Exactly seven years ago, Seekers and Scholars recorded an episode on Violet Oakley—described by podcast guest, Dr. Patricia Likos Ricci, as “once one of the most famous women artists in the United States, [who] had an international reputation.” A member of the Philadelphia women’s artist group known as the “Red Rose Girls,” Oakley was a leading figure in the early twentieth-century American Renaissance movement, which sought to revitalize expressions of spirituality in the arts and architecture. The theme of religious tolerance in its embrace of all of humanity animated her life and work. On a large scale, she created many of the murals that decorate the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg. She also provided illustrations for Christian Science publications. As a devoted church member, Oakley drew from the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy in her art and activism for racial equality, women’s rights, and economic and social justice.
Access more on this topic:
- Article: “Women of History: Violet Oakley”
- Podcast: “Women abstract artists—their spirituality and contemporary relevance”
- Podcast: “Christian Science and British Modern Art”
- Letter: Violet Oakley, “Letters to Our Leader,” Christian Science Sentinel, December 26, 1903.
This episode originally aired on February 15, 2018.
Patricia Likos Ricci, Ph.D, is the Director of the Fine Arts Division, Associate Professor of the History of Art, and a member of the Women and Gender Studies faculty at Elizabethtown College. She received her doctorate in the History of Art from Bryn Mawr College. Dr. Ricci’s research focuses on late nineteenth-century American art and architecture, with particular attention to women artists. She recently curated the retrospective exhibition “A Grand Vision: Violet Oakley and the American Renaissance” at the Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia.
Pam Winstead is Curator at The Mary Baker Eddy Library, where she has worked for the past twelve years. Before coming to the Library, Pam held a variety of positions in the museum field, including Costume Curator and Textile Conservator at the Indiana State Museum; Assistant Curator at the Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection at Indiana University; Assistant Textile Conservator at the Textile Conservation Workshop in S. Salem, NY; and Museum Technician at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
