Minnie Evans Study Center

Minnie Eva Jones was born on December 12, 1892, in Long Creek, Pender County, NC. Her mother, Ella, was 13 years old at the time, and they soon moved in with her grandmother to live in nearby Wilmington, NC. Minnie was five years old at the time of the white supremacist Wilmington Massacre and Coup of 1898. Her early years were shaped by her grandmother, Mary Croom Jones Robinson and their life in an African American section of a port town. She attended school through part of the sixth grade and then began work as a sounder, selling oysters and clams door to door. She traced her background to a maternal ancestor, Moni, who was forced into slavery and shipped with her children from Trinidad to Charleston, South Carolina.

In addition to her strong religious upbringing and love of studying Greek mythology in school, Minnie was strongly influenced by her dreams and visions. She recalled having trouble resting and sleeping even as a child due to these dreams and visions.

In 1908, she married Julius Evans of Wrightsville Sound. The couple had three sons: Elisha, David and George. Julius Evans worked for millionaire Pembroke Jones at his estate at Pembroke Park. After Pembroke Jones died in 1919, his widow Sarah (Sadie) remarried Henry Walters, a railroad executive and founder of Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore (which later became the Walters Art Museum).

After a number of years staying home with her children, Minnie Evans worked in domestic service for Sadie Jones Walters, where she was likely exposed to fine art in the course of her work. Sadie Jones Walters continued to improve her garden estate a few miles south of Pembroke Park, which would later become the famous Airlie Gardens.

Minnie Evans completed her first two works, My Very First and My Second, ink on paper, in the 1930s. She stored the drawings in a magazine where they remained for several years. Sometime later, around 1940, she was cleaning her home and throwing old magazines into the fire when the two works slipped out and fell to the ground. She connected this event to a vision in which she heard a profound directive, “Why don’t you draw or die?” She answered, “My, my.”  She began drawing consistently using crayons, pen, and ink from that day on.

In 1948, Minnie Evans began working as the gatekeeper for Airlie Gardens after A. C. Corbett purchased the property. She served as the ticket taker there until 1974. The lush botanical surroundings had a profound impact on her art. During that period, she produced thousands of works that she would sell to interested visitors for a dollar or less. By the mid-1950s, she was exploring oil painting.

In 1961, Minnie Evans had her first formal exhibit at The Artist’s Gallery, which the next year became St. John’s Museum of Art in downtown Wilmington, NC, the predecessor of Cameron Art Museum.

In 1962, Minne Evans met New York photographer Nina Howell Starr, and the two women became lifelong friends. In 1966, Nina Howell Starr helped arrange exhibits of Minnie Evan’s work at the Church of the Epiphany and St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in New York. From that time on, Minnie Evans’ works were featured in exhibitions across the country and overseas. Her works are found in major museums in the US and many private collections.

Minnie Evans retired from her job at Airlie Gardens in 1974 at the age of 82 due to ill health. She died in 1987 at the age of 95 and was survived by two of her sons, 8 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and 10 great-great-grandchildren.

CAM is home to the Minnie Evans Study Center and is committed to preserving and researching her life and work. The Study Center, which was funded by the North Carolina Arts Council, preserves the papers of Minnie Evans, research, and ephemera associated with the artist. CAM owns more artworks by Minnie Evans than any other institution.

For more information on Minnie Evans and the Minnie Evans Study Center, please contact Susan Whisnant, Registrar of Collections and Exhibitions [email protected]