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The University of Colorado Art Museum opened its new exhibit “Pioneers: Women Artists in Boulder” on Sept. 14. With works spanning from 1898 to 1950, the gallery displays paintings, cartoons and ceramics from female artists who lived in the Boulder area. The exhibit is free to the public and will be open through Feb. 4.
Many of the artists featured were women who moved to Colorado from the East Coast, and their art showcases how strongly they were influenced by the American West. Most of the paintings are composed of Western landscapes or buildings and made strong use of color. Looking at the art gave me a sense of how much nature dominated life out west and what it meant to these women.
“Some of these women talk about the landscape being both interior and exterior,” said Kirk Ambrose, chair of CU’s Department of Art and Art History. “Interior in that it was the way they were creating these new spaces for themselves; you can almost understand it as a space of freedom and self-identification for them.”
Ambrose curated the exhibit, which has been in development since 2014.
I found the exhibition to be compelling: The focus on American Western art and female artists made it stand out from the usual museum experience, where artwork tends to skew European and male. Many of the artists featured either taught at CU or were married to spouses who did. It was interesting to learn about how they influenced the school.
Colorado gave women the right to vote before any of the Eastern states and offered a sense of greater opportunity to women. Along with creating Boulder’s art culture, many of the artists featured were also involved in the social movements of their day. They used their art either directly or indirectly to promote their causes.
“Women had such a strong hand in shaping Boulder as we know today,” said Jessica Brunecky, the museum’s director of visitor experience. “I think through the artists we have selected for this exhibition, you can see how they were plugging into the national movements that were happening and that Boulder has always been maybe a little bit ahead of its time.”
Contact CU Independent News Staff Writer Carina Julig at Carina.Julig@colorado.edu
