Ethel Wright Mohamed (October 13, 1906 – February 15, 1992) was an American artist, best known for her embroidered scenes of country life. She is sometimes compared to " Grandma Moses," both for her

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tr ...

style of illustration and her late start as an artist.

Early life

Ethel Lee Wright was born on a farm in

Webster County, Mississippi Webster County is a county located in center of the U.S. state of Mississippi, bordered on the south by the Big Black River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,926. The county was organized in 1874 during the Reconstruction era; t ...

, the eldest child of Elijah Wright and Nina Bell Ramsay Wright. She learned to embroider as a child, from her mother. As a teenager she worked at a bakery in

Shaw, Mississippi Shaw is a city in Bolivar and Sunflower counties, Mississippi, United States, located in the Mississippi Delta region. The name was derived from an old Indian tribe northeast of this region. The population was 1,952 at the 2010 census. History ...

Career

Ethel Wright Mohamed returned to embroidery after she was widowed in 1965. "There is just a soothing music as the needle comes through the cloth," she told the ''Tuscaloosa News'' in 1992. She embroidered elaborate scenes based on her own memories and family life. Her colorful works found a local audience through family members, and soon they were exhibited in regional museums as folk art. In 1974, her embroidered art was part of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's Festival of American Folklife in Washington D. C. The next year, the Smithsonian commissioned a tapestry by Mohamed, for the Bicentennial Festival of American Folklife, and in 1976–77, twelve works by Mohamed were displayed at the

Renwick Gallery The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum located in Washington, D.C. that displays American craft and decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century. The gallery is housed in a National Historic Landmark building that ...

. She embroidered a picture of the Renwick event, which is now in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 1977, director William R. Ferris featured Mohamed in the documentary film "Four Women Artists," produced by the Center for Southern Folklore, as one of the four Mississippi women in the title, along with writer

Eudora Welty Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short story writer, novelist and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel '' The Optimist's Daughter'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numerou ...

, quilter Pecolia Warner, and painter Theora Hamblett. Mohamed donated original works to charities and museums, including the American Heart Association and the

University of Mississippi Medical Center University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) is the health sciences campus of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and is located in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. UMMC, also referred to as the Medical Center, is the state's only aca ...

. She was honored with a Governor's Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1991.

Personal life and legacy

Ethel Wright married Lebanese-born salesman Hassan Mohamed in 1924. They had eight children, the oldest of whom was Ollie Mohamed, who would later become a Mississippi state senator. The family lived most of their lives in

Belzoni, Mississippi Belzoni ( ) is a city in Humphreys County, Mississippi, United States, in the Mississippi Delta region, on the Yazoo River. The population was 2,235 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Humphreys County. It was named for the 19th-centur ...

, where they operated the H. Mohamed Store. Ethel ran the store after Hassan's passing, until 1980 when a grandson took over. She died in 1992, age 85. The Ethel Wright Mohamed Stitchery Museum is open to the public in Mohamed's former home, with her youngest daughter Carol Mohamed Ivy as curator. In 2007, a show of Mohamed's work was mounted at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in

Laurel, Mississippi Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. It is located northeast of Ellisville, M ...

."The Needle's Song: The Folk Art of Ethel Wright Mohamed," Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, May 10-July 8, 2007.
/ref>

Early life

Career

Personal life and legacy

References

Further reading