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Bernadine Franco

Amplifying the Voices of Female Artists

Bernadine Franco Amplifying the Voices of Female ArtistsBernadine Franco Amplifying the Voices of Female ArtistsBernadine Franco Amplifying the Voices of Female Artists

Educator, Speaker, Writer, Podcaster

Educator, Speaker, Writer, Podcaster Educator, Speaker, Writer, Podcaster Educator, Speaker, Writer, Podcaster Educator, Speaker, Writer, Podcaster

ART TALKS

  

Overview:

Bernadine leads engaging Talks and Tours celebrating the contributions of Female visual artists 


Talks are offered at museums and organizations in Connecticut/Boston/New York. Optional museum tours pairings are available.


Length of Talks: 60 minutes

Bookings and Rates: Email

bernadine@bernadinefranco.com

Art Talk Descriptions

When Women Artists are Makers of the Female Nude

When Women Artists are Makers of the Female Nude

When Women Artists are Makers of the Female Nude

Presenter Bernadine contemplates the reclining, nude female figure in Western Art through the lens of artistic traditions (mostly male, white), and the response by female artists. Celebrated painters include Suzanne Valadon, Alice Neel, and contemporary black artist Mickalene Thomas. This talk can be tailored to your museum collection.

Capturing Nature: Abstraction and Female Voice

When Women Artists are Makers of the Female Nude

When Women Artists are Makers of the Female Nude

Join Bernadine for an exploration of nature (trees, flowers, water, land, even the moon) through Abstraction; “representations pared down to the minimum.” T


Female artists include 20th century women artist pioneers Agnes Martin, Alma Woodsey Thomas, Helen Frankenthaler and Etel Adnan. What we see in the natural world, these celebrated women artists distill into the essence of its shapes, forms, and colors. This talk can be tailored to your museum collection.

Printmaking Through the Lens of Women Artists

When Women Artists are Makers of the Female Nude

Women of Surrealism: Frida Kahlo, Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington

Join Bernadine as she explores the history of European and American women printmakers and their importance in the story of art. Starting on the historical side, Bernadine surveys early printmakers like 16th century Diana Scultori, Neoclassical artist Angelica Kauffman and the powerful modernist Kathe Kollwitz . 


Consideration is given to the issues of feminine sensibility and the impact of diverse perspectives by contemporary printmakers from BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. This talk can be tailored to your museum collection.

Women of Surrealism: Frida Kahlo, Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington

Women of Surrealism: Frida Kahlo, Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington

Women of Surrealism: Frida Kahlo, Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington

Join Bernadine as she explores women artists and the 20th century art movement Surrealism. Dominated by male artists, women harnessed the Surrealist aesthetic, "channeling the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination." 


Bernadine surveys Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and her contemporaries Spanish artist Remedios Varo, and British-born, Mexican painter, Leonora Carrington. Drawing from works in museum collections like the Museum of Modern Art, participants will engage in the visual world, the expression of human emotions through personal symbolism of these celebrated women. The contemporary perspective will also be examined through the works of painter of Ukraine, Rita Maikova. This talk can be tailored to your museum collection.


Black Female Artists: Deconstructing Stereotypes

Women of Surrealism: Frida Kahlo, Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington

Black Female Artists: Deconstructing Stereotypes

Bernadine presents black female artists who tackle and deconstruct racial stereotypes (Jezebel, Mammy, Sapphire) ascribed to black women in America since the early 19th century. Photographer Renee Cox and Lorna Simpson and contemporary artists Betye Saar and Mickalene Thomas, through the visual expression, counteract conventional portrayals of African American women. This talk can be tailored to your museum collection.

NEW! Abstract Expressionism: Female Perspective

Women of Surrealism: Frida Kahlo, Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington

Black Female Artists: Deconstructing Stereotypes

Bernadine will lead a lecture and tour for a three-part series in the exhibition: "Modern Women: Visionary Artists" at the New Britain Museum of Art, June, 2025. (Dates: TBD)


The exhibition draws works from the Whitney Museum of American Art collection of pioneer Abstract Expressionist female artists. Works by Helen Frankenthaler, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner, Louise Nevelson and Joan Brown "contributed to the advancement of modern art."

Organizations and Museums Bernadine Collaborated with.....

Less Than Half Salon

Less Than Half Salon

Less Than Half Salon

Louise Nevelson: Nevelson Chapel Talk, Guest Blogger

LTH Website

Women of Culture

Less Than Half Salon

Less Than Half Salon

"Alice: People Come First" Talk and Tour at the Met in New York

WOC website

Wallingford Library

Less Than Half Salon

The Teaching Artist Hub

Female Nude Reclining Figure by Women Artists Talk

Library website

The Teaching Artist Hub

New Britain Museum of American Art

The Teaching Artist Hub

Developed an Art Talk for Studio Art educators in Connecticut

Website

New Britain Museum of American Art

New Britain Museum of American Art

New Britain Museum of American Art

Museum Masters Series, 2021-22, Docent Lectures

New Lecture Series coming in June, 2025

NBMAA website

Russell Library

New Britain Museum of American Art

New Britain Museum of American Art

Led several Art Talks Celebrating Women Artists

Library website

Scranton Library

West Hartford Library

West Hartford Library

Tailored an Art Talk highlighting Frida Kahlo and her contemporaries

Library Website

West Hartford Library

West Hartford Library

West Hartford Library

Female Printmakers

Library Website

Bernadine Franco

Copyright © 2025 Bernadine Franco - All Rights Reserved.

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