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Bethany Nolan
IU Communications
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Last modified: Tuesday, April 30, 2013

IU's first lady, provost to unveil exhibit featuring 'Women of Indiana University'

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2013

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An art exhibit highlighting the influential women who have had an impact on Indiana University will open Wednesday with a noon reception at the IU Memorial Union.

IU Women of Art

Elinor Ostrom (1933-2012), 2012. Oil on canvas. Indiana University Campus Art Collection. Bonnie Sklarski.

Print-Quality Photo

The brainchild of campus art curator Sherry Rouse, who called the project "the most elevating exhibition of my career," the "Women of Indiana University" art exhibit features 15 paintings of women with deep connections to Indiana University, including the late Elinor Ostrom, distinguished professor of political science and the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Among others represented are Anna Bernice Harting Wells, mother of former IU President Herman B Wells; Nellie Showers Teter, IU's first female trustee who also worked to secure student housing for women; and Frances Marshall Eagleson, the first African-American woman to graduate from IU.

The exhibit was assembled by borrowing portraits from various locations on campus, including the IU Art Museum, Halls of Residence, Bryan House, University Club and the IU Foundation. Located in the IMU's East Lounge, the exhibit is permanent; however, the women featured will change.

A public reception for the exhibit will be hosted from noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, by IU first lady Laurie Burns McRobbie and IU Bloomington Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel.

"Women have been instrumental contributors to Indiana University since its founding," McRobbie said. "While these beautiful portraits show us only a few of the many women who have helped shape IU, it is my hope that the creation of this exhibit will inspire each of us to explore the rich history of the women of IU."

"This exhibition highlights key components of what makes me so extraordinarily proud to be an alumna of Indiana University," Robel said. "Many of the women portrayed in this room were born before women had the legal right to vote. And yet this university afforded them incredible opportunities, and they in turn made opportunities available for generations of students, faculty and staff. It is wonderful to see all of these treasures from around the campus displayed together in this magnificent room."