Art Exhibit and Panel Discussion with Heather Bennett, Marie Griffith, and Megan Kenyon
What power is there in a woman’s voice? Can the testimony of Christian women help to undo patriarchy and stop spiritual abuse? What can art and the history of evangelicalism teach us about our current political moment and how to move forward? The Women’s Chapel is an interdisciplinary art exhibition created by artist Megan Kenyon and a collaborative group of evangelical women whose stories show how the journey of divesting oneself of Christian patriarchy is one full of rage and grief but ultimately laced with hope.
Join us on January 23, 2024, at Intersect Arts Center for a conversation among scholars Marie Griffith and Heather Bennett and artist Megan Kenyon as they reflect together on these themes in relation to The Women’s Chapel, currently exhibited at Intersect Arts Center. Dinner will be offered as part of the experience.
Heather Bennett is a senior lecturer at Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts and maintains a multimedia practice consisting of photography, video, drawing, text, installation. Her work traces the female subject and its historic irrelevance, focusing on representation in contemporary culture. Bennett earned a B.A. and B.F.A. at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and an M.F.A at Hunter College in New York. Her work is represented by Gallieri S.E. in Norway and Bruno David Gallery in St. Louis, MO.
Marie Griffith is the John C. Danforth Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis. Her work focuses on American evangelicalism, gender, and sexuality and includes such writings as Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics. She served for 12 years as director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics and editor of the Center’s journal, Religion & Politics. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia in Political and Social Thought and her Ph.D. in the study of religion from Harvard University.
Megan Kenyon is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in St. Louis. Her practice focuses on storytelling relating to evangelical experience, investigating through visual images and written texts the complexities of Christian practice, church history, and spiritual abuse. Megan is a recent graduate of the Washington University in St. Louis Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art program, and has shown her work at a variety of St. Louis galleries, including the Kranzberg and the Kemper Museum.
Registration is required so we can plan your meal and visit. We will provide transportation for current WashU students who indicate they would like one. Please indicate the appropriate information when registering at https://www.intersectstl.org/twcpanelregistration.
