The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center (the Loeb) at Vassar College taps into the national discourse on the topic of women’s health with Reproductive: Health, Fertility, Agency, a thoughtful and sensitive  new exhibition that delves into the complex psychological, physical, and emotional landscape of issues related to fertility. The exhibition opens on Thursday, October 3. Featuring works by renowned contemporary artists including Laia Abril, Candice Breitz, Elinor Carucci, Jess T. Dugan, Krista Franklin, Candy Guinea, KING COBRA (aka Doreen Garner), Joanne Leonard, Wangechi Mutu, and Carmen Winant, this exhibition offers an exploration of the experiences of women and individuals assigned female at birth as they navigate the complex realities of fertility and the reproductive cycle.

Organized by the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) at Columbia College, Chicago, this iteration of the exhibition is uniquely presented at the Loeb. The exhibition has been curated by MoCP Chief Curator and Deputy Director Karen Irvine and Curator of Academic Programs and Collections Kristin Taylor, with local oversight by Jessica D. Brier, Curator of Photography at the Loeb Art Center and made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center Exhibition Fund.

“In bringing this exhibition to Vassar, it is important to me that we consider—and provide support for—our campus community and the larger surrounding community in presenting this material,” said Loeb Curator of Photography Jessica Brier, noting that “many of the experiences referenced by the artists in the exhibition are deeply personal and will likely prompt a variety of responses for visitors.” Brier added that over the past year, the Loeb team worked “to design new ways of supporting visitors through the physical experience of the exhibition, opportunities for personal and collective reflection, public programs, and cross-campus partnerships. It is our hope that the exhibition will be a hub for the important work that these partners do in the realms of reproductive health, justice, and rights.”

Reproductive: Health, Fertility, Agency brings together diverse artistic perspectives to address critical issues including birth, miscarriage, pleasure, access to abortion, trauma, and the loss of fertility. Through a range of media and approaches, the artists provide a space for reflection and dialogue on these vital topics, challenging viewers to engage with the complexities of reproductive experiences and the pursuit of agency.

The exhibition will launch with an opening reception at the Loeb, 4:00 p.m. on October 3, 2024—featuring remarks by artists Krista Franklin and Joanne Leonard, in conversation with curators Karen Irvine and Kristin Taylor—and will be on view through February 2, 2025.

About the Loeb Art Center | vassar.edu/theloeb

The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center is a teaching and learning museum, free and open to all, supporting Vassar College’s educational mission and communities. Formerly the Vassar College Art Gallery, the Loeb is the first art museum at a college or university that was part of the institution’s original plan. Today, the permanent collection includes over 22,000 works, comprised of paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, textiles, and glass and ceramic wares. The Loeb strives to be a catalyst for scholarly, creative, and social justice work by Vassar students and others. It aims to reflect a commitment to broaden, and amplify, the voices represented in the museum setting, and to ensure that the Loeb’s programs and practices have a positive impact on campus and beyond. To learn more, please visit vassar.edu/theloeb or follow @theloeb.

About MoCP | MoCP.org

The Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (MoCP) is the world’s premier college art museum dedicated to photography. As an international hub, MoCP generates ideas and provokes dialogue among students, artists and diverse communities through groundbreaking exhibitions and programming. Museum of Contemporary Photography cultivates a deeper understanding of the artistic, cultural and political roles of photography in our world today.

The MoCP is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The Museum is generously supported by Columbia College Chicago, the MoCP Advisory Board, Museum Council, individuals, private and corporate foundations, and government agencies including the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Commitment to DEAI

The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College commits to Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion (DEAI) as core values across its culture, systems, and practices. We pledge to allocate resources (human and financial) to create and sustain a museum culture in which difference is celebrated. The Loeb staff is dedicated to integrating DEAI priorities into gallery installations, programming, interpretation, collections management, acquisitions, and internal processes. Our ongoing work is guided by an intention to care for all people engaged with the Loeb while welcoming the exchange of ideas, enriching experiences, and diverse perspectives through art.

Admission to the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center is free and all galleries are wheelchair accessible.  The Loeb is now open to the public every day (except Monday) from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Loeb is located at 124 Raymond Avenue near the entrance to the Vassar College campus. parking is available on Raymond Avenue. Directions to the Vassar campus in Poughkeepsie, NY, are available at https://www.vassar.edu/visit/tour#directions.

The Art Center is also accessible via the Dutchess County Public Transit, Bus Route L. For additional information, the public may call (845) 437-5632 or visit https://www.vassar.edu/theloeb.

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that Vassar stands upon the homelands of the Munsee Lenape, Indigenous peoples who have an enduring connection to this place despite being forcibly displaced by European colonization. Munsee Lenape peoples continue today as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community in Wisconsin, the Delaware Tribe and the Delaware Nation in Oklahoma, and the Munsee-Delaware Nation in Ontario. This acknowledgment, however, is insufficient without our reckoning with the reality that every member of the Vassar community since 1861 has benefited from these Native peoples’ displacement, and it is hollow without our efforts to counter the effects of structures that have long enabled—and that still perpetuate—injustice against Indigenous Americans. To that end, we commit to build and sustain relationships with Native communities; to expand opportunities at Vassar for Native students, as well as Native faculty and other employees; and to collaborate with Native nations to know better the Indigenous peoples, past and present, who care for this land.

Vassar College is a coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.