Published March 5, 2024
The Dodge City Community College (DC3) Library is celebrating Women’s History Month with Read and CONQuer events scheduled throughout the month of March.
Up first, at 4 p.m., on March 7, is a discussion and a free collage project about Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. In addition to learning about Kahlo’s life, participants also will get a chance to learn about the symbolism and imagery she used in her artwork, Jennifer Nolan, DC3 Professor of Art, said.
“Frida Kahlo is one of the most influential artists of the present day, whose influence transcends the fine art world into the everyday consciousness of the public,” Nolan said. “Her life and works have been interpreted by several books and movies, as well as her artwork is still being shown at museums around the world. Her ideas on her personal identity and how it was to live an artist’s life is an inspiration to many.”
For the collage project, Nolan, who is also the March Read and CONQuer leader, said participants should bring a 6-inch photocopied image of themselves to include in their collages.
Up next at 3 p.m., on March 26, a women’s history program will be hosted by the DC3 Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The focus of this event will be female artists who have made their marks on the contemporary art world.
Then, at 6:30 p.m., also on March 26, Nolan will host the “Women in Art” program, which will feature the influence of lesser-known female artists. This program also will discuss the Library’s March book selection, “The Lacuna,” by Barbara Kingsolver.
“The Lacuna,” which is a 2009 novel, is set in both Mexico and the United States, and it covers a span of time from the 1930s to the 1950s. It gives an inside perspective of the historical, political and personal details that fostered Kahlo’s work, Nolan said.
“This story is told by a young man who finds himself employed by Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera as a cook,” Nolan said. “The first 100 pages build up context and character development of the narrator. So, be persistent, soon he will enter their household, and then the story—as it relates to Frida Kahlo—begins.”
By Lance ZieschDC3 Assistant Director of Marketing and Community Relations