In this illustrated lecture, Kathleen Motes Bennewitz and Ive Covaci, PhD, will discuss selected works on display in "In Their Element(s): Women Artists Across Media" to showcase the role of women as artists and caretakers in the development and growth of the Westport Public Art Collections (WestPAC), from the 1960s to today.

WestPAC encompasses nearly 2,000 artworks in various media displayed in public schools and municipal buildings throughout Westport. The holdings include murals created by Westport artists for the Works Progress Administration, works supporting and promoting the artistic and cultural heritage of the community, and others by nationally and globally known artists that were collected with the vision for original art to be a daily part of the educational environment of students.

We invite you to join the conversation via the following options:
-In-person in the Diffley Board Room, on the first floor of Bellarmine Hall (limited seating!)
-Streaming via thequicklive.com

This event is presented in conjunction with the exhibition "In Their Element(s): Women Artists Across Media," on view in the Bellarmine Hall Galleries from April 21-July 15, 2023.

About the exhibition:

The exhibition – the first exhibition in the museum’s history to have been fully developed and curated by an undergraduate student – features more than 50 contemporary artworks by female artists across a variety of media. Among the artists included in the exhibition are photographers Laurie Simmons and Donna Ferrato, painter Miriam Shapiro, and painters and sculptors Linda Stein and Ruby Sky Stiler. The majority of artworks in the exhibition will come from the museum’s collection, and will include many recent acquisitions, with select loans coming from the Westport Public Art Collection (WestPAC) and private collections.

Curated by Fairfield University student Phoebe Charpentier ’23

https://www.fairfield.edu/museum/in-their-elements/