An Auspicious Beginning
WIF organized the Beauford Delaney: Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color art exhibition in Paris, France as our inaugural event. We partnered with the French non-profit association, Les Amis de Beauford Delaney, and Columbia Global Centers | Paris at Reid Hall (Columbia University’s Paris facility) to bring together 40+ Beauford Delaney paintings and works on paper from seven private collections in the first Paris solo exhibition for this great artist since 1992. Roughly 300 persons attended the opening on the night of February 3, 2016.
Columbia Global Centers | Paris at Reid Hall is part of a network of nine Centers established by Columbia University in the City of New York. WIF is proud to collaborate with this prestigious institution.
Resonance of Form was originally scheduled to run for four (4) weeks. Columbia Global Centers | Paris requested that we extend the show for two (2) additional weeks to allow the trustees of Columbia University to see it. We closed the exhibition on March 15, 2016.
Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color was the springboard for eleven (11) distinct projects and programs in 2016-2017 (see infographic below). It served to launch our travel/study abroad and our STEAM Education initiatives and provided the impetus for us to create our Paris Summer Internship program.
Another Beauford Delaney-inspired Project
Our 2019 summer intern, Maija Brennan, created an online exhibition of Beauford Delaney portraiture. This exhibit explores the intimate and enriching relationships Delaney forged over the years, from his time at school in Boston, his transition to New York City where he spent 23 years, and finally the years following his move to Paris in 1953.
Self-portrait
Oil on canvas (1944)
Art Institute of Chicago
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Celebrating Women in the Arts
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill. Nations across the globe watched women step into roles as first responders, essential workers, and other positions of influence and inspiration. They did so even as they were (and continue to be) disproportionately negatively affected by the virus.
Through an initiative launched in September 2020, WIF collaborated with the Anderson Brickler Gallery and Thinking CAP: Collaborative Art Projects in Tallahassee, FL to create COVID-19 PAGES: The Influence & Inspiration of Women. Our virtual art exhibition, which launched on International Women’s Day 2021 and closed on September 30, 2021, celebrates these (s)heros.
Phase I of the project showcases contributions by professional women artists. These women are often marginalized regarding their access to exhibition space and underpaid for their work relative to their male counterparts. The exhibition provides a singular opportunity for them to expose their work as part of the reckoning of this unprecedented historic event.
Phase II features non-professional woman and girl artists from seventeen (17) schools, youth groups, shelters, and other community organizations from the U.S., France, and China. We encouraged them to view the invitation to create works for the show as an opportunity for healing – a chance to release anxiety and work through grief brought on by the pandemic.
Grateful for Powerful Support
We received an incredible boost during the planning phase of COVID-19 PAGES when Faith Ringgold agreed to include one of the works from her American People series in our exhibition. She is our Legendary Artist and her work is prominently featured in the online catalog.
We’re proud to have the support of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C. for this project. NMWA is the only major museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts. Through our collaboration with this illustrious institution, our reach extends to the 1,000,000+ followers that enjoy their brilliant and tireless work to address the gender imbalance in the presentation of art by recognizing the achievements of women artists of all periods and nationalities.
Find additional information about the exhibition here: COVID-19 PAGES
