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A Picture-Perfect Portrait: Eliza Hoffman’s Take on Dorothy Vaughan

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On July 19, 2024, NASA officially named Johnson Space Center’s building 12 the “Dorothy Vaughan Center in Honor of the Women of Apollo.” A portrait of Dorothy Vaughan is now the central feature at the entrance of the newly named building. This portrait was hand-painted by Eliza Hoffman, an accomplished artist who is also a recent graduate from Clear Creek Independent School District.

A girl with brown hair sketches a portrait of a women on a canvas.
Recent Clear Creek Independent School District graduate and artist Eliza Hoffman hand-painted a portrait of Dorothy Vaughan in honor of the Women of Apollo.

The handcrafted portrait of Vaughan took about a month to complete. The photo the Vaughan family wanted to use for the ceremony was black and white, so Hoffman had to brainstorm how to bring the photo to life in living color. This led her to search for colorized versions of the reference photo on the internet to guide her in the painting process. She revealed that she first learned of Vaughan from the movie “Hidden Figures,” which she was inspired to watch after reading the book “Women in Space” throughout her childhood.

When privately revealing the artwork to the Vaughan family, Hoffman felt their emotion and joy. She reflected, “I am honored to have the family of such a great woman be so moved by my painting. It is a memory that I will always remember.”

jsc2024e049907.jpg?w=2048
NASA’s Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche greets artist Eliza Hoffman at the surprise unveiling of Dorothy Vaughan’s painted portrait in the main hallway of the Dorothy Vaughan Center in Honor of the Women of Apollo.
NASA/David DeHoyos

Hoffman shared that “One of the great things about making art is that it communicates information about the subject and its emotion to the audience. In this case, I was given the chance to create a portrait which will help inform people for years to come about Dorothy Vaughan’s life and legacy.”

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, it was noted to Hoffman that her portrait will now become a part of Johnson’s history. Through Hoffman’s research on Vaughan, she noticed that Vaughan was not only a person beloved by many but also a woman that walked with humility and gentleness, which she hopes viewers see in her painting.

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