WOV has it Covered: Downtown, Motown and Outta Town!

Now through July 25: WOV ART; Celebrating 40 Creative Years @ BNY Mellon Satellite Gallery, Steel Plaza, downtown, Pittsburgh. Contemporary Craft--celebrating its 50th Anniversary--hosts the exhibition which features the work of: Charlotte Ka, Ruth Ward, Janet Watkins, Christine Bethea, LaVerne Kemp, Dominique Scaife, Ruth Bedian, Elizabeth Asche Douglas, Altha Pittrell Jo-Anne Bates, Ashley Jones, and Lynn B., and Mary Martin. The Exhibit then travels to the Touchstone Center for Crafts, where the exhibition runs from July 31 through October 2.

Look for more from LaVerne! Her work is downtown--twice! She's showcased as one of the city's top artists in an installation curated by Pittsburgh-based fashion designer, Tereneh Idia. called 202021: A New Constellation.  (See video)  And Kemp's beautiful hand-made items are on view April 24th on the Smithsonian's Craftoptomisim, an online store highlighting makers from all over the nation whose work exemplifies sustainable materials or practices. 

Upcoming Exhibitions:

Magnificent Motown! Art Inspired by the Music @ Kelly-Strayhorn on June 19th (Juneteenth) starting at Noon with African-American Vendors from Origins. 

WOV ART: A 40-year Retrospective Coming in October to University Art Gallery @ Frick Arts Building, Oakland.

WOV in NYC! Magnificent Motown! on tour @ Kenkelaba House for the Holidays

Downtown Exhibit UP, Motown Prospectus OUT as WOV ZOOMS into 40th

 

Christine Bethea, WOV; Abreihona Lenihan, Pitt Curatorial Student; Kate Lydon, Contemporary Craft @ BNY Gallery

This Anniversary year is shaping up!  We recently hung WOV: Celebrating 40 Creative Years at the BNY Satellite Gallery in Steel Plaza Station Downtown. Space is courtesy of Contemporary Craft, who is the official curator of the gallery. CC has been an on-going supporter of WOV for many years and is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year in a beautiful new location! The exhibition will run now through July 25, then travel to Touchstone Center for Crafts, where it will run from July 31 to October 2, ending with the center's annual Open House. Exhibiting artists: Lynn B., Jo-Anne Bates, Ruth Bedian, Christine Bethea, Elizabeth Asche Douglas, Charlotte Ka, LaVerne Kemp, Ashley Jones, Mary Martin, Altha Pittrell, Dominique Scaife, Ruth Ward, and Janet Watkins.

WOV just released a prospectus to members and invitees for our exhibition, Magnificent Motown: Art Inspired by the Music which will be presented by the Kelly Strayhorn Theater on Juneteeth (July 19th)

Women of Visions, who historically only exhibits visual art by African-American women, has invited a group of African American men, also visual artists, to pay homage to the most iconic record producers in history, using their favorite song titles to inspire new works of art. 

Women of Visions has zoomed into the future! With the pandemic came new opportunities. More and more of our members are learning to use ZOOM technology. WOV held its first experimental Zoom meeting in May of 2020. Since then, members have been learning to adjust to what has become a vital form of communication in all facets of life. Below are images of some of our most recent Zoom encounters: A meeting of SPACE (Small Pittsburgh, Arts Coalition for Equity); and the recent Artist Talk by WOV Treasurer, Janet Watkins with the Curatorial Studies class at the University of Pittsburgh under Professor, Alex Taylor. His spring class sets the groundwork for WOV's 40-year Retrospective at UAG, a corresponding class with a WOV exhibition programmed by Janet McCall,, who will soon retire as Director of Contemporary Craft, as she takes on this new assignment.

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Key Zoom meeting with members of SPACE

Image: Psychedelic Shack by Janet Watkins 

Artist Talk via Zoom with University of Pittsburgh and WOV Treasurer, Janet Watkins

 

From the grapevine: The Westmoreland Museum recently acquired Divine Plan, by WOV Member, Tina Willaims Brewer.

Tina Williams Brewer with her quilt, Divine Plan

WOV's First 2021 Anniversary Exhibit @ BNY Mellon Gallery Thru July 25th

Made You Look Series #4 and #5 by Ashley Jones.

WOV kicked off their 40th Anniversary last fall with their exhibition Creatives in the Era of COVID 19 @ the Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media in October 2020. Even then, the concerns of how to get work into galleries and spaces that were closed by the pandemic weighed heavy. But following the presidential election, the spirit of resilience surfaced, and the country danced in the streets.

Fortunately, we at WOV had never lost heart. All through 2020, the foundations were being laid for a truly celebratory year in 2021. We have four wonderful exhibitions planned during our 40th: WOV Celebrating 40 Creative Years at the BNY Mellon Satellite Gallery now through July 25 which travel to Touchstone Center for Crafts. and remains until October 2. Our summer event will be Motown, Art Inspired by the Music at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater. starting June 19th And finally, our 40th Anniversary Retrospective at the University Art Gallery,@Frick Fine Arts Building in Oakland in the fall of 2021. For detail, keep checking our Women of Visions Facebook page.

Celebrating 40 Creative Years includes the work of, Ashley Jones, LaVerne Kemp, Charlotte Ka, Janet Watkins, Altha Pittrell, Dominique Scaife, Mary Martin, Elizabeth Asche Douglas, Ruth Bedian, Jo-Anne Bates, Lynn B., and Christine Bethea. The exhibition is being presented in collaboration our friends at Contemporary Craft, celebrating their 50th Anniversary.

Global Artist/Former WOV member, Renee Stout Joins Pitt University Course on 40th

 

Renee Stout, today a well-known artist of international acclaim with solid credentials from top museums and galleries (and her own Wiki page}, had recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon University when she joined WOV c.1983. Since then, Stout has continued her support of WOV as an alumnus and is currently supporting the 40th Anniversary. She has joined WOV members as one of the Teaching Artists for Professor, Alex James Taylor's Curatorial Studies class, offered as a Spring course at the University of Pittsburgh. Others doing talks include Christine Bethea, LaVerne Kemp, Mary Martin, Dominique Scaife, Ruth Bedian, Ashley Jones, Charlotte Ka, and Janet Watkins.  Art Shown: Spirit of the Crossroads, by Renee Stout 2015-2019

HAA1019 Curatorial Development

Spring 2021

Professor Alex Taylor (he/him)

Tuesdays and Thursdays 9.25am-10.40am

 

Course Description:

 

This core museum studies course will work to develop the artist-based research leading to a major exhibition celebrating the fortieth anniversary of Women of Visions, Inc., the Pittsburgh-based collective of Black women artists, in the University Art Gallery in Fall 2021. Students will engage with art historical sources about the contemporary practice by Black women artists, and develop their own research that will contribute to the planning and programming of the exhibition. Student work in the class will culminate in a publishable essay on a single artist intended for inclusion in a proposed exhibition publication.

Course Rationale and Learning Objectives

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 Students in this class will develop skills in curatorial research and development, object-based analysis, and writing and editorial content coordination. Students will learn how to work with digital sources to describe historical content, to undertake biographical and contextual research that helps interpret works of contemporary art, and to navigate the complexities of collaborative work with varied resources. The outcomes for student work will be short, public-facing texts designed for clarity and audience engagement, oriented towards the communications requirements for diverse careers in the cultural sector and beyond.