Women's Work: Feminist Artists in the Midwest

Every two years, starting in 2011 (with the exception of 2021), the Bradley University Department of Art and the Illinois Women Artists Project have organized an interdisciplinary symposium exploring the art, experiences and legacies of women artists working in the Midwest. These are free and open to the public, but developed as scholarly  sessions led by scholars, artists and museum curators. 

This symposium, Women's Work: Feminist Artists in the Midwest, will take place from Oct. 19 - 21 at Bradley University. It will explore the experiences and achievements of women artists in the Midwest who have addressed issues of society’s marginalization of women, their exclusion from mainstream society, and their absence in most narratives of history and culture, whether doing so was intentional or not.

Catherine J. Morris, Curator of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, will give the Keynote Address on October 19. Her talk, A Shove in the Right Direction: Elizabeth Catlett and 20th Century Feminism will examine feminist art through the lens of the career and work of Elizabeth Catlett.