September 21, 2020

The David Owsley Museum of Art (DOMA) at Ball State University will host “20/20: Twenty Women Artists of the Twentieth Century,” highlighting some of the most significant modern and contemporary women artists, from September 24 to December 20. DOMA is currently open for in-person visits, subject to changes in University guidelines. Masks and physical distancing are required, and other safety protocols are outlined at bsu.edu/doma/visit.

Inspired by and coinciding with the centennial celebration of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, the exhibition includes works in a vast array of mediums, from paintings, photographs, prints, sculpture, and drawings from the museum’s collection, along with loans from Ball State’s Andrew Seager Archive of the Built Environment.

These works of art serve as a lens to more clearly view the accomplishments of 20 American women artists of local, regional, national, and international prominence. The featured artists include both lesser known and famous women, such as Winifred Brady Adams, Betty Esman, Perle Fine, Grace Hartigan, Margo Hoff, Lee Krasner, and Joan Mitchell; Indiana’s first licensed female architect Juliet Peddle; photographers Berenice Abbott, Margaret Bourke-White, Imogen Cunningham, and Eva Rubinstein; sculptors Harriet Frishmuth and Toshiko Takaezu; as well as modern and contemporary artists Judy Chicago, Jenny Holzer, Judy Ledgerwood, Irene Rice Pereira, Lorna Simpson, and Kara Walker.

“The 100th anniversary of the achievements of the suffrage movement is an opportunity for us to visit our collection in depth,” said Robert La France, director of DOMA and curator of the exhibition. “This exhibition showcases 80 years of collecting works by 20th-century women artists, starting with efforts by the Ball family and the museum’s legendary director Alice Nichols through today.”

The exhibition at DOMA is free and open to the public. Online virtual tours are planned for those unable to visit or for visitors who wish to enjoy the works in a new way from home.

Public Program Highlights

Visit bsu.edu/DOMA for details on these programs, as well as museum hours, exhibitions, and other programs events for children and adults. Upcoming public programs related to this exhibition include:

September 25, 6:30 p.m.: View the first hour of “The Vote,” a new four-hour, two-part PBS documentary series that tells the story of the campaign waged by American women for the right to vote; follow the viewing with an online discussion of the 19th Amendment’s connection with the “20/20” exhibition. This screening is in collaboration with WIPB.

October 21, noon: Denise Mahoney, DOMA registrar and collection manager, will present an online express talk introducing the work of Margo Hoff and others in the “20/20” exhibition.

Exhibition Support

This special exhibition was made possible by support from the Friends of the David Owsley Museum of Art.