The Institute for Research on Women and Gender and the Women’s and Gender Studies Department present a regular schedule of art exhibitions in Lane Hall’s lobby, an intimate space, conducive to seeing, reflection, and study.
Exhibitions feature works in a variety of media, by artists from near and far who are united in their exploration of topical issues and themes that hold meaning for the study of women and gender.
Read about the exhibit nomination process here (updated March 2022).
Current Exhibit
Portraits of Feminism in Japan
January 12 - May 12, 2023
cosponsored by the Center for Japanese Studies, IRWG, and the Department of Women's & Gender Studies
This exhibit features original portraits of feminists who have shaped the landscape of women's and gender rights in Japan and beyond. Created by nine contemporary artists in Japan and the United States, the portraits and accompanying texts challenge simplistic understandings of "feminism" while also drawing attention to a diversity of experiences, needs, and activism within Japan. This exhibit also spotlights the history of Japanese studies at the University of Michigan in conjunction with the Center for Japanese Studies' 75th anniversary celebration.
Portraits of Feminism in Japan is open for viewing M-F 9am-4pm or by appointment. University of Michigan instructors can email LaneHallExhibits@umich.edu to request a group tour or schedule a class visit.
Featured artists: Elaine Cromie, JenClare B. Gawaran, Takatoshi Hayashi, ivokuma (いぼくま), Nami Kaneko (金子奈美), Kang Jungsook, Lisa Taka Miyagi, Nancy Nishihira (西平・ナンシー), and Shigeki Shibata (柴田滋紀)
Curation team: Allison Alexy, Bradly Hammond, Grace Mahoney, and Alexandria Molinari
For more information, visit the exhibit website.
I have a crisis for you: Women Artists of Ukraine Respond to War
An exhibit curated by Grace Mahoney and Jessica Zychowicz, featuring work by Kinder Album, JT Blatty, Oksana Briukhovetska (MFA, Stamps School of Art and Design), Oksana Kazmina, Sonya Hukaylo, Svetlana Lavochkina, Kateryna Lisovenko, and Lyuba Yakimchuk.
August 25 – December 15, 2022
Visit the exhibit website
Invisible Women: Portraits of Aging in Ukraine
Photographs by Ashley Bigham, Assistant Professor at the Knowlton School of Architecture at the Ohio State University. Watercolors by Grace Mahoney, doctoral student in Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Michigan.
April 28 – August 18, 2022
New York City’s Vanished Cafeterias
photography exhibit by Marcia Bricker Halperin
January 16 - December 1, 2020
Selections from "Whose Streets? Our Streets!": New York City, 1980-2000
photography exhibition was curated by Tamar W. Carroll, Meg Handler, Mike Kamber and Josh Meltzer with support from the Bronx Documentary Center and the Rochester Institute of Technology
September 3 - December 13, 2019
she was here, once
Multimedia exhibit by Nastassja E. Swift
January 9 - August 2, 2019
Maya Healers: A Thousand Dreams
Photography exhibit by Fran Antmann
September 4 - December 7, 2018
Labors of Love and Loss
Mixed media exhibit by Marianetta Porter & Lisa Olson
January 29 - July 13, 2018
Chicana Fotos
An exhibit of Chicana photography documenting the 1970s by Nancy de los Santos
October 6 - December 13, 2017
Moving Through the Centuries: The Empowerment of U-M Women Through Physical Activity
historical photography & archive exhibition
January 12 - June 30, 2017
Swallowed Whole: A Visual Journey Through Traumatic Injury and Recovery
Works by Heidi Kumao
photography & video exhibition
September 1 - December 20, 2016
Above Ground - 40 Moments of Transformation
photography exhibition of Young Feminist Activism in China
January 26 - July 1, 2016
Stories of Mothers Lost
The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood
August 10 - December 11, 2015