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Women of the Blues: A Coast to Coast Collection

Documenting the past and celebrating the future
100 photos by over 20 photographers commemorating
over a century of Women recording and performing the Blues

Performances subject to change

Thursday March 21st, 6-10 pm by Registration Required

Liz Mandeville and Tres’ Amigas with Special Guests Anne Harris
and Melody Angel

To attend the Thursday night opening, please register at Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/women-of-the-blues-a-coast-to-coast-collection-tickets-860930224477?aff=oddtdtcreator

Friday March 22nd, 2-10 pm

4-6 pm Holle Thee Maxwell book signing
7-10 pm Legendary Blues singer Katherine Davis and Yoko Noge
Interviews with Donna Herula & Dawn O’Keefe Williams

Saturday March 23rd, 2-10 pm

2-4 pm Win Noll’s Tribute to Legendary Blues Women with Special Guest Blues Legend Mary Lane

7:30 pm Meet the Women of Delmark Records

Sunday March 24th, 2-6 pm

Enjoy a Champagne Toast with Lynn Orman Weiss, Curator and Founder of Women of the Blues: A Coast To Coast Collection

The Collection features over 100+ photographs and art of ‘Women of the Blues’ performing, in portrait and screaming the blues. The curated collection is a tribute to Alligator recording artist, Queen of the Blues, Koko Taylor and supports the Koko Taylor Celebrity Aid Foundation and the Sisters of Royalty among other benefactors. Twenty photographers from around the world share their very poignant and powerful images of these extraordinary women, photographed from the stage at the Chicago Blues Festival to the Maui Sugar Mill in Los Angeles, from the Blues Cruise on the Caribbean to festivals on the East Coast.

The Collection takes you behind the lens that captured the images of superstars like Mavis Staples and Irma Thomas to beloved West Coast artist Candye Kane and Sherry Jackson Pruitt. Other featured artists include Koko Taylor Award recipient Ruthie Foster, Chicago’s Southern soul blues diva Nellie ‘Tiger’ Travis, the legendary Holle Thee Maxwell, international touring blues singer Deitra Farr, and rising star the newly crowned Queen of the Blues, Shemekia Copeland, daughter of Johnny Copeland, and Tomiko Dixon, granddaughter of Willie Dixon, and many more beautiful images of women who sing and play the blues.

The world premiere of ‘Women of the Blues – A Coast To Coast Collection’ was first presented by Orman Music And Media Group at Firecat Projects in Chicago, May 27, 2016 and opened June 8th in conjunction with the Chicago Blues Festival. The exhibit was on display October 3rd through December 12, 2016 at The University of Chicago Medical Center. The ‘Women Of The Blues – A Coast To Coast Collection’ was on display at the National Blues Museum in St. Louis January 7th through March 31st, 2017. “Women of the Blues: A Coast To Coast Collection” made a return appearance to the University of Chicago Medical Center, in celebration of World Music Festival in September and the first Logan Center Blues Festival in October. A portion of full exhibit was back on display at the HydePark Campus. The show was located in the skybridge between Mitchell Hospital and DCAM. In 2017 Collection was shown on the Jumbotron at the Petrillo Bandshell for 2017 Chicago Blues Festival. In January 2020, the Collection opened at the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis.

Opening in March of 2020, Lynn Orman Weiss, founder and curator of Women of the Blues Foundation in partnership with Delmark Records President and CEO, Julia A. Miller, celebrated Women’s History Month with an exhibit featuring 100 blues women, and highlighted past and present blues women in the Delmark Records family. The collection paid tribute to the 100 years of historical recordings, the first million dollar selling blues song, “Crazy Blues” by Mamie Smith, a breakthrough into mainstream recording, and to pay homage to the women of the Suffrage Movement.

In the summer of 2022, Lynn curated the Collection at the Epiphany Center for the Arts that featured the line-up of Women Blues Performers at The Chicago Blues Festival, and presented a lecture on Women of the Blues at Chicago’s historic Cliff Dweller’s Club.

The touring exhibit is available for showings at museums, hospitals, schools and art galleries interested in educating the public about the blues divas both present and past, their musical journey and contributions to American Roots Music and the art of unique visions of seasoned photographers from across the country and around the world, who focus on blues music and those talented performers who inspire them.

Please contact Lynn Orman Weiss, Women of the Blues to arrange a showing in a city near you.

Learn more about THE EXHIBIT.

Learn more about THE PHOTOGRAPHERS.

Like WOMEN OF THE BLUES on Facebook.

CONTACT us.