Pat Badt, Suzanne Edwards, Lucy Gans and Jill Odegaard

A thought-provoking discussion  where women artists delve into how their personal experiences and creative expressions intersect with broader social and political narratives. Explore the dynamic interplay between art, identity, and activism as these artists share their journeys of empowerment through their work. An insightful conversation that highlighted the transformative power of art in shaping our understanding of societal issues.

This event was hosted on October 3, 2023.

Art in Dialogue Series is a series of interdisciplinary conversations between members of the university and the wider community - reflecting the ways in which their work is dynamically engaged with other fields of inquiry.

Pat Badt is painter who also makes artist books.  Pat Badt’s work is inspired by location, filtered through experience and sensibility.  She was born in Santa Monica, CA, attended High School in NYC, a BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. She is Professor Emeritus, Cedar Crest College.  She has exhibited widely including exhibitions in Brussels, New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.  Her work is included in collections in the American Embassy in Riga, Latvia, the Ruth Hughes Collection of Artist Books at Oberlin College, Bryn Mawr College and the University of Tennessee Knoxville.  She has been the recipient of an NEA for painting and artist residencies in the US and abroad including in Portugal, Italy, Iceland and Malta.  More information can be found on her website: patbadt.com or thethirdbarn.org

Suzanne Edwards is Associate Professor of English and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Lehigh University, where she teaches classes in feminist theory and medieval literature. Her scholarship focuses on sexual violence, consent, and resistance in the Middle Ages and today--as well as on medievalism, the ways that writers and artists re-imagine the medieval past. She is co-director of the Gloria Naylor Archive Project, an interdisciplinary and multi-institution project to make the papers of this late-twentieth-century author accessible to diverse audiences through traditional scholarship, gallery exhibitions, and theatre performance. More information can be found on her website: https://english.cas.lehigh.edu/content/suzanne-edwards

Lucy Gans works with sculptural forms, drawing and printmaking to produce works that are self-reflective. She incorporates memory and history in intimate ways, creating a space where women’s stories are articulated. She has exhibited widely primarily in alternative spaces, women’s cooperative galleries, college and university galleries and small museums, most recently in Chicago, New York, Washington D.C. and Richmond. Her work is included in public and private collections in this country and abroad. She has received numerous grants, fellowships and awards including the National Association of Women Artists: Medal of Honor, the Peabody award for her work in printmaking and the Clara Shainless Memorial Award. She earned her MFA from Pratt Institute in sculpture with a minor in drawing. She also studied painting and drawing at the Art Students League, and earned her BFA from Lake Erie College.  Lucy joined the Lehigh University Faculty in 1981 and is currently Professor of Art and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and was the first holder of the Louis and Jane P. Weinstock '36 Chair in Art and Architecture in the Department of Art, Architecture and Design. More information can be found on her website: https://lgans.cas.lehigh.edu/

Jill Odegaard has lived and worked in Allentown and the Lehigh Valley since 2000 as an artist and educator.  She holds the position of Professor and Chair of the Art Department at Cedar Crest College in Allentown PA.  She earned her MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis MN and her BFA from Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead MN. More information can be found on her website: http://www.jillodegaard.com/