July 25, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 126 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E991]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RECOGNIZING MARTIN PURYEAR

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 25, 2019

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to join me in recognizing the achievements of Martin 
Puryear.
  Martin Puryear, the eldest of seven children, was born in Washington, 
DC. He was raised in Southwest Washington and attended the then-
segregated William Syphax Elementary School. His lifelong interest in 
the natural world and how things are constructed inspired a young 
Puryear to visit local institutions such as the National Zoo, the 
Museum of Science and Technology and the Museum of Natural History. The 
city's art museums left a profound impact on Puryear, and today some of 
those same museums--the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian 
American Art Museum and the Hirshhorn Museum--hold some of his most 
significant works in their permanent collections.
  After graduating from the Catholic University of America, Puryear 
spent two years in Sierra Leone teaching English, French and biology as 
a member of the Peace Corps. He continued his studies at the Swedish 
Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm and received his MFA from Yale 
University.
  Puryear's approach to object-making has been influenced by the 
indigenous techniques and materials of cultures he has encountered on 
his travels. His sculptures are painstakingly constructed from 
materials such as wood, metal and stone. Their elegant, abstract forms 
reflect his deep interest in history.
  Puryear received a MacArthur Foundation award in 1989 and the 
National Medal of Arts from President Obama in 2011. This year, he is 
representing the United States at the 58th Venice Biennale. The Museum 
of Modern Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago have 
organized major retrospectives, and his work has been acquired by 
museums across the United States, Europe and Asia.
  Madam Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to join me in 
recognizing Martin Puryear for his outstanding accomplishments as an 
artist and honored DC native.

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