46 Artists for America's First Ladies

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courtesy Arts + Literature Laboratory

Works created in conjunction with the Forward Theater production "46 Plays for America's First Ladies" (clockwise from top left): Sarah Polk by Angelica Contreras; Melania Trump by Kel Mur; Dolley Madison by Emma LaPine; Jane Pierce by Tona Williams; Michelle Obama by Sharon Bjyrd; Florence Harding by Sara Meredith.

media release: ALL and Forward Theater Company present 46 Artists for America’s First Ladies featuring 46 new works inspired by the lives of the women who have served as America’s First Ladies. The exhibition, supported by Dane Arts and the Madison Arts Commission, with additional funding from the Wisconsin Arts Board, was launched virtually in May in conjunction with Forward’s joint world-premiere production of 46 Plays for America’s First Ladies, and now you can see the works in person in our project space through September 18. A joint artist reception will be held on Friday, September 10, 7-9pm.

Exhibitions are free and open to the public. Current gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday, 12-5pm. Face masks and social distancing are required within ALL's facilities. The galleries will be closed on Saturday, August 21.

This project is the successor to the 2012 exhibition 44 Presidents by 44+ Artists, which coincided with Forward’s production of 44 Plays for 44 Presidents. The 46 participating artists and writers were randomly assigned one of the First Ladies in December and had 3 1/2 months to research their subject and create a new work. The only requirement was that it be 12”x12” in size with any reasonable depth. We are excited to bring this diverse group of women artists together, which includes all ages from high school through senior artists, artists of color, LGBTQ+ artists, artists with disabilities (though partnership with Arts for All Wisconsin and Artworking), and artists working in a wide variety of mediums - painting, embroidery, poetry, sculpture, book arts, collage, wood, printmaking, glass, drawing, and more.

Like the plays, which are “a biographical, meta-theatrical, genre-bending look at gender, race, and everything else your history teacher never taught you about the founding (and the confounding) of America,” the artworks and poems expand our understanding of these important figures who are often little more than footnotes in the history books. As artist Katherine Steichen Rosing (Abigail Adams) stated, “Until Nancy Pelosi became speaker of the house, and Kamala Harris, Vice-President, the women closest to the presidency have been the First Ladies. Despite cultural pressures causing them to subordinate their own goals to advance their husbands’ careers, many of these women contributed significantly to the lives of our citizens, and have lived in the spotlight whether they liked it or not.”

The exhibition will be freely available to view on ALL’s website - artlitlab.org/firstladies - beginning Saturday evening, May 8, 2021, including artist statements and information about the artists. An in-person exhibition will be held later in 2021.

Each of the artists will receive tickets to the plays and $100 stipends made possible through funding from Dane Arts and the Madison Arts Commission (with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board). The artists retain ownership of their works, and community members can purchase most of the pieces to provide more support for these talented local artists.

Participating Artists:

Rita Mae Reese (Martha Washington), Katherine Steichen Rosing (Abigail Adams), Julie Franki (Martha Jefferson), Emma LaPine (Dolley Madison), Samantha Hirsch Link (Elizabeth Monroe), Leigh Szuch (Louisa Adams), Rita Yanny (Rachel Jackson), Pat Kroth (Hannah Van Buren), Issis Macias (Anna Harrison), Helen Rogers (Letitia and Julia Tyler), Angelica Contreras (Sarah Polk), Molly Krolczyk (Margaret Taylor), Lesly Winslow-Stanley (Abigail Fillmore), Tona Williams (Jane Pierce), Sandra Klingbeil Adkins (Harriet Lane), Phyllis Wax (Mary Lincoln), Mauree Childress (Eliza Johnson), Andrea (Drea) McAlister (Julia Dent Grant), Virginia Rose (Lucy Hayes), Jaroslava Jarka Sobiskova (Lucretia Garfield), Katrin Talbot (Ellen Arthur), Briana Richardson (Frances Cleveland), Sasha Debevec-McKenney (Caroline Harrison), Jennifer Morales (Frances Cleveland), Holly Anne Burns (Ida McKinley), Faye Willems (Edith Roosevelt), Margaret Rozga (Helen Herron Taft), Virginia Huber (Ellen Wilson), Sara Meredith (Florence Harding), Rosy Petri (Grace Coolidge), Rachel Werner (Lou Henry Hoover), Jennifer Braga (Eleanor Roosevelt), Stephanie Trenchard (Bess Truman), Melissa Dorn (Mamie Eisenhower), Maggie Sasso (Jacqueline Kennedy), Carlee Latimer (Lady Bird Johnson), Kassandra Palmer (Pat Nixon), Araceli Esparza (Betty Ford), Kathryn H Lederhause (Rosalynn Carter), Christy Grace (Nancy Reagan), Nora-Kathleen Berryhill (Barbara Bush), Wendy Vardaman (Hillary Rodham Clinton), Steph Hagens (Laura Bush), Sharon L Bjyrd (Michelle Obama), Kel Mur (Melania Trump), Anna Mueller (Jill Biden)