crayons and markers on such humble materials as the blank sides of boxes. Her three-dimensional works were just as resourceful—fabric dolls and whimsical sculptures fashioned from gum she chewed to combat headaches. One of her most impressive three-dimensional pieces, however, was her home. Dubbed her “Playhouse,” she adorned it with her art and recycled objects. She gave tours of her home and serenaded visitors with gospel songs.
After Atlanta art patron Judith Alexander befriended Rowe, she had several Atlanta exhibitions and left Georgia for the first time in 1979 to see her exhibition in New York City. Rowe died in 1982.
Jentleson said during Rowe’s lifetime black women artists received little attention, but Rowe helped break the barrier. “The art world began giving more credence to the brilliance of Southern Black self-taught artists, with exhibitions like the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s “Black Folk Art in America,” Jentleson said. “Rowe was one of the only women artists featured in that show.”
Jentleson believes Rowe’s art and life can inspire today’s residents of Fayette County. “Rowe never gave up, and she chose beauty over ugliness,” she said. “She did not have an easy life, but she did not let bad experiences defeat her. Her lesson is to protect the core of playfulness and creativity that we are all born with, no matter what life throws at you, and be courageous enough to let it flow when you find an opening.”
“Fayette County should embrace her legacy of resilience and creativity.”
“She is one of the greatest artists to come out of her county, state, and country in the 20th century.”
"She did not have an easy life, but she did not let bad experiences defeat her."