The Boston School: A Studio of Her Own

Boston sculptor Anne Whitney proclaimed in 1892, “I do not want anything I have done put forward on the basis of its being the work of a woman.” In the middle of the 19th century, Boston art schools began to open their doors to women, who jumped at the chance to become artists. Whitney and a generation of women worked hard to have the same opportunities as their male counterparts. They refused to be valued as only women artists, and through advocacy and grit secured a spot at the table. As described by Erica E. Hirshler, a senior curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, these artists of the Boston School “were united by the intense belief that the primary goal of art was to create beauty.” In this course we will explore the struggles and successes of these painters and sculptors through slide presentations as well as visits to the MFA Boston and the Boston Athenaeum to see their work on view.

Group Leader: BETH SANDERS
Venue: TBD
Meets on: Tuesday 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Starting: Feb 4
Sessions: 6
Class Size: 25
Teaching Style:
Weekly Preparation: None
Beth Sanders has pursued an artistic, culinary and botanical path in Boston; Genolier, Switzerland; Durham, North Carolina; Padova and Rome in Italy; and Portland, Maine at museums, universities and botanical gardens. She has served as a docent and artist-in-residence at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University, where she was a member of the Advisory Board, and as a docent at the Portland Museum of Art and Winslow Homer’s Studio at Prout’s Neck, Maine. She is currently a guide at the MFA Boston and the Boston Athenaeum and a member of the Beacon Hill Seminars Board of Directors. Her botanical illustrations and calligraphy are found in international collections and in graphic design for publications.