Photo courtesy the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Thru May 10 –
These leading ladies and woeful women paint contrasting pictures depicting women and the settlement of the American West. Within Madonnas of the Prairie, audiences can examine the juxtaposition of artwork that portrays women as leaders with those of women in the role of the observer or victim. Including over 100 works of art from the mid-19th century up to the present, this exhibit pulls from the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum and public and private collections to give audiences a full range of artists and genres. Madonnas of the Prairie opened on Feb. 13 and will continue through May 10 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., Oklahoma City. Enjoy related happenings throughout the exhibit’s stent: A hat-making workshop on Feb. 21; brown bag lunch-and-learn sessions, guest speakers, demonstrating artists and a Madonna & Me Tea on Mar. 14; a symposium, “Madonnas of the Pairie: Women’s Presence and Imagery of the American West,” on March 24 that will include nationally recognized speakers Mary Jo Watson, professor of American Indian Art at the University of Oklahoma, Glenda Riley, Alexander M. Bracken professor emeritus of history at Ball State University and artist Donna Howell-Sickles; and Dorothy Wickenden, author Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West, will give a talk and book signing on May 2. For more information, visit www.nationalcowboymuseum.org.
