Throughout March, which is Women’s History Month, the world honors visionary leaders, scientists, authors, etc. For the past three years, the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C. and more than 1,500 cultural institutions from seven continents and 54 countries have celebrated women artists — historical and contemporary — via the #5WomenArtists campaign.
The @towwnapp team is pleased to share our favorite #5womenartists in #Colorado (including the inaugural @babewalls mural event with 25 artists!).
Juliette Hemingway @juliettehemingway
Mothers are amazing people, aren’t they? They bring us into the world, love us unconditionally and root us on throughout our lives. Juliette Hemingway and her son, Javari, have traveled a path together to wellness and healing. When Javari was a toddler, he didn’t talk much. And when he did it was a series of incoherent words. But even as a toddler Javari would draw. So, Juliette worked with his teachers to incorporate art into his academic plan. Art was the key to helping him speak, be more social and engage with his classmates. A gifted artist, Juliette’s work represent the acknowledgment of Autism as part of her life and of her deep love and respect for her son.
Taiko Chandler @taikochandler
Born and raised in Japan, Taiko originally trained as a nurse. Today, Taiko lives and works in Denver where she focuses on printmaking and, more recently, site-specific installation art. We love how she embraces the unpredictability of printmaking as an art form. “I am constantly improvising with no fixed destination in my mind. As I work, the evolution of the work stretches the starting point — it is the open nature of the process that is constantly creating new possibilities.”
Babe Walls @babewalls
We LOVE the mission for this inaugural 4-day mural festival — a showcase of local women and non-binary artists in the Denver area: “We are organized as a safe place for women, who not only have made their name in the mural world, but to also give opportunities to up and coming female artists that don’t know how to make the first step.” Each artist will collaborate with another artist to create a work of art that not only shows their strengths and styles as artists, but the commonality of our femininity. There is no doubt in that Babe Walls — in Westminster, CO from May 28th through May 31st — will be THE art event of the summer in Colorado. The core participants include a who’s who of Colorado’s leading public artists including @alexandrea_pang, @ashleyjoonart, @tattoosbygina, @kaitlinziesmer, @_growlove_, @r0melle. Invited artists: @afrotriangle, @tribalmurals, @annacharneyart, @becca_reitz, @chelsealewinski, @one_arrow, @kjorin, @kokonofilter, @peptalks, @lindeezimmer, @mnapoletanoart, @reverieink), @mi_moegram, @myahmazcara, @olivemoya, @sandicalistro, @sandrafettingis and @taylorherzog.
Lara Whitley @ larawhitleystudio
Named a “sculptor to watch” by Aspen Sojourner magazine, Lara is known for installation-based works that explore the relationship between the human and natural worlds. Based in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley, we admire her mission: “I forage for treasures in old trash and put them back into service. These are the domestic discards of former lives — mining-era dinner plates, work boots, barrel straps — that time and weather have transformed.” Movement, sound and a visual feast of those treasures she finds are truly one-of-a-kind discoveries.
Jane Guthridge @janeguthridge
Using a variety of translucent materials, Jane explores the transformative effects of light and nature. In her artist statement, she says “As the light changes throughout the day, the work will change as well. I think this constant change is a metaphor for life.” In her encaustic pieces, she saturates lightweight mulberry paper with multiple layers of paint to create a translucent look. The breadth of her artistic expression truly inspires us to find peace, solitude and joy in the outdoors.
