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Riffe Exhibit Celebrates Significance Of Women Painters
by Shane Cartmill
 The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery will present an exhibition highlighting the significance of influential female artists from Ohio. Breaking With Tradition: Ohio Women Painters, 1870 – 1950 will be on view November 3, 2005 through January 8, 2006. The exhibition is curated by Massillon Museum director Christine Fowler Shearer.
“This exhibition highlights the professional careers of a group of women artists from Ohio,” says Shearer. “It depicts the struggles they faced as well as the triumphs they encountered.”
Breaking With Tradition illustrates the significance of women who influenced the art realm from the years following the American Civil War through the era immediately after World War II. Paintings by 15 artists, including Elizabeth Nourse and Alice Schille, whose work is experiencing a surge in popularity, offers a unique perspective on the role of women in the arts. Primarily comprised of watercolor and oil paintings, the exhibition encompasses the progression of styles from academic to modern.
Largely ignored in art history textbooks prior to the 1980s, interest in women artists has experienced a surge over the last two decades. As evidenced in this exhibition, Ohio has always been at the forefront of nurturing and establishing female artists. Despite that fact, women painters were often known not as professional artists but as amateurs and hobbyists.
Breaking With Tradition exhibits work by the following artists: Caroline A. Lord (1860 – 1927), Emma Mendenhall (1873 – 1964), Elizabeth Nourse (1859 – 1938), Dixie Selden (1870 – 1935), Annie G. Sykes (1855 – 1931) and Bessie Hoover Wessell (1889 – 1973) of the Cincinnati area; Carolyn Bradley (1898 – 1954), Harriet Kirkpatrick (1877 – 1962), Alice Schille (1869 – 1955) and Yeteve Smith (1888 – 1975) from Columbus; May Ames (1863 – 1943), Clara Deike (1881 – 1964), Natalie Enyon Grauer (1888 – 1955), Grace Kelly (1877 – 1950) and Edith Stevenson Wright (1883 – 1975) from Cleveland.
On Thursday, November 3, from 5 – 7 p.m., the Riffe Gallery will host a free public opening reception.
A free exhibition tour with curator Christine Shearer, Director of the Massillon Museum will be offered on Friday, November 4, 2005, from 12 – 1 p.m. Shearer’s lunchtime tour will address the challenges and stereotypes faced by Ohio women painters on their way to becoming pioneering and trendsetting artists. She will explain Ohio's role in nurturing women artists and how these women played an important role in art history.
On Sunday, November 6, 2005 at 2 p.m. Columbus’ Women At Play will perform the site-specific drama Woman In A Yellow Dress. It centers around a poetry-writing group and their quest for the woman in the yellow dress who has stolen their most prized photographs which they had planned to use during their poetry reading. Tickets are $15 or $10 for students and seniors and are available by calling 614/457-6580.
The Riffe Gallery will offer free group tours Tuesday through Friday throughout the run of the exhibition. To schedule a group tour contact Riffe Gallery Director Mary Gray at mary.gray@oac.state.oh.us or 614/728-2239.
Breaking With Tradition: Ohio Women Painters, 1870 - 1950 has been organized by the Massillon Museum. The exhibition has received funding from the Ohio Arts Council, The Stark Community Foundation, the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Ohio Humanities Council. Additional support has been received from private individuals.The Riffe Gallery is supported by Ohio Building Authority. Media sponsors include Alive, CityScene, Movie Media, Ohio Magazine and Time Warner.
The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery showcases the work of Ohio's artists and curators, exhibitions produced by the Ohio Arts Council’s International Program and the collections of the region’s museums and galleries. The Riffe Gallery’s Education Program seeks to increase public appreciation and understanding of those exhibitions.
The gallery is located in the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, State and High Streets, Columbus, OH. Gallery hours are Tuesday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday 12-8 p.m. and Sunday 12-4 p.m. Closed Monday and state holidays. Admission is free. For information, call the Riffe Gallery at 614/644-9624 or visit us on the web at www.riffegallery.org.
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.
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Click here to view a sample of images from the exhibitions.
This media release is made available by the Ohio Arts Council's Riffe Gallery. It may be used without further permission for the reporting of news and for private purposes.
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