[1][2] Vinnie Bagwell was born and lives in Yonkers, New York, where she resided in the town of Greenburgh for most of her early life.
Completely untutored, she began sculpting in 1993 and since then has gone on to earn many awards and commissions from communities around the United States.
[1] Her works tend to reflect important African American figures and the struggles of enslaved people who were taken from their homes and their lives to become the property of someone else.
It consists of 5 sculptures depicting individuals who were some of the first enslaved people to be freed from slavery by the law prior to the conception of the Emancipation Proclamation.
[11] In 2017, Bagwell was a recipient of the Trailblazers Award bestowed by the African American Advisory Board of Westchester County.