“Hard Won - Not Done” is anIowa campaigncommemorating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. They commissioned a 2020 calendar and now the original illustrations for it are part of a new exhibit.
Iowa artist Gary Kelley drew pastel portraits of historical figures including Willie Stevenson Glanton, the first African American woman elected to the Iowa House of Representatives.
“We have politicians for sure,” says Kelley “but I want it to be the history of important women in Iowa, not just the politics of important women in Iowa.”
Kelley’s collection also includes graphic artist and sculptor Elizabeth Catlett, 4H founder Jessie Field Shambaugh, and actress Donna Reed.
The Hearst Center For The Arts in Cedar Falls opens the exhibit a few days before the November 3rd election. The Hearst Center is a Cedar Falls voting location. “They wanted to make sure these original pieces were on the wall when people came to vote,” says Kelley.
The dozen portraits will be on display through the first week of December.
