Bobby Kaplan | Contributing Photographer

This fall, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum is showcasing its largest exhibit ever, taking up almost the entire first floor of the museum. The traveling exhibit, called “Making Their Mark,” highlights the works of over 70 female artists in the Shah Garg collection — a foundation created by Komal Shah and her husband to spotlight the contributions of women in art. 

“It was first shown in New York, then at the Berkeley Art Museum, and now here at WashU,” museum director and Chief Curator Sabine Eckmann said. “It’s not only in terms of quantity an important collection, but also in terms of quality.”

“Making Their Mark” includes works from celebrated artists, emerging figures, and long-overlooked talents that have never been displayed before. 

“If you look at all the works in the show, … I think there are many, many artists who have been overlooked, so it’s nice to feature them here for the first time,” Eckmann said.

In order to weave together the very diverse collection, the works are divided by thematic elements. Within one section, there are artists born over a century ago and young up-and-comers sharing the same ideals.

“We wanted to make sure that we really have works close and in dialogue with each other, which show this kind of intergenerational conversation between artists,” Eckmann said, speaking to how the museum decided to arrange the pieces. “So to have works by artists who were born in the 1900s and then in the 1920s and ‘30s, with artists who are just emerging … that was very important here for us.” 

Throughout the exhibit, there are six overarching themes: “Gestural Abstraction,” “Painting and Technology,” “Craft Is Art,” “Of Selves and Spirits,” “Disobedient Bodies,” and “Luminous Abstraction.” Each theme takes up a different room in the exhibit. 

The first theme, “Gestural Abstraction,” features works like those of Aria Dean, who blends sculpture and special effects software to create art. 

“There’s this theory that painting is always alive because of the gesture, the individual gesture of the artist,” Eckmann said. “There is some liveliness to the medium. And that is sort of at core in the first section.” 

The unique pieces displayed presented different challenges fitting into the museography of Kemper. For example, a piece by American abstractionist Howardena Pindell required the canvas to be nailed directly to the wall. 

“All these works arrive, and then you decide where they go. You do that way in advance. And so usually I work with a designer or the curators. And also the director, assistant director of exhibitions, and many people in our facilities department … and with those people, I then actually work when I hang the show,” Eckmann said. “I decide on spacing and on height, and if it really looks good, if we have nice sideways side views and things like that.”

The exhibit was slightly adapted in order to both represent St. Louis and fit into the context of WashU. Eckmann specifically referenced how the museum’s research led them to believe that the works of Suzanne Jackson, despite Jackson being from St. Louis, were never actually shown in the city.

“There are many artists that are actually really very well known, but have not been presented in St. Louis at all, or only in … smaller ways,” Eckmann said. “It’s not only great for Washington University, but for the entire city.”

While the exhibit is on display, there will be a lecture on artist Joan Mitchell on Oct. 26, and a panel with artists Katharina Grosse and Mary Weatherford, both of whom are featured in the exhibit, on Nov. 19. Both events are completely free. WashU faculty can also request guided tours of the exhibit for the length of its run. The exhibit will be on display until Jan. 5, 2026.