Pushing Boundaries – the making of…

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Pushing Boundaries – the making of…

Our new exhibition, Pushing Boundaries: Early Women Artists of Colorado, opens in just 8 days! This exhibit is particularly special because of the collaboration with Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art. Throughout a two-year research project thirty-two students at DU’s School of Art and Art History conducted foundational research on the artwork loaned from Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art. The rediscovery of these eighteen artists resulted in surprising information overlooked and erased in the writing of Colorado art history.

Students worked with Vicki Myhren Gallery director Dan Jacobs in the planning and presentation of the exhibit. The research collected under the guidance of art history professor Annette Stott was organized into the four groups that now hang in the exhibit. The groups – Commercial Artists, Revolutionary Artist-Educators, Career Artists, and Career Interrupted Artists – tell four overarching narratives of life as a female artist during the time period. On closer inspection you will notice that several artists appear in multiple groups, demonstrating that their careers were fluid and not defined to one path.

The opening reception takes place on Thursday, March 24, 5-7 PM. Enjoy light refreshments co-hosted by Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art. We hope to see you there!

Margaret McKay Tee, Irrigation, c. 1945, watercolor on paper. Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, Denver
Margaret McKay Tee, Irrigation, c. 1945, watercolor on paper. Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, Denver

                                                                       Complete List of Featured Artists

                                        Julia Vernon Criswell                                                Nellie Augusta Knopf

                                        Gladys Caldwell Fisher                                              Maud Leach

                                        Irene Fowler                                                             Anne Van Briggle Ritter

                                        Mary Chilton Gray                                                     Inez Tatum

                                        Helen Hagerman                                                       Margaret McKay Tee

                                        Elsie Haddon Haynes                                                 Lucile Thomas

                                        Elsie Ward Hering                                                     Myra Laura Thomas

                                        Abigail Holman                                                         Gwendolyn Meux Waldrop

                                        Ann E. Jones                                                             Zola Zaugg