Exhibiting Women Artists in South Eastern Ohio: How Does the Appalachian Experience Shape Artists?

We would like to discuss our three part series of exhibitions of the work of women artists in the Kennedy Museum of Art collection with an emphasis on the local women artists whose work was exhibited. Women Artists at the KMA: Part I, explored works from the Kennedy’s collection created by American women artists working prior to the feminist movement (pre 1970). It included work by local artists such as Isabel Work and Katherine McQuaid. The second iteration, Women Artists at the KMA: Part II highlighted two local artists: Anne Clark Culbert, whose eccentric ceramic sculptures of animal-headed humans often commented on social inequities, and Bernarda Shahn, wife of the well-known social realist painter Ben Shahn and a native of Athens, OH. Both women were colorful characters whose art making represented one aspect of their prodigious output. Women Artists at the KMA: Part III will include a performance by the collective The Bridge Club: Annie Strader (OU alumni), Emily Bivens and Julie Willis. The Bridge Club will be performing The Trailer, a mobile installation that addresses the local and regional characteristics of the site in which it is located. All three of these exhibits highlight the vibrant and independent art scene that existed in Athens, Ohio