It’s an exciting year for women everywhere because 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment – the amendment that gave American women the right to vote. To honor this momentous occasion, organizations across Pennsylvania’s Americana Region have joined forces to develop events around the anniversary of women’s suffrage. Additionally, planners are honoring women in the arts.
The Berks Suffrage 2020 Centennial initiative will kick-off their celebrations with System Shakers, Barrier Breakers:The Suffragists at Berks History Center in March, during Women’s History Month. The group will take information about the women’s suffrage movement, including a play, to schools and organizations across Berks County.
Events around women in the arts include the opening of Rising Voices: The Bennett Prize® for Women Figurative Realist Painters at Reading Public Museum in February. The exhibit features works by the first winner of The Bennett Prize®, Aneka Ingold . The prize was established in 2016 through the generosity of the Pittsburgh Foundation, Steven Alan Bennett, and Dr. Elaine Melotti Schmidt. It provides an award of $50,000 over two years to a woman painter whose principal focus is figurative painting.
Rising Voices features more than 25 works by Ms. Ingold and nine semifinalists chosen from entrants across the United States. Their paintings were selected for technical excellence, conceptually, and for the ability of the artists to tell stories that address timeless issues facing society. Rising Voices will be on display at the Reading Public Museum until May 24, 2020.
Pennsylvania’s Americana Region created a webpage dedicated to Berks Suffrage 2020 Centennial and Celebration of Women in the Arts. The page lists activities for all to enjoy, including concerts, plays, and historical events.