VOTES FOR WOMEN: A PORTRAIT OF PERSISTENCE, Exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Photo from the 1913 Women's March at the Capital at the entrance to the Votes for Women exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

In anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution giving women the right to vote, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. has organized a special exhibition tracing the more than 80-year movement for women to obtain the right to vote as part of the larger struggle for equality. It is called Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence. 

Map of states and women's suffrage in 1920. White indicates states with full suffrage, black no suffrage. Some states gave women limited rights to vote. The 14th Amendment gave all women the right to vote in every state.

On my recent trip to Washington, I had a chance to see the exhibit–a wonderful array of photos, videos, paintings, posters, books, pennants and much more. From a 19th century portable ballot box to a Suffragette cookbook, every object in the exhibit has a story. A few of the items that particularly fascinated me are below. But the best way to get a sense of the breadth of the exhibit is at the Google Arts and Culture website with its slide show of selected items. The accompanying book for the exhibit, Votes for Women: A Portrait for Persistence by Kate Clarke Lemay, who also curated the exhibit, is available at the museum shop and online.

Winning poster design by Bertha Margaret Boye for the San Francisco College Equal Suffrage League, 1913. It is on the cover of the exhibition book by Kate Clarke Lemay.

In 1917, women who picketed the White House and refused to pay the fine after being arrested were sent to the Occoquan jail. One of them, Natalie Gray, embroidered her name and those of fellow picketers onto this scrap of fabric as a record of their time there.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett, journalist. In 1913, at the suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., she famously refused to march in the back with the other African American women. Instead, she marched at the front of the Illinois suffrage delegation.

Belva Ann Lockwood. She was the first woman to campaign for the presidency (1884 and 1888). Her platform focused on women's rights issues, particularly suffrage, temperance, and reform for divorce and marriage laws.

In Belva Ann Lockwood's presidential campaign in 1888 she had satin ribbons with a rebus puzzle, picturing her name with images of a bell, the letter "v", a lock, and a log of wood, thereby assisting illiterate voters. Belva, a trained lawyer, testified in Congress helping to achieve the 1872 equal pay bill for government employees. Her efforts also led to legislation enabling married women in the District of Columbia to retain their property rights and the passage of a bill to empower widows to claim full guardianship of their children.

These are just a small sample of the items in this exhibit. Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence will be on exhibit until January 5, 2020. If you are in Washington, D.C., it is well worth a visit.

The National Portrait Gallery is part of the Smithsonian. Admission is free.
National Portrait Gallery:
8th and F Streets NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

POLKA DOTS: Yayoi Kusama at the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C. and Four City Tour

Inside the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.

“Our earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos.” Yayoi Kusama, 1968.
Polka dots were everywhere when I visited the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. in April and peeked through the open doors to the crowded galleries exhibiting the amazing artwork by this 87 year old Japanese artist.

Video of Yayoi Kusama is part of the exhibit

Infinity Mirrors at the Hirshhorn was just the first of a five city American tour of Yahoi Kusama’s amazing work. It will be at the Seattle Art Museum (June 30–Sept. 10, 2017), The Broad in Los Angeles (October 2017–January 2018), the Art Gallery of Ontario (March–May 2018) and the Cleveland Museum of Art (July–October 2018). It is a show not to be missed.

Paintings and whimsical sculptures

The Hirshhorn Museum of Contemporary Art is one of the nation's many Smithsonian museums.To quote the Smithsonian news release: “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors” provides visitors with the unique opportunity to experience six of Kusama’s most iconic kaleidoscopic environments at once, alongside large-scale, whimsical installations and key paintings, sculptures and works on paper from the early 1950s to the present. It also marks the North American debut of numerous new works by the 87-year-old artist, who is still actively creating in her Tokyo studio.”

Looking into the Obliteration Room, where visitors apply multicolored stickers to walls and furniture

Tickets were so popular that I was not able to get one for my short stay in Washington. Luckily, the design of the Hirshhorn museum (like an oversize donut) is such that open doorways from the outer circular gallery provided a good look into the rooms where her art was displayed.

Polka dot balloons

And there was much more to see. In addition to the Kusama exhibit, there was an amazing display of orchids from the Smithsonian greenhouse on the main floor near the entrance, ranging from sprays of tiny blooms to giant flowers.

Orchids from the Smithsonian greenhouses

On the walls of the inner gallery on the second floor of the museum there were a series of large photographs of public clocks from around the world, one from every one of the world's time zones and each photo taken at exactly 1:55 p.m. It was a trip through time when time has stopped.

World Time Clock by Bettina Pousttchi

And on the third floor of the museum I viewed a varied display of modern paintings and sculptures, ranging from those by self-taught artists to pieces by many of the iconic names of the twentieth century.

Holy Mountain III, by self-taught artist Horace Pippin

So, even though I couldn’t get a Kusama ticket, my visit to the Hirshhorn was more than satisfying. And, I will get a second chance to see Infinity Mirrors when the show comes to Los Angeles in the fall.