The Westmoreland Announces Exhibition Highlighting Women ArtistsConnected to the American South to Kick Off Yearlong Celebration
GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania (January 28, 2025) — The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is excited to announce the upcoming featured exhibition, Our Own Work, Our Own Way: Southern Modern Women Artists, running from Sunday, February 9, to Sunday, May 18, 2025. This exhibition highlights the significant contributions of women artists whose legacies were shaped by their experiences in the American South. The presentation of this exhibition also marks the launch of The Westmoreland’s Year of Women Artists, a yearlong initiative dedicated to celebrating the significant and often underrepresented contributions of women artists to American art history.
“Our Own Work, Our Own Way challenges the traditional narratives of American modern art by moving towards a more inclusive representation of the artists who helped shape it,” said Director/CEO Silvia Filippini-Fantoni, PhD. “We are pleased to share this important exhibition with our audiences to kick off the Year of Women Artists.”
Drawn from the exceptional holdings of The Johnson Collection, Our Own Work, Our Own Way brings together works by over 40 artists, including Anni Albers, Elaine de Kooning, Alma Thomas, and Ida Kohlmeyer, and spans the 1940s to the 2000s. The artists represented in the exhibition transcended the boundaries of their time, creating powerful work that challenged traditional gender roles and broke artistic conventions. While the South was slow to embrace gender equality, many of these artists found a supportive and nurturing environment within creative communities there. Despite the challenges they faced, these women helped define modernism and left their mark on the South’s artistic landscape.
“We are thrilled to partner with The Westmoreland in presenting Our Own Work, Our Own Way as we travel this exhibition to a venue outside the South for the first time,” said Sarah F. Tignor, Director of The Johnson Collection. “It is wonderful to utilize our collection to shine a light on these groundbreaking women artists.”
The presentation of Our Own Work, Our Own Way: Southern Modern Women Artists is made possible by The Johnson Collection.
Year of Women Artists at The Westmoreland
Today, women remain vastly underrepresented in the art world, with studies showing that their work makes up only 13% of major American museum collections. The Year of Women Artists at The Westmoreland brings attention to this imbalance through a dynamic roster of exhibitions and events throughout 2025 centered on American women artists from a variety of backgrounds and eras.
In addition to Our Own Work, Our Own Way, the Museum will present A Fountain of Forms: The Rise of the American Woman Sculptor, 1910–1929 (April 11–December 31, 2025), showcasing bronzes by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, Malvina Hoffman, and Janet Scudder from the collection of Dr. Michael L. Nieland. These sculptors used representations of the female form to assert their individuality and autonomy in an age of increasing patriarchal control.
The Museum will also host the following: Pennsylvania in Progress (opening January 18, 2025), including photography by Aaronel deRoy Gruber and works by other women artists; Cecilia Beaux: Inventing the Modern Portrait (opening June 14, 2025), which unpacks Beaux’s path-breaking approach to crafting the modern portrait; The Art of Elizabeth Catlett from the Samella Lewis Collection (September 7, 2025–January 4, 2026), celebrating Catlett’s achievements in sculpture and printmaking; and Brynn Hurlstone: Resonance (opening September 7, 2025), a large-scale immersive installation by Hurlstone.
Additionally, the Museum’s Year of Women Artists will feature a wide range of events designed to foster deeper engagement. For more information about Year of Women Artists exhibitions and events, please visit thewestmoreland.org/yowa.
The Westmoreland’s 2025 exhibition program is generously supported by the Hillman Foundation and The Heinz Endowments. Installations activating the Museum’s permanent collection are supported by Sebastian Mueller Charitable Fund of the Eden Hall Foundation. Support for Cecilia Beaux: Inventing the Modern Portrait is provided by Art Bridges. Additional support for The Art of Elizabeth Catlett from the Samella Lewis Collection is provided by Arts, Equity, & Education Fund™.
About The Westmoreland Museum of American Art
Western Pennsylvania’s only museum dedicated to American art, The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, offers meaningful and engaging cultural experiences that build community and inspire creativity, new ideas, and action through the power of art. The Westmoreland’s extraordinary permanent collection, with its strong focus on the art and artists of Southwestern Pennsylvania, is complemented by an impressive temporary exhibition schedule featuring both nationally traveling exhibitions and those organized by the Museum. Additionally, The Westmoreland presents a full slate of community-oriented events. General admission to the Museum is free. The Museum’s operating hours are 10am–5pm, Wednesday–Sunday. For more information, visit thewestmoreland.org.
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