Carry the Torch Rhonda Padon-Gibson “Carry the Torch” is a multi-media work, 36 by 42 inches in size, by Rhonda Padon-Gibson. It includes Prismacolor pencil, acrylic paint, Mod Podge, Tacky Glue, construction paper, maps, upcycled fabric, voting stickers, printed images, recycled DAR items (gift bag, printed materials and envelopes), and vintage elements from ca. 1920 (calendar, advertising images, stickers, stamps, cards and postcards).
Rhonda writes: The multi-media piece, “Carry the Torch” is designed to enlighten the viewer to the suffrage movement through a visual narrative featuring the amazing women whose work led to the ratification of the 19th Amendment. I have woven copies of their images with tangible items connecting our future with our past, upcycling and recycling donated old and new items from members of the Andrew Carruthers Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, family and friends.
The piece is draped with a hand-dyed and hand-sewn patriotic mantle, made from upcycled fabric. The blue paper strip border framing the outside edge is made from the inside of DAR envelopes. The border becomes obscured at the bottom of the canvas by mounds of, “I Voted” stickers from the November 2019 election. Carrie Chapman Catt and Mary Garret Hay are pictured in either corner networking and campaigning by phone. They were talented, dedicated hard workers, and best friends, who were vital to the state-by-state ratification plan. I designed the structure of the composition using one point perspective radiating out of the center of the DAR sunshine symbol. The reflecting light is punctuated by a gold metallic circle cut from a DAR gift bag. Inez Milholland Boissevain leaps through the circle on her horse, “Grey Dawn” to lead a celebratory parade in the sky.
Diagonal lines descend down to create a trophy-like shape, containing a ballot-box, a map of Tennessee, and a copy of the 19th Amendment as the base. From the right side of the 19th Amendment, Phoebe Burns sends advice to her 24-year-old son, Harry T. Burns on the left. He listened to his mom, giving the tie breaking “Aye” to secure Tennessee as the 36th state needed for ratification. I hand painted a rose cut from a vintage care to represent his change in decision. He had worn a red rose signifying a vote against suffrage, but her advice turned it suffrage yellow. The paper ephemera was an inspiration for this piece. They were inherited from my husband’s maternal great grandmother, Veronica “Fronnie” Mainzer Schoening. There is a postcard she received in 1920 giving light to the daily life of someone from the time period. Left of the postcard is her wedding photo with husband Albert, complete with a congratulatory card and two hearts made from firework paper. The history of the suffragette movement unfolds across the canvas with painted photocopy images of the women who built the foundation of the 19th Amendment from the early 1800s to ratification in 1920. Women like Lucy Stone, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and their daughters Alice Stone Blackwell and Harriot Stanton Blatch. Harriot is depicted in front of her mother confidently juggling the challenges of life just as her mother had, proving all the critics
wrong. The White House is the backdrop to the top of the painting. Women picketed regardless of the weather to pressure Woodrow Wilson for change. Alice Paul, Helena Hill Weed, Lucy Burns and Louisine Havemeyer’s images appear on the right side of the canvas. All of these ladies served time behind bars for their protesting. Some received Alice Paul’s “Jailed for Freedom” pin for their duty, which is seen as the door of the White House. Alice Paul finally raises a celebratory glass standing in the sunlight of victory in front of the scene of her sewing the last star onto a ratification banner. In closing, it was an honor and a challenge to create this piece. I couldn’t stop researching, with one amazing life story leading to another. One story revealed that a member of the Andrew Carruthers Chapter is Louisine Havemeyer’s first cousin three times removed. Now Louisine’s torch light has shone full circle on another generation. May my artwork, “Carry the Torch” bring history to life, and shine the light brighter on the 19th Amendment for generations to come.
I learned about Rhonda and this work of art while volunteering for Bee Cave Arts Foundation, for the member exhibition in 2021. Once the show was closed, Rhonda agreed to visit with me about “Carry the Torch.” We sat together and discussed it and she provided the information shared in this document. If you have questions, reach out to her at b9rpg@hotmail.com, or me at carolyn@carolynmappleton.com. Carolyn M. Appleton October 2, 2021