Women in Art’ Exhibits in Harlan Gallery

By KATELYN FRATTAROLI

Seton Hill University’s biannual “Women in Art” exhibition looked a little different this year, with only two students curating the show. The exhibition took place from Oct.9 to Nov. 21, leaving the students with only a few weeks to develop the show. 

“This exhibition was very important due to the topic,” said Kenzi Rullo, one of the cocurators of the exhibition and a junior art history major. “Women have always been taken out of art history in general, and we are still actively finding and adding women artists back into the history books.” 

Alongside Rullo, junior fine arts major, Ashley Larocque cocurated the women-centered exhibition. The pair collaborated on every process of the exhibition, from selecting the art pieces to planning the layout. “Ashley and I were able to work really well together, we were able to feed [ideas] off of each other,” said Rullo. 

Rather than following a specific theme or medium, the exhibition aimed to bring together a diverse range of women-created art. Hosted in Seton Hill’s Harlan Gallery, the exhibition featured fifty artistic pieces from forty different generational artists. 

Throughout the exhibition process, Rullo and Larocque met with Emily Franicola, Seton Hill’s gallery director and art faculty member, to discuss some of the overall logistics of shaping the exhibition. “When we were choosing the work, we had a talk with Emily, and she was saying how you usually want to have a cohesive theme throughout,” stated Larocque. 

Although Rullo and Larocque were guided by Franicola, they ultimately did not select a specific theme. “I don’t think there is one cohesive message technically, but I think the theme we ended up going with was more of feeding off the other pieces that were in the same room or across the wall from the other one,” said Larocque. 

“Like maybe one [art piece] has a message about strength and perseverance, and then the other one [art piece] across the wall might have a message about hardship. And I think sometimes having them play off each other like that can work better than having them all say the same sort of thing,” Larocque said. 

Even without a set theme, Rullo and Larocque viewed the exhibition as having a larger woman-centered message. “I think ultimately it was about what it means to be a woman, and what it means to be a woman artist,” said Rullo. “Also, how many different stories can be told through art, because everyone has their own story.”

Unlike years prior, only a handful of students signed up for the course, “Women in Art,” tasking Ron Hawker, an art history faculty member, with creating an independent study for Rullo and Larocque, who needed the course to graduate the following year. “It [the course] was a lot more laid back because we didn’t have to have a whole classroom,” said Larocque. “There weren’t any standards to it. It was just kinda whatever we wanted to do because it was only the two of us.”

“When students, like Ashley and Kenzi, are given the opportunity to show what they can do, in a public venue, they always step forward. Probably more so than they would in the classroom,” said Hawker. “I am a man and the course is titled ‘Women in Art,’ so right from that point I think my obligation is to step back and let other voices be heard.”

While the “Women in Art” exhibition is not new for the university, this year’s display has captured attention both on and off the Hill. “To hear and to see other professors coming down to see the show, and students talking about it, it is exciting. It shows what kind of position this program can play in the bigger university,” said Hawker. 

After weeks of work and dedicating themselves to the exhibition, Rullo and Larocque are seeing their efforts recognized and gaining feedback from visitors. “Overall, everyone was very kind and complimentary of the exhibition, but it was really great to also hear some constructive feedback,” said Rullo. “It was really great that people were open and honest because it is a learning experience as well.” 

Once the excitement of the opening reception passed, Rullo and Larocque’s workload lightened. “It was a rough couple of weeks, and then all of a sudden, it was no work at all. It felt really crazy. But it was a good experience overall,” said Laroque.