CAMTalks: Behind Walker Hancock’s sculptures, The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane

Meg Black, Ph.D., is a resident of Topsfield, MA who has long admired The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, a set of sculptures by Walker Hancock (1901-1998) that is located at the entrance to Trinity Church in Topsfield. In this lecture, Black shares the story behind the sculptures, their creation, and the three men whose dedication to art, religious tolerance, and civil rights made them happen. The story highlights the patron, William Appleton Coolidge; the sculptor, Walker Hancock; and the Episcopal Seminarian and martyr of the Civil Rights Movement, Jonathon Daniels, to whom they are dedicated.

Black received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the State University of New York, Oswego, a graduate degree in studio art from the Massachusetts College of Arts, and a doctorate in education from Lesley College. She has extensive teaching experience as an adjunct professor of art and architecture history and as the coordinator of art education at Salem State University.