The Reading Public Museum has announced its third summer exhibition: Her Brush, Her Story: Women Watercolorists. The exhibition will be on display in The Museum’s Works on Paper Gallery from June 21 through August 17, 2025. This exhibition joins an exciting lineup of previously announced exhibitions: Patrick McGrath Muñiz: Recolecciones /Recollections (May 31 – August 24) and TOYTOPIA (June 14 – September 7). As always, The Museum is hoping to offer something for everyone.
Drawn from the permanent collection of the Reading Public Museum, Her Brush, Her Story: Women Watercolorists gathers over forty watercolor paintings from the late nineteenth century through contemporary times. The medium of watercolor was traditionally associated with women painters because it was clean, light, inexpensive, widely-available, and could be taught as a pastime in the home or at school.
However, the artists featured in this exhibition broke out of that traditional mold, becoming teachers in art schools and universities, exhibiting regularly in museum exhibitions, and building successful careers.
RPM Curator Scott Schweigert noted that “It’s rewarding to be able to shed light on this talented group of artists, many of whom are not well known beyond the region. RPM has been collecting works by women artists since its earliest days. This show, drawn from our rich collection, helps advance their stories and recognized the fine paintings they produced.”
The exhibit features landscapes, still lifes, portraits, cityscapes, and industrial scenes. Works by women with national reputations like artist/illustrator Cynthia Iliff (1907 – 1998), Ethelyn Pratt Cobb (1884 – 1973), and Irene Aunio (1919 –2013), to artists who have local ties to Reading or southeastern Pennsylvania like Mary Hiester Reid (1854 – 1921) , Mary B. Leisz (1876 – 1935), Hazel Feltman (1916 – 1980), and Elizabeth Hurwitz (1903 –1975) among others, will be examined. A feature article about the exhibition was recently published in the spring issue of American Art Review magazine.
The Reading Public Museum, located at 500 Museum Road in Reading, PA, offers a diverse range of exhibits and educational programs for all ages. Admission is $10 for adults (18-64), $6 for children, seniors, and college students with ID, and free for members and children under 3. The museum is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit readingpublicmuseum.org.
Reading School District students are granted free Museum and Planetarium access and may be accompanied by two adults at no cost. Students must show a District ID card, and the adults who accompany them must show proof they reside in zip codes within the District.