Sharon McConnell-Dickerson began her Blues Artist journey while working as a sculptor in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Blind since the age of 27, she made a career change, studying sculpture and all aspects of art. In the year 2000, a friend suggested that so many of the musicians were getting older, and she should seek them out and create life-casts of them. She began contacting musicians and the next year, beginning with John Hammond, started casting what is now a collection of over 60 musician’s faces and hands. She has cast such iconic artists as Bobby Bland, Honeyboy Edwards, Hubert Sumlin, Bo Diddley, Othar Turner, R.L. Burnside, Little Milton, James Cotton, and Johnny Winter. McConnell-Dickerson’s work is not only artistry, but also archival. Over half of the musicians she has cast have since passed away. Thus she has not only captured the living images of people, but also preserved them as part of the legacy they are leaving to us. Sharon donated 58 of the original casts to the Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University. Editions of the collection have also been donated to The Blues Hall of Fame Museum in Memphis, Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation in Chicago, and to Cognac Blues Passions in Cognac, France. Other collectors include the Othar Turner family, Willie Bland, Steven Tyler, and Morgan Freeman. Sharon promised the musicians that she would ensure that their portraits would be available for the world to see - to keep their memories alive, and she is fulfilling that promise. She has developed exhibits that are touring the United States and Europe. Her multi-media exhibits in the U.S. are “please touch” and fully accessible to people with disabilities, including audio and Braille components, and installation so that people in wheelchairs and children can reach them.
Cast of Blues
