Little Stories of Great Women Artists is an original project of playful and educational animated videos for children from the age of 7 and older.The objective of each episode? To shed light on the life and work of a woman artist from the 19th or 20th century in a three-minutes video. Imagined by screenwriter Sophie Caron, each story conveys the originality of an artist’s approach, their importance within an artistic movement, certain significant biographical stories, as well as difficulties that the artist may have encountered in her practice.

In a landscape where children’s publications and activities about art privilege male artists, this new and unique project intends for younger audiences to be able to identify important figures beyond all gender stereotypes. Through the discovery of these women artists, we hope to invite as many people as possible to discover the emotion that art can bring.

This new episode takes us to the United States, and more precisely to the states of New York and Massachusetts, to discover or rediscover the work of Edmonia Lewis, who was a key figure in 19th century American sculpture. Despite the context of the Civil War, this African-American and indigenous sculptor managed to overcome the social discrimination that constrained her artistic career. Her work was supported by abolitionists who motivated the production of her neoclassical works, inspired by Roman art. Edmonia Lewis was highly independent and sculpted her work entirely on her own. Her talent and determination enabled her to make a living from her work, which she voluntarily promoted herself. This artist exemplified a lifelong desire to produce in spite of the segregation and gender stereotypes that marked the contemporary art scene.