As part of its Women’s History Month programming, Falls Church Arts is honored to have the work of Joanna Campbell Blake featured at the FCA Gallery. Joanna, who was married to local resident Isaac Blake, was killed in a motorcycle accident in Italy on May 22, 2016, just as her career in figurative sculpture had taken off.
For several years before her death, Joanna had worked in the DC area for Kaskey Studios, where she contributed her design and sculpting skills to the creation of a number of large-scale public monuments, most notably the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC. She also completed an eight by ten foot bronze sculpture to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bladensburg in the War of 1812 and two relief panels to honor slaves buried at the at the Contraband and Freedman’s Cemetery Memorial in Alexandria, VA.
Her design for the work displayed in the FCA Gallery, “Virtus,” was selected as a finalist in the design competition for a monument, to be located on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, commemorating the struggles and accomplishment of Virginia’s women throughout the history of the Commonwealth. Guided by her extensive research and thorough study of her subject matter, Joanna’s artwork was influenced by the power of historical figures and events while drawing from the social, historical, and physical context of the site.