RIVER FALLS – Sadie Ward’s Braart Exhibit at City Hall Gallery featuring 25 portraits of remarkable women in history opened this April and will run through the end of June. It is an opportunity to walk through history and a chance to look at the work of a portrait artist using recycled bras as a collage medium. Ward tells us she was trained as a theatrical painter and designer. She also credits John Singer Sargent as her inspiration. If you haven’t researched Singer Sargent, he is a great place to start looking for inspiration.

Back in 1900 Paris, France high society people chased Singer Sargent down to pay him exorbitant fees to paint their portraits. Not so with Ward. Ward chooses her subjects based on their accomplishments, and her admiration for them. Sadie pursues them back through history without the benefit of getting them to sit for a portrait. She picks a photograph and works forward capturing the power and personality of her subjects through thought and careful observation.

I had the benefit of talking with Sadie at an Art’s House exhibit earlier this spring. She said that she has bins of recycled bras that she saves up and uses as she goes along. Ward uses those bridge- like angles from bras to show off the angles of faces, the lace and satin over the shoulder pieces serve as shading in darker areas of skin while padding becomes modeling for clothes, shoulders, and hats.

An excellent draftsman, Sadie’s portraits hit you first with light and shadow divisions and then it’s what they are wearing. When she acquired a red rhinestone bra, Sadie said, “I knew it had to be used for Simone Biles.”

The shading of Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s aging face is accomplished in paint brush size swaths of different colored light beige bra material. Her black hair pulled back from her forehead is made of bra straps and strips, while the judge’s classic robe is padded black bra. Madam Curie’s hair is made of frayed taupe lace.

Some of the woman portrayed for their striking accomplishments are new to me like Zora Hurston, Josephine, Mandamin, or Wangari Maathai. Educators might find the exhibit valuable as a unique teaching tool.

Modern subjects like Michelle Obama and Wangari Maathai have greater use of color and more pieced applications like lace eyebrows or pieced colored fingernails.

Ward refers to her medium- recycled bras as “the material that subverts all expectations.” She makes statements in more than one way with her exhibit. Subvert means to overthrow or destroy. Most people have no expectations for recycled bras and just maybe these women have overthrown expectations by their accomplishments. Or maybe Sadie Ward just likes to create and has found a fun, sustainable medium.

Ward’s inspiration for tackling portraits makes history exciting.

Ranging from Hypatia 350/370 B.C to contemporaries like Ann Bancroft, the exhibit is a great way to walk through history. A blurb is written next to each portrait with a description of each woman’s contribution. City Hall’s Gallery space upstairs and down works well for this inspiring exhibit. Hope you can see it.