UMD Libraries to Host ‘Women Artists of the DMV’ Exhibition

UMD Libraries will showcase the breadth and creativity of six female artists working in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia as a part of the new exhibition “Women Artists of the DMV.”

The exhibition, available in the McKeldin Library Portico Room from Sept. 19 through Oct. 24, features a wide variety of artists' books created by Susan Francis Campbell, Elizabeth Curren, Judy Folkenberg, Tina Hudak, Kerry McAleer-Keeler and Kannika Sircar. 

UMD Libraries’ Special Collections holds a large selection of artists’ books, which are interactive, portable, movable and easily shared. Artists may experiment with traditional elements of a book, including structure, design, materials and printing processes. In contrast to mass-produced books, book artists have more control over content and artistic expression in these books, which are often handcrafted and produced in limited numbers. 

“Women Artists in the DMV” is a regional survey exhibition hosted concurrently by eighteen galleries across the region. Women artists whether they’re established, mid-career, or emerging, will benefit from this large-scale exposure. The exhibition features all genres of the visual arts, including public art.

"This region is not only home to some of the best art museums in the world, dozens of commercial art galleries, nonprofit art spaces, alternative art venues, embassy art spaces and fine arts organizations, but it also supports and fertilizes some of the most unique and creative visual art scenes in the nation," said Lenny Campello, the exhibition’s organizer and a widely known curator of local art shows.

The exhibition will open with a free reception from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Sept. 19  featuring a talk about teaching book arts in the studio by artist Kerry McAleer-Keeler, an associate professor of printmaking and book arts/art and design at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, George Washington University. Light refreshments will be served.