Experience a Simone Leigh ’90 sculpture up close

Las Meninas II, a sculpture by acclaimed artist Simone Leigh ’90, is now on display at the Earlham College Center for Visual and Performing Arts atrium.

Provided on loan by the Art Bridges Foundation through November 2026, Leigh’s life-size sculpture was inspired by Las Meninas, a 1656 painting by Spanish artist Diego Velázquez. Leigh’s work “addresses pressing questions of racial and gender equity by delving into the complex history of Western imperialism, slavery, and the portrayal of female subjecthood,” according to the Foundation.

The loan of Las Meninas II is the culmination of three years of work by Christian Adams, Earlham’s art curator.

“When I started looking for a Simone Leigh sculpture for Earlham about three years ago, I knew this would be a challenging request,” Adams said of the celebrated alum who was named one of Time Magazine’s most influential people of 2023. “However, the opportunity to celebrate the success of another Earlham graduate was the motivating force behind this project.”

When Adams discovered The Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas, and the Art Bridges Foundation, a path forward emerged. The museum houses a collection of Early American to contemporary works of art with a special focus on historically underrepresented artists. 

“The focus of Art Bridges’ mission is to remove barriers of access to art sharing and support community engagement,” said Ashley Holland, Curator and Director of Curatorial Initiatives. “The Art Bridges Collection contributes to this goal by providing loans of American art to museums across the country, free of cost. We are thrilled about this partnership and the opportunity to lend Las Meninas II by Simone Leigh to Earlham College.”

An internationally recognized artist, Leigh’s art highlights the Black female experience. She creates objects and environments that question and reclaim stereotypes associated with Black women and celebrate Black life.

During her time at Earlham, Leigh was able to find clarity and develop her interest in the arts. As she shares in an interview with The New Yorker, her time at Earlham allowed her to shed the restrictions of her upbringing and explore her own sense of identity. “Earlham really saved me”, she told the magazine. “Quakers believe that God is in everyone, and they respect people so much. It was ideal for me to be in a Quaker environment at that time.”

Although Leigh originally began her studies at Earlham to become a social worker, she found her time learning philosophy with former Earlham professor Kate Wininger and working with clay with Michael Thiedeman to be liberating, and she graduated from the College as an art major. Post-graduation, Leigh moved to New York, where she worked at a ceramics supply store as she began to develop her career as an artist. 

In 2022, Leigh became the first Black woman to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale, one of the oldest and most prestigious cultural exhibitions in the world. She was also among the first Black women selected for the Biennale’s top honor, the Golden Lion Award. As a result of her achievements, she received the 2022 Outstanding Alumni Award from Earlham College.

According to Art Bridges, Velázquez’s original painting of Las Meninas portrays the King of Spain, his daughter, her courtesans, and Velázquez himself in a complex wave of sightlines, mirrors, and gazes. Unlike Velázquez’s painting, in which the Spanish princess peers at the viewer from a three-quarter head turn, Leigh’s sculpture “stands defiant and imposing, squarely confronting the spectator with a faceless void composed of small and light-colored ceramic rosettes,” the Foundation’s description reads. 

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About Earlham College 

Earlham College and Earlham School of Religion foster a collaborative learning community that inspires and motivates students with transformative opportunities and experiences so they can become catalysts for good in a changing world. Located in Richmond, Indiana, Earlham is one of U.S. News & World Report’s Top 100 national liberal arts colleges and offers one of the top 20 classroom experiences in the nation, according to the Princeton Review.