Riverside, CA – Artwork by Corita Kent, Sophie Taeuber-Arp Headlines New Permanent Collection Exhibit

Women Artists of the Permanent Collection: Mid-Nineteenth Century to Present Day
January 12 – April 10, 2013
Opening Reception on Friday, January 25, 2013, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
For more information, visit www.riversideartmuseum.org

Riverside CA – The Riverside Art Museum announces the opening of Women Artists of the Permanent Collection: Mid-Nineteenth Century to Present Day, running from January 12 through April 10, 2013. A free-to-the-public opening reception will be held on Friday, January 25th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Continuing the legacy of Julia Morgan, renowned architect of the RAM building and Hearst Castle, RAM celebrates a 145-year span of artwork from the influential female artists who embody a major constituency of its permanent collection. Originally designed by Morgan as the home of Riverside’s Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), RAM’s historic foundation has long been an instrumental source of support for women in the Riverside community.

“This exhibition continues a very well received recent initiative to showcase work from our permanent collection,” says Executive Director Drew Oberjuerge. “Many do not realize that RAM stewards a survey collection. We hope that this new thematic grouping of work will bring new light to our collections as viewers discover some of our favorites.”

Heralding some 40 female artists who have held their own within the still largely male-dominated art world, RAM proudly sheds light on their important contributions and multifaceted concerns from the mid-nineteenth century to present day. The exhibition includes work by such artists as: Kate Greenaway, Corita Kent, Virginia Katz, Doris Rosenthal, Lorna Simpson, Kate Steinitz, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and Patssi Valdez and Diane Gamboa of the ASCO performance art collective. Highlighted are artists central to such historical and contemporary art movements as Geometric Abstraction, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Performance and Activist Art, Identity Politics, Conceptualism, Illustration, California Regionalism, and Muralism.

“For the modestly-sized collection that the Riverside Art Museum has, we really have an impressive number of pieces by very important female artists,” says Kathryn Poindexter, who has curated the exhibition. “These are artists who were or are major figures in groundbreaking movements; many are included in the collections of major museums worldwide and we are proud to be able to show them as a part of the historical lineage of not only art, but the RAM building’s original function as the YWCA, built by suffrage-era pioneer Julia Morgan.”

At times actively engaged with gender politics and the Feminist art movement, and at other times uninterested in further classification beside that of “creator,” Women Artists of the Permanent Collection explores a rich spectrum of universally-traversed themes: identity, spirituality, aesthetics, humor, and love.

The exhibition will run January 12, 2013 – April 10, 2013 with a free opening reception on Friday, January 25 from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.riversideartmuseum.org.

RAM relies on the generosity of members and donors to support its exhibitions, education programs, and special events. A 50-plus-year-old, private, non-profit cultural arts institution housed in a National Historic 1929 building designed by Hearst Castle architect Julia Morgan, the museum welcomes over 50,000 visitors a year. The museum is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and Sunday, 12:00 noon – 4:00 p.m. For information on exhibits, events, classes, memberships, or sponsorship opportunities, visit www.RiversideArtMuseum.org. Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/riversideartmuseum) and Twitter (RAMRiverside).