UMES’Mosely Gallery Celebrates International Womens’ Month 2007

with Exhibition “Women of the World by RienekeLeenders”

By Anke Van Wagenberg, Ph.D., Mosely Gallery Director

PRINCESS ANNE, MD -As we celebrate women, the upcoming exhibit in the Mosely Gallery on the campus of theUniversityof Maryland Eastern Shorewill feature portraits of Women of the World by Dutch artist RienekeLeenders. Each painting is an intimate portrayal, capturing the beauty, spark and cultural identity of its subject.

The exhibit opens Thursday, March 8, with a4 p.m.lecture by the artist and a reception following. “Women of the World by RienekeLeenders” will remain on display until March 30.

RienekeLeenders was born and raised in theNetherlands, where she met Thijs, her husband. After graduating as a gold- and silversmith, she spent a few years working as such inToronto,Canada. There she and Thijs started the trip of their life: a honeymoon around the world that lasted almost five years.

During this adventure she learned to love and appreciate people and their cultures and recorded memories of them in photographs, which she still uses as references for her compelling portraits. Since then she has lived in theNetherlands,Spainand inVirginia Beach,VA, yet continued her international travel.

In her large paintings of ethnic women from all over the world she likes to evoke emotions through the use of color and light. She relates, “my extensive travels around the world have created in me a loving fascination for the people, places, and cultures of the world. I feel compelled to paint that. Most of all I like to paint portraits of people that I have met. While painting, I try to convey my experience of emotions in the portrait.”

Leendersbecame very successful with regional exhibitions and has had two exhibitions at the World Bank inWashington. Her work has been purchased by the World Bank, mostly portraits of women from countries where the World Bank is active.

Leendersis a founding member and vice president of the Multicultural Alliance of Virginia, president of the Virginia Watercolor Society, secretary of Chesapeake Bay Watercolorists and president of Tidewater Artists Association.

Around the globe, International Women's Day (IWD) marks a celebration of the economic, social, cultural and political achievements for women. First launched in 1909, IWD is now celebrated each year on March 8 and is marked by women's groups around the world.

For more information, please contact Dr. Anke Van Wagenberg, Mosely Gallery director, at 410-651-6487 oraavanwagenberg@umes.edu. The Mosely Gallery is located at UMES in theArts & TechnologyBuilding. Exhibits are free and open to the public Monday through Friday from9 a.m. to 5 p.m.