“Boats In Harbor,” large-scale oil on canvas by Fern Coppedge (1835-1951), will be one of the paintings on display in the new CMU exhibit.

The Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art at Central Methodist University opens a new and culturally unique exhibition Tuesday, Aug. 26, titled “Women In Art: Seventy Works from the Permanent Collection.” Being featured are more than 70 works of art by women artists, many of them from Missouri.
Highlight of the show is a maquette (small-scale model) of nationally noted Columbia sculptor Sabra Tull Meyer’s “Corps of Discovery Monument,” the heroic-size bronze figures created as a five-piece set and dedicated at the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Capitol Monument Park in Jefferson City in June. The maquette, which includes the figures of Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, French-Canadian guide George Drouillard, Clark’s slave York and Lewis’ dog Seaman, is one of a limited edition of 30 and was recently purchased by the gallery.

Meyer will be present during an artists’ reception at the gallery Sunday, Aug. 31, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Other Missouri women artists whose works are being shown in the exhibition include Joanne Berneche, Brooke Cameron, Sharon Dyer, Diane Huneke, Jennifer Huecker, Linda Hoover, Betty Switzer Hutson, Rita Orr, Virginia Pfannenstiel and Jo Stealey.

Also represented in the exhibition are Fayette artists Lisa Baylor, Mary Lou Forbes, Claudia Graham, Peggy Guest, Lil Nicholl and gallery benefactor Anna Mae Hodge of Kansas City. The works of more than 50 women artists are being shown during the exhibition.

Another highlight of the exhibition is an oil on canvas painting titled “Boats in Harbor” by the acclaimed American artist Fern Isabel Coppedge (1835-1951). A native of Illinois, Coppedge studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Art Students League, and the Pennsylvania Academy (1917-18). She was also a student at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, becoming active in the Philadelphia Ten between 1922 and 1935. Strong brushwork and lively colors are typical of her paintings, many of which featured snowscapes, coastal scenes and bodies of water.

Other nationally noted artists being featured include Kathryn Cherry, Elizabeth Cutlett, Clementine Hunter, Jean McLane, Ke-Sook Lee and Erica Rutherford.

The show will run through Oct. 11. Gallery hours are 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The gallery, located on the ground floor of the CMU library, is physically impaired accessible. For information or to arrange tours, contact Joe Geist at 660-248-6304 or by e-mail at jegeist@centralmethodist.edu.

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