INDIANAPOLIS - A recent gift from Herron donor Jane Fortune has endowed The Jane Fortune Outstanding Women Visiting Artist Lecture Series, providing a forum for the finest contemporary women artists to lecture annually at Herron. Nationally recognized painter and sculptor Audrey Flack will deliver the inaugural public lecture on Monday, December 3 at 6:00 pm in Herron’s Basile Auditorium, located at 735 West New York Street, Indianapolis, on the campus of IUPUI.

Jane Fortune, author and art historian, believes women artists have been greatly underrepresented in the past, and that it is time their talents and achievements be recognized. “By my endowing a lectureship to be given only by women artists, we can demonstrate to everyone the impact of art women are producing for the next generation.”

Fortune is delighted to have Audrey Flack as the inaugural speaker. “Audrey Flack’s contributions to our culture, and to art, are a significant factor in the development of today's artistic heritage. She is a major force in our thinking and deserves recognition, and the students at Herron should know of her work and her place in the evolution of art in America.”

Audrey Flack holds a graduate degree and an honorary doctorate from Cooper Union in New York City and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Yale University. She attended New York University's Institute of Fine Arts where she studied the history of art. Ms. Flack was awarded the St. Gaudens Medal from Cooper Union and the honorary Albert Dome professorship from Bridgeport University. She is an honorary professor at George Washington University, and is currently a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work is in the collections of major museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Whitney Museum of American Art and the National Museum of Art in Canberra, Australia. She was the first photo-realist painter to have work purchased by the Museum of Modern Art.

To learn more about Audrey Flack, visit: http://www.audreyflack.com.

Public parking is available at the IUPUI Natatorium Garage west of Eskenazi Hall.

Herron’s visiting artist lecture series inform and enlighten students, faculty and the community about the world of contemporary art. Artists, designers, critics and historians from all over the world are invited to speak at Herron, lecturing on their art, writings or creative research.