Now on view – POWER UP: American Women Printmakers

POWER UP: American Women Printmakers

Special Collections Gallery
Charles Marvin Fairchild Memorial Gallery
June 17, 2022 – October 7, 2022

Four prints that read power up in bold capitol letters, in blue, orange, green, red, and yellow. — *Power Up [group of 4 serigraphs], Sister Corita (Elizabeth Kent), Screenprint/serigraph on Pellon, ed. 100, ca. 1965, 1111.1.6564*

POWER UP: American Women Printmakers strives to honor the achievements of women artists within the field of printmaking. Historically, women artists encountered institutional barriers to success in the fine arts, including a lack of access to formal training, exhibitions, and sales. The rise of fine art printmaking in the mid-nineteenth century, together with new educational opportunities to train in the laborious and highly technical printmaking process, allowed women to master the medium and gain recognition and income from their artworks.

The achievements of female printmakers date back to the emergence of prints as a fine art during the American Etching Revival of the 1880s. Since that time, the printmakers in this exhibition have expanded the genre through remarkable displays of technique and through the creation of new printmaking studios. Their legacy as teachers to the next generation ensures the continuing power of printmaking. POWER UP divides the work of these printmakers into five themes that tell this story: Identity and Politics; Women Representing Women; Women and the Art Market; Support: The Importance of Studios, Teachers, and Mentors; and the Labor of Printmaking.

Read more below:

Digital exhibition on the Georgetown University website: POWER UP: American Women Printmakers

Article published to the Georgetown University website: “Anti-Pandemic Class” Curates Library Exhibition

Guest curated by the students of AMUS-508, Spring 2022: Chloe Akazawa, Beatriz Areizaga, Kennedy Brooks, Sadie Butler, Skyler Coffey, Francesca Donovan, Oscar Flores-Montero, Olivia Giampietro, Sosse Krikorian, Emma McMorran, Naren Rajani, Kyra Resnicow, Emma Trone, Camille Williams, and Amy Zavecz.

Instructed by: Professor Lisa M. Strong, Director, Art and Museum Studies; Art Curator LuLen Walker, Booth Family Center for Special Collections; and Assistant Art Curator Christen Runge, Booth Family Center for Special Collections.