Celebrating Women Through Art at UW-Milwaukee

Thursday, March 8, marks International Women's Day. To celebrate the occasion, <strong>UW-Milwaukee </strong>continues to host events for its spring program titled "Heroines and Hellions." The program involves numerous events illustrating the famous quote, "Well-behaved women rarely make history."<br /><br />The exhibition "Sleeping Inside Our Bodies," located in the UWM Union Art Gallery, features seven artists, including Milwaukeeans Faythe Levine and Della Wells.<br /><br />The exhibit also features renowned New York artist Lesley Dill, who shipped eight large-scale multimedia pieces beautifully rolled and tied with satin ribbons. After being unfolded, these remarkable, scroll-like, hanging artworks display the artist's combination of fabric, printmaking and text. Dill's <em>Tear Lick </em>is a dual portrait in which one half-seen face softly licks a red tear from another person's cheek.<br /><br />Mequitta Ahuja is currently exhibiting in New York. Ahuja's self-portraits are rendered in collage, painting and printmaking that subtly shine with glitter. Respected printmaker Peregrine Honig depicts the trials of puberty in pale pastels. Each artist in the exhibit illuminates feminine identity and sexuality through exceptional personal expression.<br /><br />On March 8 in the Union Gallery, Helen Purvis and the Gill Family gospel singers will perform a 7 p.m. concert. On Friday, March 9, at the Peck School of the Arts' Inova/Arts Center Gallery, four women will host a 5 p.m. reception for their MA/MFA exhibition. On March 14 at 7 p.m., viewers can enjoy the "Share the Earth Environmental Film Series" feature <em>Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai</em>,<em> </em>a documentary about the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize. For a complete listing of programs, visit <a href="http://www.heroinesandhellions.uwm.edu" target="_blank">www.heroinesandhellions.uwm.edu</a>.<br /><br /><strong>Art Happenings</strong><br /><br />Third Annual International Peeps Competition <p>Racine Art Museum</p> <p>441 Main St., Racine</p> <p>The Racine Art Museum hosts an imaginative, fun exhibition for artists of any age. All entries must be at the museum by 4 p.m. Sunday, March 25. For information on guidelines and registration, visit <a href="http://www.ramart.org" target="_blank">www.ramart.org</a>.<br /><br />Nicholas Frank &amp; Team Lump</p> <p>The Green Gallery East &amp; West</p> <p>1500 N. Farwell Ave./631 E. Center St. 3B</p> <p>Milwaukee's Green Gallery East and Green Gallery West open a pair of contemporary exhibits next weekend. At the East location, a reception for the works of artist Nicholas Frank takes place 7-9 p.m. March 9. At the West gallery, Frank curates the "Team Lump" exhibition, which brings a large-scale collage by artists from the Lump Gallery in North Carolina to Milwaukee. A 3-5 p.m. reception on March 10 coincides with Riverwest Gallery Day.</p>