A new exhibition at The Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington debuted last week.
It features portraits of 160 outstanding women from across the First State who have been inducted into the Delaware Women’s Hall of Fame since 1981.
Melanie Ross Levin is Delaware’s Director of the Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy (OWAA).
She says Rehoboth Beach artist Theresa Walton created the portraits - half in black and white and half in color.
“We had to work off of photographs," Levin said. "So it really depended on the photographs that were available. About half of the Hall of Famers are contemporary - as in living- and half are historical, including some suffragists. So we really had to work off of whatever was available.”
Levin says portraits include former Gov. Ruth Ann Minner who passed away last November and Darlene Battle, the executive director of the Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement (DACA).
Levin hopes everyone who visits this exhibition learns something.
“So in addition to the exhibit, we have also launched a corresponding website that has biographical information, Levin said. "And what we hope to do is really transform the public spaces in Delaware. So as our kids are going through tours in State buildings, it’s pretty rare to see portraits of women on the wall.”
Levin says the online piece of the project can be found here.
The portraits will be on display through March 20, 2022.
Delaware Public Media' s arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
