Alias E.J.
1930-2025
Works in the Collection
Biography
Evangeline Juliet Montgomery was born on May 2, 1930 in New York City. Her mother was a homemaker and her father, a Baptist minister. She discovered her artistic talents when she received her first oil painting set at the age of fourteen. In 1951, Montgomery earned her high school diploma from Seward Park High School.
From 1951 until 1954, she worked painting faces on dolls and religious statues. In 1955, Montgomery moved to Los Angeles with her husband and worked for Thomas Usher, an African American jewelry designer; while attending Los Angeles City College Evangeline earned an AA degree and she went on earn a BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts.
Evangeline entered the museum field in 1967 serving as an independent curator to museums, university galleries, community galleries and art centers where she organized over 150 exhibitions. She served as the curator for the Rainbow Sign Gallery in Berkeley, California before becoming an exhibition specialist for the American Association for State and Local History in Nashville, Tennessee and coordinating eight national workshops on “Interpreting the Humanities Through Museum Exhibits”. She also organized national exhibit workshops for the Association of African American Museums. From 1976 until 1979, Montgomery also served as a San Francisco art commissioner.
In 1980, Montgomery moved to Washington, D.C. where she worked as community affairs director for WHMM-TV. In 1983, Montgomery began her career with the United States Department of State as a program development officer for the Arts America Program at the United States Information Agency (USIA), specializing in American exhibitions touring abroad. In this capacity, she developed and implemented successful American fine art programs in the United States and throughout the world.
Ms. Montgomery was an active studio artist working in prints, metals, fiber and photography. Her works are in the Los Angeles Board of Education (Los Angeles, CA), The Oakland Museum (Oakland, CA) and The Museum of the National Center for African American Artists (Boston, MA) collections.
Montgomery has held solo shows in Washington, D.C., Detroit, Philadelphia, Boston and New Orleans. Her group exhibitions include the Washenaw Community College Art Gallery (Ann Arbor, MI), Stella Jones Gallery (New Orleans, LA), National Conference of Artists Gallery (Detroit, MI) and Schomburg Research Center Art Gallery (New York, NY). Montgomery’s solo exhibits include the Brandywine Workshop Printed Image Gallery (Philadelphia, PA), Anderson Gallery (Pontiac, MI), Hampton Institute Museum (Hampton, VA) and DePauw University Art Gallery (Greencastle, IN).