Quad City Arts Partners with 6 QC venues to Celebrate Female Empowerment

Quad City Arts partners with six local institutions in the Quad Cities to celebrate women’s empowerment and work by female artists to have on exhibit for the public at the same time.  2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing and protecting women's constitutional right to vote.  This historic centennial offers an unparalleled opportunity to commemorate a milestone of democracy and to celebrate the achievements of women—especially in the arts.

Together, these six QC venues provide visual art and historic displays that reflect the importance, power and struggle of female artists, as well as all people who have worked tirelessly for the equality of women, world peace, and the advancement of humankind.

Quad City Arts’ September and October exhibition at the Quad City International Airport in Moline, titled “A Portrait of Remarkable Women,” features portraits painted by Iowa artists Heidi Hernandez of Davenport and Cecile Houel of Fort Madison, as well as sculptures by 11 women artists living within a 250-mile radius of the Quad Cities.  Sculptures are by:  Kristin Garnant, Hilde DeBruyne, Lisa Mahar, Liz Wakita, Judy Bales, Joan Webster-Vore, Stephanie J. Baugh, Elizabeth Rhoads Read, Lori Roderick, Karen Brinson, and Justine Zimmer. 

The exhibit “A Portrait of Remarkable Women” offers a glimpse of both the extraordinary women artists in our community as well as the women commemorated by Hernandez and Houel.  “One hundred years ago, female artists struggled to be taken seriously in the profession, which meant being included in important exhibitions alongside men and selling their work at comparable prices,” said Dawn Wohlford-Metallo, visual arts director for Quad City Arts.

“Now female artists can be self-supporting, have work purchased for museum collections, can own an art gallery, and be curators, esteemed educators, critics, writers, and speakers,” Wohlford-Metallo said.  “We now have numerous outstanding female artists here in our region to celebrate and share their work with the public.  These artists can all stand on their own merit and many have had solo exhibitions, and this anniversary provides us an opportunity to highlight talented women living here now.”

Heidi Hernandez chose to paint local and national female artists she admires.  “The collection of portraits I painted capture an exterior, a façade judged unfairly based on stereotypes and bias,” she said.  “Hidden truths, gleaned during interviews with the artists, are presented behind the portraits, peeking out underneath the edge of the painting, inviting the viewer to take a closer look.”  Through the process of painting and dialoguing with her subjects, Hernandez explored the term feminism and what it means to contemporary artists.

Convinced that art can contribute to world peace, internationally-recognized artist Cecile Houel started the “Nobel Peace Prize Collection: Peace Starts Within” in 2014, to celebrate all of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates of the prestigious Nobel Foundation since 1901.  Houel said she plans to do portraits of all 107 Nobel Peace Laureates.  

Dividing her time between Iowa and France, Houel paints the very personalized, large portraits of the famous laureates.  She typically completes 10 of the intensely personal, 4-foot by 4-foot portraits each year, honoring their will and dedication to make a better world with strength, courage, and creativity.  Each figure, internationally acclaimed or subject to controversy, brought their light and contributed to humanity’s evolution.  As part of this special exhibit commemorating women, Houel will exhibit six female Nobel Peace Prize Winners at the airport gallery.

Another 10 paintings from the same exhibit, “Nobel Peace Prize Collection: Peace Starts Within”, will be on view at Bettendorf’s Beréskin Gallery from Aug. 28 to Oct. 28, along with one from Heidi Hernandez.  The display, sponsored by WVIK, Quad-Cities NPR, will also feature preliminary drawings and studies.  The focus at Beréskin Gallery is not only the gender of the artists, but on the amazing accomplishments of people in the struggle for peace.

Included in the display at the Bereskin Gallery will be portraits of Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Elie Wiesel and Barack Obama, among others.  Born to a Catholic father and a Muslim mother, Houel said she witnessed discrimination while growing up in the Middle East.  “I have a deep compassion for diversity,” she said, noting her goal is to create peace events where she can display all of her works.

Pat Bereskin, owner of Beréskin Gallery & Art Academy, sees the Houel exhibition as a perfect opportunity for families involved in online schooling to learn about these important figures in history.  A downloadable “Passport for Peace” on the gallery website (bereskinartgallery.com) lists where each piece is displayed in the Quad-Cities and gives a biography of each Laureate.  “Together we will have a body of work that tells the history and importance of working for peace through the lives and brushstrokes of Cecile Houel,” said Pat Bereskin.

Additional paintings from the Nobel collection, along with preliminary drawings and studies, will be exhibited at the German American Heritage Center and Museum, and the River Center/Adler Theatre display case (also from Aug. 28-Oct. 28), both in Davenport.  The RiverCenter/Adler Theatre display case will also feature eight portrait paintings from Houel’s student, Rose Moore (who has taught at Bereskin Gallery).  “They’re absolutely beautiful,” Pat Bereskin said.  

The art in these exhibits is complemented by related long-term exhibits about empowerment and the 19th Amendment at Davenport’s Figge Art Museum and Putnam Museum & Science Center.
 
“Seen and Heard: The Art of Empowerment” at the Figge Art Museum (on the second floor through May 2021) features women artists who asserted their artistic empowerment despite social and cultural barriers.  In addition to empowering themselves, several of the artists on view give voice and visibility to the marginalized through their work.  This exhibition, drawn from the Figge’s collection, features 13 women artists, including Marisol Escobar, Grace Hartigan, Louise Nevelson, Lee Krasner, and Alison Saar. View it virtually here

“We are proud to present these dynamic artworks from the museum collection, including several recent acquisitions,” Figge assistant curator Vanessa Sage said.  “While issues of inequality and representation remain prevalent in the art world, the Figge is dedicated to better representing the world in which we live and the artists who are an essential part of it.”

 
The Putnam Museum has extended its exhibit on the women’s suffrage movement – “Liberated Voices / Changed Lives” – until Nov. 4 (the day after the presidential election).  The Putnam exhibit (view it virtually too) showcases how changing technology provided more time for women to work on the suffrage movement, which culminated in the signing of the 19th Amendment on Aug. 26, 1920.  The Putnam features an original touch-screen exhibit on Quad Citizens who worked for and against suffrage between 1900 and 1920.

Exhibits Summary

• Quad City Arts’ Art at the Airport Gallery, 2200 69th Ave, Moline, IL 61265 “A Portrait of Remarkable Women,” Sept. 2-Oct. 31, quadcityarts.com. (online exhibit coming soon)
• Beréskin Gallery & Art Academy, 2967 State Street, Bettendorf, “Nobel Peace Prize Collection: Peace Starts Within,” Aug. 28-Oct. 28, bereskinartgallery.com.
• German American Heritage Center, 712 W. 2nd St., Davenport, “Nobel Peace Prize Collection,” Aug. 28-Oct. 28, gahc.org.
• River Center/Adler Theatre display, 136 E. 3rd St., Davenport, works by Cecile Houel and Rose Moore, Aug. 28-Oct. 28.
• Figge Art Museum, 225 W. 2nd St., Davenport, “Seen and Heard: The Art of Empowerment,” now through May 2021, figgeartmuseum.org.
• Putnam Museum & Science Center, 1717 W. 12th St., Davenport, “Liberated Voices / Changed Lives,” now through Nov. 4, 2020, Putnam.org.