On Tuesday, March 7, 2006 at 7:30 p.m., Cynthia Fraula-Hahn will present a public lecture on Mexican modernist artist Frida Kahlo at the Shenandoah University History and Tourism Center, 20 South Cameron Street, Winchester. The lecture will be paired with the opening of the exhibition, "Celebrating Women's History Month: The Art and Scholarship of Cynthia Fraula-Hahn and Helen Langa." Ms. Fraula-Hahn's paintings will highlight the exhibition, on view in Room 213 through the end of the month. Also on March 7, the artist will engage students on the SU main campus with a presentation and discussion on Italian 17th-century painter Artemisia Gentileschi. These talks will take place (in Gregory 152) from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. and 11-12:15.

Cynthia Fraula-Hahn's paintings, assemblages and installations have been shown in individual and group shows, from the eastern seaboard--Baltimore, Washington D.C., New York and her native Winchester--to Arizona and Hawaii. In a review of her work, Wendy Mayer stated that "her vision suggests transcendence, and indeed, her style is always evolving. . . into the tapestry of her own regional history. Her brushwork interprets soulful landscapes, defined not by their familiarity, but by their otherworldiness."

"A woman ahead of her time, Artemisia Gentileschi is considered the most important female artist of the 17th century," Fraula-Hahn avers. "Gifted and ambitious, she refused to be bound by the conventions imposed on female artists of her time. Her paintings of female heroes/heroines, such as Judith slaying Holofernes and Susannah and the Elders, are as compelling as her life's journey. She was looked upon as an oddity or exotic, and used that reputation/celebrity to become an independent woman and eminent painter."

Fraula-Hahn describes Frida Kahlo as a woman who "forged a place in the art world that was completely her own." She says that "Frida's striking, often shocking self portraits capture her turbulent personal history on canvas. The wife of world-renowned Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, she maintained entrée into international art circles throughout the 1930s. A woman of enormous strength and determination, Kahlo was an active participant in the social, economic and political landscape that characterized a time of worldwide turmoil."

Ms. Fraula-Hahn will be exhibiting paintings inspired by Frida Kahlo at the SU March exhibition. Titles include Frida and Dr. Farrik, The Many Fridas, and Frida's Last Supper.

Ms. Fraula-Hahn received her MFA in painting and printmaking, as well as her BFA, from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. She also studied interior design at the University of Maryland in College Park. The lectures and exhibition celebrating her art and scholarship are generously supported by a gift from Virginia-Wojno Forney and the Shenandoah University Women's Studies program. All events are free and open to the public.

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