Elijah Pierce

Elijah Pierce, the son of a formerly enslaved man, settled in Columbus in 1923 and opened a barbershop on Long Street, where he carved in a back room when not cutting hair. He created brightly painted narrative bas-relief wood panels illustrating religious scenes and popular culture over more than sixty years. He did not receive a solo exhibition until 1971, at age seventy-nine, at Ohio State University. He received a National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA in 1982.