Warrior Women Evolving Opening Reception

Alice Woodruff’s exhibition of ceramic figurative sculpture opens at Glynn Visual Arts on Tuesday, March 10 ^th with a special preview opening for women only. Men will get their chance at the GVA’s regular opening reception for the show on Thursday March 12 ^th. “Warrior Women Evolving” features female vessels that represent famous and unknown women. All are portraits of extraordinary strength and wisdom. Some of the nude figures are draped, others have an "open belly" in which a tableau from their life is displayed. Each figure has written history and story that accompanies the art. Much of the work is highly politicized and emotion-driven, in many cases created in response to conditions in the larger world such as the #METOO movement and the threat to women’s lives, safety and happiness. The body of work, as a whole, explores the evolution of female empowerment from helpless victim to weaponized champion, the value of "women's work" as well as more personal stories of cancer and motherhood. This exhibit is particularly important in view of the fact that 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing and protecting women's constitutional right to vote. 

Woodruff's education started in the Arts and Crafts movement of the 1960s.  She became a very successful production potter, supplying functional ceramics to crafts stores and museum gift shops in the southeast. In her forties, she switched gears, went back to school and became a nurse practitioner. After 13 years of nursing, she returned to clay, more recently focusing on sculpture rather than functional pots. However, Woodruff uses her experience as a skilled potter as the foundation of the sculptural work.

She lives and works in Watkinsville, GA. Alice Woodruff, a renowned craftswoman, and sculptor can now add "facilitator of stories" to her title. She hopes that viewing the work initiates the larger conversations of inequity and power within the community.

Exhibition Dates: March 10 – April 11, 2020

Women’s Only Pre-View Reception: Tuesday, March 10 ^th , 5:30-7:00pm

Regular Opening Reception: Thursday, March 12 ^th , 5:30-7:00pm

Informal Artist’s Talk: Friday, March 13 ^th , 5:30-7:00pm

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Warrior Women Evolving