Evangeline Montgomery

Evangeline “EJ” Montgomery is noted for her uniquely designed metal ancestral boxes and colorful lithographs, as well as her long career as a curator and arts professional. In the early 1950s, Montgomery painted faces on dolls and religious statues. In 1955, she moved to Los Angeles with her husband and worked for Thomas Usher, an African American jewelry designer, while attending Los Angeles City College. She then obtained a BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1969.

From 1967 until 1979, Montgomery worked as an independent curator with museums, university galleries and art centers. During this time, she curated the 1971 retrospective of African American sculptor Sargent Johnson at the Oakland Museum and she organized national exhibit workshops for the Association of African American Museums. From 1971 until 1976, she was also curator for the Rainbow Sign Gallery in Berkeley, and from 1976 until 1979, she served as a San Francisco art commissioner. In 1980, Montgomery moved to DC, and in 1983, she began her career with the United States Department of State as a program development officer for the Arts America Program at the United States Information Agency. Montgomery received the Women’s Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.