Willie Tarver Sculptures

Creating New Spaces to Highight Augusta’s Artistic Heritage

The Porter Fleming Fund was proud to support the Morris Museum of Art in launching an exhibit dedicated to the works of Willie Tarver, a self-taught artist from Wadley, Georgia. Through this grant, the museum brought to life Tarver’s unique sculptures, which reflected his deep connection to Southern history, religion, and folklore, offering a profound exploration of the region's cultural heritage.

Willie Tarver, the son of a sharecropper and a welder by trade, began his artistic journey in the late 1950s, creating large cement figures before transitioning to metal sculptures. His work drew inspiration from Greek mythology, the Bible, and the Southern experience, featuring both joyful and somber depictions of human life, as well as imaginative, hybrid animal figures with an “Egyptian” influence.

His early creations were large painted cement figures. These were created over metal armatures that he constructed out of scrap metal which he welded and cut. Eventually the armatures become the art pieces themselves, as he experimented with finishing them off without cement. In addition to figures of people having fun, Willie also created figures of humans in pain and anguish to illustrate lessons or historical events. His animal figures often had combined features of several species, giving them an otherworldly effect.

With support from the Porter Fleming Fund, the exhibit offered the community a chance to experience the artistry and vision of a Southern folk art legend. The Morris Museum’s showcase ensured that Tarver’s legacy endured, allowing visitors to engage with the stories, struggles, and creativity of the American South.