Ulysses Davis

1914 - 1990

Ulysses Davis (1914-1990) was a barber in Savannah for nearly 50 years. During his free time he would whittle wood into beautifully expressive works of art, although he would have never considered himself an artist. People would come to his barbershop, not just to get haircuts, but to see his pieces lining the shelves like works in an art gallery.

 Davis used lumber from shipyards to carve many of his pieces. With his experience as a railroad blacksmith and his knowledge of metal working, Davis was able to fabricate his own carving tools. He also incorporated objects (like his wife’s jewelry) into some of the sculptures, colored them with shoe polish, and added textural details using his barber shears. 

Davis carved furniture pieces and reliefs, but mostly created historical, biblical, and fantastical figures influenced by African forms. His most famous work was a series of mahogany busts of every single United States president. Davis even personally presented a bust of Jimmy Carter to Carter’s family.

In 1988, Davis received the Georgia Governor’s Award in the Arts. Davis never sold his extraordinary work, so few people outside of Savannah ever got to see any of it. He once said of his sculptures, “These things are very dear to me. They’re a part of me. They’re my treasure. If I sold these, I’d be really poor.” Davis’ home and barbershop at the corner of Bull and 45th Street no longer exist, and an important part of Savannah’s African-American art history is lost with them.

 When Davis died, his hundreds of works of art were entrusted to the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation and the Beach Institute where they keep a permanent exhibit. Most of the 238 works are kept in storage and rotated out. - From Savannah Now – Savannah Morning News dated: July 14, 2021