Witnesses & Protectors Artist Talk & Workshop
Join RWU’s Public Humanities & Arts Collaborative (The Co-Lab) for an artist talk and workshop with RWU Professor of Visual Art Elizabeth Duffy and artist Stacy Renee Morrison, exploring two projects connected by a shared commitment to women’s voices, empowerment, and overlooked histories.
Morrison’s work on Sylvia DeWolfe Ostrander of Bristol—recently on view at the John Brown House in Providence—and Duffy’s Silent Sentinels, recently exhibited at Planthouse Gallery in New York City, engage the legacy of women’s labor, creativity, and civic presence. Ostrander’s life unfolded during the struggle for women’s suffrage, situating her artistic and intellectual pursuits within a moment of profound social change. Duffy’s Silent Sentinels references the suffragists who stood vigil in Washington, D.C., demanding the right to vote.
Together, these projects illuminate how women’s persistence through collecting, making, and public protest has shaped culture, memory, and democratic life. Both artists foreground themes of place, endurance, and the often-unseen labor of women, with textiles serving as powerful vessels of memory and testimony. Morrison’s engagement with Ostrander preserves traces of a rich inner life, while Duffy’s handmade coats stand as witnesses, evoking both fragility and resilience.
Morrison and Duffy have followed one another’s work for more than twenty years, and their conversation weaves together threads of memory, resilience, and women’s empowerment across time. Their dialogue invites reflection on how acts of making and steadfast acts of protest continue to shape both private lives and public democracy.
An optional participatory activity will invite visitors to respond materially to the themes of Protectors and Witnesses—women’s labor, civic presence, memory, and persistence. Drawing on the textile-based practices of both artists, the activity offers a simple and reflective way to engage through making.
This event is free and open to the public. Contact Co-Lab Faculty Director, Liz Rosner, with any questions at erosner@rwu.edu.