Mar 29, 2023 Art & Collection People & Community Historically, women’s contributions to art, culture, and academia have been disregarded or erased entirely. In a largely male-dominated field, women artists constantly face financial obstacles, limited access to education, and restrictive societal norms. Crystal Bridges is committed to supporting women in the arts—both by collecting their work and by supporting our own staff members in creating safe spaces for employees of all cultural backgrounds. To celebrate Women’s History Month, members of the museum’s Women’s Employee Resource Group shared a few of their favorite works by women artists: Agnes Pelton, Sand Storm, 1932, oil on canvas, 30 1/4 × 22 in. (76.8 × 55.9 cm) Framed: 37 3/4 × 29 3/4 × 2 1/2 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2012.504. Photography by Edward C. Robison III. “My favorite woman artist from our collection is Agnes Pelton. We have two pieces of hers, Divinity Lotus and Sand Storm (Sand Storm is currently on view). She created beautiful abstractions that were grounded in the desert environment she was living in and in her spirituality.” —Ciara Brown, Exhibitions Assistant, Collections Florine Stettheimer, Portrait of Alfred Stieglitz, 1928, oil on canvas, 38 x 26 1/4 in., Alfred Stieglitz Collection, Co-owned by Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2012.75. Photography by Edward C. Robison III. “Florine Stettheimer was a modernist painter and the first woman to receive a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. With the help of her mother and sisters, she hosted a salon frequented by many notable artists. I particularly love this whimsical portrait of her friend, the photographer and gallerist Alfred Stieglitz. She surrounds him with references to other artists in their circle, including his wife, the famous painter Georgia O’Keeffe.” — Marie Hofer, Content Specialist, Art & Architecture Genesis Tramaine, Evidence of Grace, 2020, acrylic, gouache, oil stick, and oil pastel on canvas, and Yahweh!, 96 in. × 72 in. × 2 1/2 in. (243.8 × 182.9 × 6.4 cm), Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, Gift of Sarah Simmons, 2021.22. Photography by Edward C. Robison III. “Genesis Tramaine’s inclusion of the Divine Name in the medium for Evidence of Grace immediately caught my attention, and I continue to be drawn in by her non-traditional reflections on Christian themes. The crisp green background contrasting with the ever-morphing, multi-layered figures within figures mirror the contrasts of clarity and mystery—and stability and change—I often experience in my own journey of faith.” —Libby Hilliard, Collections Information & Rights Assistant, Collections Alma Thomas, Lunar Rendezvous-Circle of Flowers, 1969, acrylic on canvas, 50 × 48 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. “I admire Alma Thomas as a female artist and love her Lunar Rendezvous—Circle of Flowers painting. I had an opportunity to see an exhibition dedicated to Thomas’ work at Frist Art Museum and was inspired when I learned more about her leading contributions to color field painting and engagement with students as an art teacher in Washington DC.” —Miquel Geller, Registrar, Collections JooYoung Choi, Time for You and Joy to Get Acquainted, 2017, Wooden armature, fabric, polyfoam, 108 × 115 × 85 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2020.28. Photography by Edward C. Robison III. “One of my favorite female artists is JooYoung Choi (pronounced Joo-Yung Chay) who illustrates a fictional world inspired by her experiences as a Korean American adoptee. Choi uses fibers, textiles, sewing, and a glue gun to make her colorful characters and environment come alive in 3D. She even animates her world through puppetry and videography. Outside of my museum work, I identify as a Vietnamese American female artist who seeks ways to represent my own lived experience. When I look at Choi’s work, I feel connected to the artist through her struggles with transnationality, a concept where people feel they belong in more than one place or culture simultaneously. We live in a world where migration creates a hybrid mixture between cultures and challenges traditional concepts of identity, nationality, and nation. I think Choi and I both make artwork to process and share our transnational experiences as a way of introspection and to fight loneliness through representation.” – Kim Lý, Production Technician As March comes to a close, Crystal Bridges invites you to continue to reflect year-round on the countless contributions by women to art, history, and your own life. – By Will Watson, Interpretation Intern Discover more of the women artists featured in our collection and in past exhibitions, or learn more about women-led movements captured in art at our upcoming gallery conversation. Women's History Month: Agnes Pelton Women's History Month: Agnes Pelton Mar 2, 2016 Art & Collection In honor of Women's History Month, we will be highlighting a female artist from Crystal Bridges' art and library collections each Wednesday. We begin with this profile of Agnes Pelton… Read more Crystal Bridges Acquires Evidence of Grace by Genesis Tramaine Crystal Bridges Acquires Evidence of Grace by Genesis Tramaine Nov 18, 2022 Art & Collection Crystal Bridges recently acquired Evidence of Grace (2020), a painting by the artist Genesis Tramaine that requires the viewer to spend time decoding its dense imagery. Read more Women's History Month: Ruth Asawa Women's History Month: Ruth Asawa Mar 22, 2017 Art & Collection Ruth Aiko Asawa was born in 1926 in southern California to Japanese immigrants who worked as farmers. On December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft bombed the US fleet at Pearl… Read more The Last Laugh: Suffragettes and Mary Cassatt The Last Laugh: Suffragettes and Mary Cassatt Aug 18, 2017 Art & Collection Today is the anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, August 18, 1920, granting women the right to vote, and thereby to become active participants in politics and public… Read more Conversations Across Collections: Ruth Asawa in Crafting America Conversations Across Collections: Ruth Asawa in Crafting America May 28, 2021 Art & Collection Exhibitions Examine the intersection of art and craft through the work of renowned artist Ruth Asawa. Read more Women's History Month: New Works by Remarkable Women Women's History Month: New Works by Remarkable Women Mar 14, 2017 Art & Collection In the month of March, the galleries may look at little different, as several works not before seen at Crystal Bridges are being installed. They add to the diverse voices… Read more Women's History Month: Emily Carr Women's History Month: Emily Carr Mar 16, 2017 Today we feature a guest artist in our collection for Women’s History Month: Canadian Emily Carr, whose Kispiax Village (1929) is on loan to Crystal Bridges from the Royal Ontario… Read more Women's History Month: Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Women's History Month: Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Mar 31, 2017 Art & Collection Sculptor and art collector Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875-1942) was born the middle child in the midst of four brothers and was the great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, known for the railroad… Read more