nINeteenth

"nINeteenth", acrylic on canvas, 3ftx6ft, 2020

This life-size painting depicts women triumphantly voting for the first time. Names of prominent suffragettes are painted onto the clothes of the women voting to pay homage to these historic women. All the names are of Indiana women.

The title "nINeteenth" is a play on the abbreviation for Indiana and the nineteenth amendment. Interestingly, Indiana is also the nineteenth state to become a part of the US (though it was the twenty-sixth state to pass the amendment).

This was an incredible opportunity to have been chosen for. I am so honored to be one of the artists memorializing Indiana's Women's Suffrage Centennial. It's amazing to think one hundred years have gone by since the amendment passed. Without the work of suffragettes like Carries Barnes Ross, Ida Husted Harper, May Wright Sewall, Lillian Thomas Fox, and many others, Indiana would be very different.

For the Centennial anniversary of Indiana passing the nineteenth amendment, I wanted to create a piece that showed 1920s women finally getting a chance to vote for the first time. A blue curtain is pulled back, allowing viewers to peek at this life-size painting as if peering through a doorway into the past. They are shown voting in the Indiana State House, and although that would not have been a place used for polling, I chose this location to help connect viewers to the painting. Though one hundred years seems long ago, it really isn't very far away in our history.

On the dresses of the women are the names of Indiana suffragettes, painted to look like embroidery. Sewing was often dismissed as craft, work only to keep a woman occupied at home. I wanted to embrace the art form and its association with women. Instead of using it for flowers and designs, however, it's used to stitch the names of revolutionaries. Suffragettes like Carries Barnes Ross, Ida Husted Harper, Dr. Mary F. Thomas, and many others.

Pictured here: Elaine Bedel, me, Kassie Woodworth, and Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch.

My piece, "nINeteenth" is currently on display in Lieutenant Governor Crouch's office, and Kassie's quilt "Together"is currently displayed in the hall on the fourth floor outside of the General Assembly Committee's room. They are both part of the State House's permanent collection.

Thank you to Indiana Arts Commission, Miah Michaelsen, Indiana Suffrage Centennial, Jasmine Bejar, and all the members of the committee who gave me the opportunity to create this piece.