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Born in Hartford in 1887, Waring was the daughter of Rev. Robert Wheeler, a pastor
at Connecticut's first all African American church and Mary Wheeler, an amateur
artist and teacher. Upon graduation in 1914 from Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts,
Waring was awarded a scholarship to study in Paris. There, she studied romanticism,
which stressed emotion and rejected the idealization and order that typified ancient
Greek and Roman art. Waring focused her artistic endeavors on portraiture and was among
the artists displayed in the country's first all African American art exhibit, held in
1927 by the Harmon Foundation, an organization that promoted the work of African American
artists, writers, educators and scientists. The Harmon Foundation later selected Waring to
paint portraits of outstanding African Americans, including W.E.B. Du Bois and Marian Anderson.
Originally part of the national 1944 Harmon Foundation Traveling Exhibit, these paintings
were designed to combat stereotypical portrayals of African Americans. Although Waring
made more trips to study in Europe, her main focus was on making art education available
to African Americans. She worked as director of the art department at Pennsylvania's
Cheyney State Teachers College until her death in 1948.
Related Artists:
Edmonia Lewis
Henry O. Tanner
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Anne Washinton Derry (1927)
Frankie
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