Home builders. Survivors. Trend-setters. Fighters. Standing in the gallery of BYU’s Museum of Art, students can almost hear them whispering from the walls. They are 58 remarkable female artists, and their messages of inspiration and hope are featured in the MOA’s “A Studio of Her Own” exhibit, which closes this week.
“We had no idea that 2020 would be such an unexpected and unprecedented year with the pandemic, and with earthquakes and fires and racial unrest,” exhibition curator Janalee Emmer said. But in the paintings, she said, “there’s a lot of relevance for today’s moment.” “A Studio of Her Own” celebrates 110 works by female artists of diverse backgrounds and faiths. Some of their pieces celebrate racial diversity, like the vibrant quilt “Subway Graffiti #3” by prominent Black artist Faith Ringgold, who grew up in Harlem. The piece features superstars like Diana Ross and Michael Jackson as well as the faces of Ringgold’s own friends and family members. Emmer said the unique piece “Blanket Stories,” which features a tower of colorful handwoven blankets, speaks to the universal struggle for identity through the experiences of its creator, Marie Watt, the daughter of a native Seneca mother and a rancher father.
While some of the artwork featured in the exhibition focuses on social tension and change, Emmer said there are also pieces meant to bring comfort and hope.
Read the full article written by Maddie Mehr at universe.byu.edu.