This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| The following, submitted November 2004, is from Ray Bonis, Virginia Commonwealth Libraries, whose collections houses the papers of Adele Clark in the Special Collections and Archives Department.
A founding member of the Virginia suffrage movement and a prominent supporter of the arts in Virginia, Adele Goodman Clark (1882-1983) exemplified the influential role civically active women played in the major social reform movements of the twentieth century. Calling politics and art her "creative spirits", Clark was involved in a number of reform initiatives throughout her century of life that championed the rights of women and promoted the arts.
The second oldest daughter of Robert Clark (1832?-1906) and Estelle Goodman Clark (1847-1937), Adele was born in Montgomery, Alabama on September 27, 1882. Before moving permanently to Richmond, the Clark family lived in New Orleans, LA, as well as the small town of Pass Christian, MS. It was in a one-room school house in the latter town that Adele developed a fondness for the arts. After her family moved to Richmond in 1894, Adele enrolled in the Virginia Randolph Ellett School (now St. Catherine's). Adele also studied art with Lilly M. Logan, who ran the art school at the Art Club of Richmond.
In 1906 she was awarded a scholarship to the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts (the Chase School of Art), where she studied under Kenneth Hays Miller, Douglas Cannal, William M. Chase, and Robert Henri, leader of the "Ash Can" school of painting. Upon her return to Richmond, Clark began a teaching career at the Art Club of Richmond. It was here that Adele began her long association and friendship with acclaimed Virginia artist, Nora Houston. When the Art Club of Richmond was dissolved in 1917, the women went on to establish The Atelier.
Under their direction this private art studio, located adjacent to Clark's Chamberlayne Avenue residence, became a training ground for such noted Virginia artists as Edmund Archer, Eleanor Fry and Theresa Pollack (founder of the VCU School of the Arts). Two years later they founded the Virginia League of Fine Arts and Handicrafts, where they both held the title of artistic director. During this period, they participated in a fundraising campaign for the resurrection of the old Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts. Their goal became a reality in 1930 when the new Richmond Academy of Arts, forerunner to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, was established on Capitol Street.*
Clark's interest in the suffrage movement began in 1909 when she was asked by novelist Ellen Glasgow to sign a petition calling for Virginia women to gain voting privileges. On November 27th of that year Clark, along with eighteen other civic-minded women, held a preliminary meeting to discuss the establishment of a state-wide suffrage organization. At this first meeting of what would become the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, Clark was elected secretary, a position she held for one year. She later helped direct legislative initiatives, organized suffrage rallies and went on speaking tours that helped establish new League chapters throughout the state. Clark also served for several years as chair of the ratification committee and head of the Equal Suffrage League lobby to the Virginia General Assembly.
After passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 (which was ratified by Virginia in 1952), the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia was transformed into the Virginia League of Women Voters (VLWV). For nearly two decades Clark played a major role in the VLWV.
Selected as the VLWV's first chair in 1920, Clark became president one year later. She held this position for eighteen years (non-consecutively). Her work in the VLWV involved constant study of legislation involving social issues and governmental efficiency and administration. In 1924, Clark was elected to the board of the National League of Women Voters (NLWV) as Director of the Third Region. The region included Washington, D.C., Virginia, and six other southern states. The following year she was elected Second Vice President of the NLWV, in which capacity she served until the Spring of 1928. During that period Clark traveled to conventions in twenty-four states on speaking tours. Along with other officers of the NLWV she helped resolve League organizational problems.
In addition to her work for the VLWV and NLWV, Clark also served on two important state government commissions. In 1922, Governor E. Lee Trinkle appointed her to the Commission on the Simplification of State and Local Government, on which she served for two years as secretary of the Commission. In addition to performing the editorial and clerical work of the Commission, Clark also authored several of the chapters of the Commission's final report (January 1924) to the Virginia General Assembly. Four years later, Governor Harry F. Byrd, Jr. appointed Clark to the Liberal Arts College for Women Commission, on which she also served as secretary. The nine-member Commission studied the feasibility of establishing a new liberal arts college for women in Virginia. The second report of the Commission (January 1930), which contained the "set-up" of the proposed college [now Mary Washington College], was the product of research conducted by Clark with the assistance of Commission advisors.
Clark's strong commitment to higher education was exemplified in several other ways. From March - September, 1926, she served as the Social Director of women students at the College of William and Mary. She was also instrumental in the establishment of citizenship courses for women through the University of Virginia's Extension Division. The courses were designed to educate women about the intricacies of governmental institutions.
During the New Deal era, Clark distinguished herself in two important agencies. In 1933, she was selected as a field supervisor for the National Reemployment Service (NRS). Along with the state reemployment director and other field staff, she assisted in the organization of local reemployment offices throughout Virginia. After stepping down as field supervisor for the NRS, Clark became the Virginia Arts Project Director of the Work Projects Administration (WPA). This particular branch of the WPA was created to provide employment opportunities for artists in Virginia. In addition to producing murals for public buildings, artists employed by the WPA executed hundreds of paintings that were then distributed to local and state tax-supported institutions for display. One major accomplishment during Clark's tenure at the WPA was the establishment of new art galleries, such as the Southwest Virginia Museum at Big Stone Gap.
In the later years of her life, Adele Clark remained active in the Richmond community. After converting to Roman Catholicism in 1942, Clark utilized her political experience as a member of the Richmond Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (RDCCW). From 1949 to 1959 she served as the chair of the RDCCW's Legislative Committee. Clark also continued to speak out against a number of issues affecting women, such as the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and abortion.
Clark remained an active supporter of the Richmond art community. From 1941 to 1964 she was a member of the Virginia Arts Commission. The Commission helped to produce many of the murals and portraits displayed in state government buildings that depict the history of Virginia. Moreover, Clark's dedication to the teaching of art did not wane in these later years. She taught art to both the young and old in hospitals, schools and church classrooms. She also continued to enjoy creating her own artworks. Clark's paintings, mostly portraits and landscapes, have been exhibited in several states. One of her paintings, "The Cherry Tree", is in the permanent collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Clark had a unique perspective on the influence of art on her political ideology. She once stated, "I've always tried to combine my interest in art with my interest in government. I think we ought to have more of the creative and imaginative in politics."
Adele Clark died at the age of 100 on June 5, 1983.
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