© 2024 WMKY
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

‘Women of Influence’ Exhibit at the Kentucky Artisan Center

Kentucky Artisan Center

Declared the “Year of the Woman,” 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the United States’ 19th Amendment, which guarantees and protects women’s constitutional right to vote. The Kentucky Artisan Center celebrates the Year of the Woman with the exhibit “Women of Influence.”

This exhibit showcases works by sixteen Kentucky artists who have created new works that honor and are inspired by women of influence throughout history. The exhibit joins many other efforts across the country to ensure that the stories of the women who changed history are shared and celebrated.

Biographies alongside the works tell each woman’s story including statements by each artist. Women represented hail from many countries and careers and from a timeline that spans from the 1600’s to the present.

Numerous portraits feature women who have broken ground in their respective fields such as internationally known Jane Goodall, Malala Yousafzai, and Frieda Kahlo.

American female icons showcased include Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Maya Angelou, Pocahontas, Harriett Tubman, Gloria Steinem, Marilyn Monroe, Eleanor Roosevelt, Elizabeth Blackwell, Judith Resnik, Maya Lin, Susan B. Anthony, Llena Ros Lehtinen, Rachel Carson and Rosa Parks.

The earliest woman represented in the exhibit is the Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi, who become the first woman artist member of the Florence Accademia di Arte in 1615.

Of special interest are works featuring Kentucky women of influence, including Laura Clay, Mary Breckinridge, Cornelia Dozier Cooper, Phyllis George Brown, Mary Britton, Lucy Braun, and Attica Scott.

Three Kentucky women of influence from the Bowling Green, KY region, include works by artist Leslie Nichols who uses a manual typewriter to create portraits of Leyda Becker, Patti Minter, and Mary Virginia Cook Parish. 

Participating artists include: Lisa Austin, Sylvia Brestel, Sandra Charles, and Joyce Garner of Louisville; Mave Brittain, Kenzie Dickens and Elizabeth Worley of Lexington; Kathy Conroy, Pleasureville; Eugene King, Stanton; Kim Kobersmith and Amy Lewis of Berea; Morgan McGill, Goshen; Leslie Nichols, Bowling Green; Peggy Sherry, Somerset; Sarah Cobb Spradlin, Paris, and David Waltz, Columbia.

Exhibit dates are October 18 – December 31, 2020.

The Center features works by more than 850 artisans from over 100 counties across the Commonwealth.

For more information about events call 859-985-5448 or online at: http://www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov

The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is located at 200 Artisan Way, just off Interstate 75 at Berea Exit 77. The center’s exhibits, shopping and travel information areas are open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the cafe is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free.

All guests will be required to follow current public health guidelines including face covering and social distancing requirements.

(provided by Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea)

Paul Hitchcock earned his Masters in Communications from Morehead State University and Bachelors in Radio-TV/Psychology from Georgetown College. A veteran broadcaster for more than 40 years and an avid fan of blues, jazz and American roots music. Hitchcock has been with WMKY since 1986 and was named General Manager in 2003. He currently hosts "Muddy Bottom Blues" (Fri., 8pm-9pm), "Nothin' But The Blues" (Sat., 8pm-12am), "Sunday Night Jazz Showcase" and "Live From The Jazz Lounge" (Sun., 8pm-9pm) and "The Golden Age of Radio" (Sun., 2pm-3pm). He also serves as producer for "A Time For Tales" and "The Reader's Notebook."