Top of page

Women in the Arts

Posted by: Mary Dell Jenkins

Share this post:

Rhode Island Ladies Orchestra
Imperial Ladies’ Orchestra, Miss Lizzie A. Otto, directress Hoag Lake Theatre, Woonsocket, R. I.

I have blogged previously about Women in Music  and although the official calendar date has passed for Women’s History Month, I would like to share my experience from a forum sponsored by the Library of Congress.

Leaders in the Arts was a conversation held in the beautiful Members Room on March 22, 2017, with Librarian Carla Hayden and three leaders from the Washington DC arts community.  It was wonderful and reassuring to hear their different stories and challenges they faced while pursuing their careers.

If I were to create a word cloud, two words prominently displayed would be mentor and perseverance. In our experience, the passion for the art is ignited somewhere and sometime, but the road ahead can be full of obstacles and barriers.  Hearing Marin Alsop, Deborah F. Rutter and Molly Smith describe events in their lives and their determination to share their passion and vision with anyone who is interested was uplifting and reassuring to me.

Coming to the NLS Music Section every day is a reminder that we all share the same passion for music and every effort should be made to provide access for all.

Sometimes a small reminder helps one to focus on your good fortune. I am happy to have had this reminder.

 

Comments (2)

  1. M. Garnett says:

    Thank you for that same reminder!

    • Mary Dell Jenkins says:

      You are most welcome, Ms. Garnett!

Add a Comment

This blog is governed by the general rules of respectful civil discourse. You are fully responsible for everything that you post. The content of all comments is released into the public domain unless clearly stated otherwise. The Library of Congress does not control the content posted. Nevertheless, the Library of Congress may monitor any user-generated content as it chooses and reserves the right to remove content for any reason whatever, without consent. Gratuitous links to sites are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments. We further reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to remove a user's privilege to post content on the Library site. Read our Comment and Posting Policy.


Required fields are indicated with an * asterisk.