A Closer Look: ‘Women Breaking Boundaries’ at the Cincinnati Art Museum
Interview by Brittany Barker. Compilation and photography by Chelsie Walter. Sponsored by the Cincinnati Art Museum.
Women Breaking Boundaries is a new exhibit exploring the role of women in art and art history at the Cincinnati Art Museum. The exhibit is a part of a larger initiative called Power of Her, a collaboration of organizations across the greater Cincinnati region united to activate and amplify women’s voices in the arts.
These are some really powerful women who are working within established traditions, disrupting it just enough to get what they need, and really making a difference.
–Dr. Ainsley M. Cameron, curator
The exhibition was curated by the Cincinnati Art Museum’s Dr. Ainsley M. Cameron. We caught up with Dr. Cameron in the October edition of Community Mix to learn more about the motivation behind Women Breaking Boundaries, the women featured, and Dr. Cameron’s own connection to the exhibit.
She gave us a glimpse of some of the artists we can expect to see:
Based in Cincinnati, Lillian Whitteker made a little suffragette doll and it sold as a stitching pattern. [Her work is instilled with] subversive protofeminism – you’re a mom and you’ve got a young daughter; you want to talk about women’s rights and the right to vote, so you give her a doll. She stitches it – women’s work. It’s a massively important political message.
You see Bonnie Cashin – one of the fashion designers in the show – she transformed the way women wear clothes. She incorporated pockets and purses inside of the garment itself to keep your hands free. And she did that for herself. She traveled a lot and thought, “This is incredibly cumbersome.”
Ann Lowe was an incredible African American fashion designer who designed Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress. Her work is very intricate with incredible craftsmanship.
This exhibit is full of so many more amazing women who broke barriers in metalwork, oil on canvas, ceramic, prints, photography, and fashion. Check out a sneak peek of the exhibit below.
Women Breaking Boundaries will be on view in the Vance Waddell and Mayerson Galleries (Galleries 124 and 125) until April 12, 2020. Admission is free. All are welcome.
Community Mix is our monthly hodge-podge of content from the voices of a hodge-podge of beautiful Cincinnatians. We’re lucky to partner with other change-makers in Cincy on sponsored pieces like this one and more. For more information on sponsorships, contact C.E.O. Chelsie Walter.