African American folk artist Clementine Hunter (1887-1988), who lived and worked for 75 years at Melrose Plantation, attracted the attention of the world with her colorful memory paintings of life on a rural southern plantation during the first half of the 20th century. She worked at night by the light of a kerosene lantern, in a simple wooden cabin, located in the shadow of the plantation’s Big House. In these humble circumstances, she found her talent and made an unlikely and extraordinary career as an artist.
