A Yellow Rose Project

AUG 11 – SEPT 5

Logo for a yellow rose project features a gold background with plum text reading,

On view in the TWU East | West Galleries, from August 11 – September 5, 2025.

EVENTS

SEPT 4

Book Launch & Signing
3:30–4:30 p.m. | Fine Arts Building, 101

Artist Panel Discussion:
"How Far Have We Come In 100 Years?"
5-6 p.m. | Fine Arts Building, TWU West Gallery

Closing Reception
6-7 p.m. | Fine Arts Building, Foyer

AUGUST 11 – SEPTEMBER 5, 2025

Celebrating the centennial of the 19th Amendment, A Yellow Rose Project is a photographic collaboration of 106 women across the United States; creating images in response, reflection and reaction to this historical event from contemporary perspectives, 100 years after the vote for women was ratified. The project is the brainchild of founders Meg Griffiths, Associate Professor of Photography at Texas Woman’s University and Frances Jakubek, independent curator, art consultant and former director of exhibitions and operations at the Bruce Silverstein Gallery in New York City.

Expressing a rich, broad approach to the topics of women’s rights and the vote, the commissioned photographs for this collection speak to obstacles faced by women in 1920, as well as the issues still facing women today. The women participating represent a range of cultures, backgrounds, and generations, and are at varying stages in their artistic careers.

These photographs reflect a kaleidoscope of viewpoints and approaches: Some images drawing on personal histories, poignantly connecting with the present. Some are intimate portraits of individuals, domestic spaces, protest scenes, and documentation of the here and now. Others use archival images, news clippings, chemical processes, or embroidery to illuminate women’s continuing struggle with power, sexuality, choice and endurance. The resulting body of work expresses the responsibility and complexity of being a woman in the United States; building a bridge between the past and present.

The collection’s name, A Yellow Rose Project, was inspired by the story of women lobbying for the vote 100 years ago wearing yellow roses, a symbol of support for the suffrage movement, at the legislative session in Tennessee which ratified the 19th Amendment.

black and white image, an arm (body out of frame), holds up a womens slip hanging from a wire hanger

“I kept thinking about a quote from Sojourner Truth,” Griffiths said. “Sojourner Truth said women’s fates were linked, but not because they were the same. Our collection reflects women’s many, diverse paths.” Keeping this in mind, Griffiths and Jakubek invited women to look back and explore this narrative with a critical eye, as well as one that sees how far we have come, and how much farther we must go.

“The work is emotional,” Jakubek said. "What most surprises me is the intimacy of the imagery. My hope is that putting this out in the world will help to connect, strengthen and amplify women’s voices.”

A Yellow Rose Project exhibition will be on display in the East | West Galleries at Texas Woman’s University, located in the Fine Arts Building, from August 11–September 5, 2025. A closing reception will be held Thursday, September 4, 6–7 p.m., beginning with a book launch and signing from 3:30-4:30 p.m. of the newly published, A Yellow Rose Project: Responses, Reflections, and Reactions to the Nineteenth Amendment, followed by an artist panel discussion from 5–6 p.m.

cover of A Yellow Rose Project book. Text reads:

A limited number of books will be available to purchase at the event. Opening with essays by Lisa Volpe, curator of photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Shannon Perich, curator in the Photographic History Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History; Christina Bejarano, professor of Political Science at TWU; and Rachel Michelle Gunter, public historian. This work affords readers a multifaceted perspective, celebrating progress made and assessing all that remains to be done.

The founders hope the collection will be a resource and inspiration for artists, historians, teachers and interested viewers for years to come.

Pioneering Women: Leaders and Trailblazers, sponsored by the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership, Texas Woman's University

For book preorders, please visit:

www.tamupress.com/book/9781648433139/a-yellow-rose-project/

Image Credits:
1. Ashley Kauschinger, "After The Vote (US Suffragettes 1920)," TWU MFA 2014
2. Elizabeth M. Claffey, "Untitled," TWU MFA 2011
3. Cover Image: "A Yellow Rose Project: Responses, Reflections, and Reactions to the Nineteenth Amendment," Meg Griffiths and Frances Jakubek