Edna Manley

Edna Manley
Manley in 1955
Born
Edna Swithenbank

(1900-02-28)28 February 1900
Died9 February 1987(1987-02-09) (aged 86)
Notable workThe Beadseller (1922)
The Listener (1924)
The Prophet (1935)
Negro Aroused (1935)
The Digger (1936)
Spouse
(m. 1921; died 1969)
ChildrenDouglas Manley
Michael Manley

Edna Swithenbank Manley, OM (28 February 1900 – 9 February 1987) was a Jamaican artist, known primarily as a sculptor, although her oeuvre included significant drawings and paintings. Trained in British neoclassical tradition, Manley became a major figure in Jamaican art, with her work forming an important part of the National Gallery of Jamaica's permanent collection. Edna Manley was also an early supporter of art education in Jamaica, having both organised and taught art classes at the Junior Centre of the Institute of Jamaica throughout the 1940's.

These classes developed into a more formal setting with the establishment of Jamaica's first Art School, the Jamaica School of Art and Craft in 1950. The school would eventually expand into a college, and in 1995 was renamed the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in honour of the artist's pioneering role in Jamaican Art.

Edna Manley was the wife of Norman Manley, the founder of the Jamaican People's National Party and the 1st Premier of Jamaica. She is often considered the "mother of Jamaican art".