Arts + Literature Laboratory and Forward theater Company present 46 Artists for America’s First Ladies featuring 46 new works inspired by the lives of the women who have served as America’s First Ladies. The project, supported by Dane Arts and the Madison Arts Commission, with additional funding from the Wisconsin Arts Board, was first exhibited in conjunction with Forward’s joint world-premiere production of 46 Plays for America’s First Ladies beginning in May 2021 as a digital experience, and then August 5-September 18, 2021 in ALL's Project Space.
Through a new collaboration with The Bubbler at Madison Public Library, 46 Artists for America's First Ladies will be exhibited from January 8 through March 11, 2022 in the Diane Endres Ballweg Gallery on the third floor of Central Library (201 W. Mifflin St., Madison, WI). A reception and poetry reading will be held on Presidents' Day, Monday, February 21, 2022 at 7pm.
This project is the successor to the 2012 exhibition 44 Presidents by 44+ Artists, which coincided with Forward’s production of 44 Plays for 44 Presidents. The 46 participating artists and writers were randomly assigned one of the First Ladies in December 2020, and had 3 1/2 months to research their subject and create a new work in any medium. The only requirement was that it be 12”x12” in size with any reasonable depth. We are excited to bring together this diverse group of women artists, which includes artists of all ages from students to seniors, artists of color, LGBTQ+ artists, and artists with disabilities (though partnership with Arts for All Wisconsin and Artworking), working in a wide variety of mediums - painting, embroidery, poetry, sculpture, book arts, collage, wood, printmaking, glass, drawing, and more.
Click on any work below to access the images, artist statements, and artist bios. Photos by James Kreul or courtesy of the artist.
The Artists:
Rita Mae Reese (Martha Washington), Katherine Steichen Rosing (Abigail Adams), Julie Franki (Martha Jefferson), Emma LaPine (Dolley Madison), Samantha Hirsch Link (Elizabeth Monroe), Leigh Szuch (Louisa Adams), Rita Yanny (Rachel Jackson), Pat Kroth (Hannah Van Buren), Issis Macias (Anna Harrison), Helen Rogers (Letitia and Julia Tyler), Angelica Contreras (Sarah Polk), Molly Krolczyk (Margaret Taylor), Lesly Winslow-Stanley (Abigail Fillmore), Tona Williams (Jane Pierce), Sandra Klingbeil Adkins (Harriet Lane), Phyllis Wax (Mary Lincoln), Mauree Childress (Eliza Johnson), Andrea (Drea) McAlister (Julia Dent Grant), Virginia Rose (Lucy Hayes), Jaroslava Jarka Sobiskova (Lucretia Garfield), Katrin Talbot (Ellen Arthur), Briana Richardson (Frances Cleveland), Sasha Debevec-McKenney (Caroline Harrison), Jennifer Morales (Frances Cleveland), Holly Anne Burns (Ida McKinley), Faye Willems (Edith Roosevelt), Margaret Rozga (Helen Herron Taft), Virginia Huber (Ellen Wilson), Sara Meredith (Florence Harding), Rosy Petri (Grace Coolidge), Rachel Werner (Lou Henry Hoover), Jennifer Carley (Eleanor Roosevelt), Stephanie Trenchard (Bess Truman), Melissa Dorn (Mamie Eisenhower), Maggie Sasso (Jacqueline Kennedy), Carlee Latimer (Lady Bird Johnson), Kassandra Palmer (Pat Nixon), Araceli Esparza (Betty Ford), Kathryn H. Lederhause (Rosalynn Carter), Christy Grace (Nancy Reagan), Nora-Kathleen Berryhill (Barbara Bush), Wendy Vardaman (Hillary Rodham Clinton), Steph Hagens (Laura Bush), Sharon L. Bjyrd (Michelle Obama), Kel Mur (Melania Trump), Anna Mueller (Jill Biden)
