Women Defining Themselves

The Original Artists of SOHO 20

Exhibition on View
May 4–July 27, 2019

Opening Reception
Saturday, May 4, 4:00–7:00 p.m.

Gallery Location
301 High Street West, Glassboro, NJ 08028

Founding Artists Include:
Elena Borstein, Barbara Coleman, Maureen Connor, Mary Ann Gillies, Joan Glueckman, Eunice Golden, Marge Helenchild, Cynthia Mailman, Marion Ranyak, Rachel Rolon de Clet, Halina Rusak, Lucy Sallick, Morgan Sanders, Rosalind Shaffer, Sylvia Sleigh, Eileen Spikol, May Stevens, Suzanne Weisberg, and Sharon Wybrants

Curated by Andrew D. Hottle, Professor of Art History at Rowan University

Commemorating the 45th Anniversary of SOHO 20

To commemorate the 45th anniversary of SOHO 20 (est. 1973), a historically significant women’s cooperative art gallery, this exhibition features a selection of works by the founding artist-members. Most of the exhibited works were first shown at SOHO 20 in the 1970s. The gallery was centered on “women defining themselves” and members were chosen for their “professional excellence without restriction on style, medium, or theme.” This exhibition revisits and contextualizes the breadth and depth of works by the original artist–members of SOHO 20. With its founding as an expressly feminist gallery in New York City, SOHO 20 was on the leading edge of the women’s art movement of the 1970s. 

Women Defining Themselves is curated by Andrew D. Hottle, Professor of Art History at Rowan University, who has written extensively on women in the visual arts. He is currently writing a detailed monograph on the art of Sylvia Sleigh and conducting research for a book about the founding members of SOHO 20. His publications include The Art of the Sister Chapel: Exemplary Women, Visionary Creators, and Feminist Collaboration (2014), Shirley Gorelick (1924-2000): Painter of Humanist Realism (2014), and a number of articles and essays.

Rowan University Art Gallery has a history of programming that recognizes the achievements of women in the visual arts. Important past group exhibitions include The Sister Chapel: An Essential Feminist Collaboration (2016) and Groundbreaking: The Women of the Sylvia Sleigh Collection (2011). The gallery also hosted Better Than Ever: Women Figurative Artists of the ’70s Co-ops (2009), a traveling exhibition that was curated by Sharyn Finnegan, Between the Threads: A Feminist Guide to the Domestic (2016), and Enamored Armor (2018). Solo exhibitions have included Beverly Semmes (2011), Joyce Kozloff (2014), Jeanie Jaffe (2015), Diane Burko (2018), and Ebony G. Patterson (2019).

VISITOR INFORMATION

Please note that Rowan University Art Gallery will have limited hours during the summer season. The 301 High Street Gallery location is open to visitors Monday–Friday, 10:00 AM–5:00 PM. The Center for Art and Social Engagement located in Westby Hall is closed to visitors and will reopen in the fall semester 2019. 

Access to Gallery Exhibitions and Programming is Free and Open to the Public

The gallery is located at 301 High Street West. Free public parking is available in the Mick Drive Parking Garage across the street from the gallery. Admission to the exhibition and reception is free and open to the public. Directions can be found on the gallery website. For more information, call 856-256-4521.

Featured Image: Morgan Sanders, Afternoon at 55 Tiemann Place (detail), 1974-75. Courtesy of the artist.