Enter Earline Heath King’s home and the senses are overwhelmed – the smell of perfume lingers in the room, the sound of a classical piano version of “My Funny Valentine” calms the nerves, the sight of sculptures, everywhere, tease one’s sense of visual beauty.
King, 92 and an internationally recognized sculptor, is the artist commissioned by the university to create the statue of WSSU founder Simon Green Atkins. It was unveiled on Oct. 28 during homecoming festivities.
A Winston-Salem native, King has sculpted the images of such prominent figures as Sir Winston Churchill and James B. Hunt, Jr. And when asked to scupt Atkins image, she couldn’t turn down the offer. “That was a great honor, a great compliment,” said the artist.
“In every picture, (Atkins) stands so erect, and he’s dressed magnificently. His clothes were impeccable. He had that jaunty, chin-up look all the time, said King.
“What’s so amazing is that he first developed an industrial school, and the first graduating class consisted of five students. This was something very new because it was the turn of the century, and to think how it caught on and has grown and grown into what it is now. There are international students now, and all the variety of courses that you can major in, and I just think that we owe an awful lot to that man.”
King has also been commissioned to sculpt a bust of Atkins and former U.S. President Ronald Reagan for the two new high schools named in his name.
Normally, King said she doesn’t pay attention to time when sculpting. Instead, when the work is done, it’s done. However, she completed the statue of Atkins in four months. “You know, I’ve never timed (my work), because you work on it a while and leave it, step away from it, especially when you’re doing three at once.” King married Joseph Wallace King during their senior year of high school and attended Greensboro College on a voice scholarship after graduation. The couple moved to Washington, D.C. in 1933, venturing successfully into the fields of entertainment, art, and even clothing design to make a living.
In 1946, they moved back to Winston-Salem after Joe King gained attention there for his portraits and commissions began coming in rapidly. He would eventually be so well recognized that he would be asked to do a portrait of her majesty, Queen Elizabeth of England. The Kings continued to live and work together until his death in 1996 after a brief illness. Currently, King teaches an annual art class, stressing the basics of sculpture to her students.