The voices of women activists are given solid form in "Hear Us," a work of public art by two School of Art faculty members that was recently installed in the Massachusetts State House in Boston.
The project, which cites the historic contributions of women to public life in Massachusetts, was a collaboration between Sheila Levrant de Bretteville and Susan Sellers, professor and lecturer, respectively, in the School of Art's graphic design department. The new artwork was commissioned, after a national search, by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities and was chosen from among six finalists.
"Hear Us" honors six women who played significant roles in Massachusetts history:
* Dorothea Dix, an advocate for the poor, prisoners and the mentally ill;
* Florence Luscomb, an architect-turned-activist;
* Mary Kenney O'Sullivan, a labor organizer;
* Sarah Parker Remond, a black abolitionist;
* Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, a black suffragist who was active in civil rights; and
* Lucy Stone, champion of blacks and women.
The work consists of six marble panels, all measuring about 2' x 5.5'. Mounted into each panel is a bronze bust of each woman, cast from period photographs. Two quotations from each of these historic figures are etched into the marble, and the wall behind the panels is papered in a repeating pattern of legislative documents associated with causes the women championed.
In their original proposal for the artwork, de Brettville and Sellers wrote: "In many ways, these portraits masquerade as the silent, stoic portraits of statesmen already installed throughout the State House. Yet our proposal is designed to allow every visitor to experience our introduction to these remarkable leaders through their articles, journals, orations and autobiographies and the opportunity to connect the past, present and future of public life on their own terms."
In an interview with the Boston Sunday Herald, prior to the Oct. 19 dedication of "Hear Us," de Bretteville noted, "We tried to make [the women's] voices audible through physical form."
The "mixed media portrait gallery," as the artists describe their work, is installed permanently on a wall beside one of the two main entrances of the Bulfinch State House.
The first tenured woman in the School of Art, de Bretteville has been creating public art for more than 20 years. Her work, which is generally focused on women, invites local communities to become involved in their own history. This is her first project of public art for an indoor space. Collaborating with a partner on the project was, she said, "in keeping with the spirit of feminist alliance."
Sellers is a founding partner of 2X4, a multidisciplinary design studio in New York with clients that include The New York Times, National Geographic and the Whitney Museum of Art. She has been a critic at Yale since 1997.
-- By Dorie Baker
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