Jackson native to receive Governor’s Arts Award

JACKSON, Tenn. — A Jackson native is among a dozen Tennesseans slated to receive the Governor’s Arts Award, the state’s highest award in the arts.

Hattie Marshall-Duncan will receive the Folklife Heritage Award from the Tennessee Arts Commission, according to a news release.

Duncan is a self-taught sculptor who started by creating drawings of her father when she was a child. She is best known for her sculpting, an art she honed in the late 1990s, which includes various materials she uses to make her sculptures.

Duncan is known statewide by folklorists and folk arts leaders due to her work in using art to highlight cultural heritage, according to the release.

Her art has been exhibited in galleries including the Customs House Museum in Clarksville, the West Tennessee Regional Arts Center in Humboldt, the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville and the Latta in Selmer.

She also had exhibits in 2014 at the Tennessee Arts Commission’s gallery, and her work has been displayed at the Tennessee Residence during the holidays.

Duncan was recently chosen to participate as a master artist in the state’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, which preserves rare and endangered art forms.

Duncan and 11 other recipients will receive their awards on Oct. 23 in the Conservation Hall at the Executive Residence.