UVA’s Arthaus Gallery
43 N. Beacon St., Allston MA 02134
Curated by Paige Moreau
April 7 – May 13, 2023
Opening Reception: April 14, 2023
Curator’s Statement:
This exhibition will investigate the malleable definition of women’s work in the field, in the home, and, importantly, in the arts. While women’s participation in the labor market steadily increased in the second half of the 20th century, participation has plateaued and even slightly declined as we move through the 21st century. Further, women’s workforce labor (distinguished from domestic labor) was disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as more women lost employment than men or remained home to provide child care during school closures. These statistics and events have been met with calls for increased affordable child care resources, emphasis on paid family leave, and initiatives to close the gender pay gap. According to U.S. Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen, via the Brookings Institute, if the obstacles of underrepresentation, unreasonable work-life balance, and pay disparities consist, we will squander the potential of our citizens and our economic growth. So where does that leave us? At this moment, where do women conceive of themselves in terms of “work” and how do we value the different conceptions of women’s work?
Many recent exhibitions in the greater Boston area have highlighted the work of women artists as well as objects that are specifically designed for women’s work i.e. childcare and domestic chores. Between 2019 and 2021 the MFA Boston mounted the exhibition Women Take the Floor. Drawing largely from the museum’s permanent collection, the exhibition strove to challenge 20th-century narratives by centering the often overlooked and underrepresented work of women artists. On view through December 18, 2022 the Mass Art Art Museum is hosting the exhibition Designing Motherhood: Things That Make and Break Our Births which investigates the material culture surrounding contraception, pregnancy, birth and beyond allowing us a window into how women’s roles are conceived of via design. Additionally we continually see monographic exhibitions dedicated to women artists that question the canon of art and insert women’s voices into political and racial justice discourses including Frida Kahlo: POSE at the Rose Art Museum in 2020 and Sonya Clark: Monumental Cloth, The Flag We Should Know at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in 2021. A Woman’s Work is Never Done: Women in the Arts will join this ongoing conversation and will assert that the work of women in the arts to carve out an equal space is an ongoing process.
Artists: Nancer Ballard, Mary Barton-Lech, Marissa Burns, Elle Cox, Elizabeth Geers Loftis, Elisandra Lopes, Michaela Morse, Lisa Murphy, Jennifer Jean Okumura, Adriana Prat, Diane Sheridan, Susan Siefer, Andrea Zampitella
Curator’s Biography:
Paige Moreau is a Boston-area museum professional and scholar in art history. Her work curating exhibitions and creating museum programming is centered on facilitating conversation around equity and inclusion. Paige’s research interests include modern and contemporary Latinx art, feminist theory, and challenging the history of exhibition and interpretation of art in institutions. Paige earned her bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Connecticut in 2015 and her master’s degree in art history from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst in 2019. She is the Coordinator of Public Programs at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Paige has previously worked with The Springfield Museums, Now + There, The Mark Twain House & Museum, and Five Points Center for the Visual Arts.