JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — February 8, 2024 — The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens announced today that Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960, the first exhibition to explore the evolution of women’s sporting attire in Western fashion, will open on February 28, 2024, and run through May 19, 2024.
Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960 highlights the attire that defined women’s participation in the sporting world. The exhibition contains more than 60 ensembles worn for a variety of outdoor activities during the 19th and 20th centuries, including swimming, fencing, tennis, golf, motorcycling, and piloting. The exceptional collection of garments and accessories explores how fashion met the needs of new pursuits for women, while at the same time preserving their socially-approved mobility.
The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is the final stop of the exhibition’s national tour, which began on July 3, 2021 at The Frick Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.
“This exhibition is an opportunity for sports enthusiasts, fashionistas, and history buffs alike to learn about the evolution of women’s place in both sporting life and society,” said Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Ph.D., George W. and Kathleen I. Gibbs Director and CEO of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. “Jacksonville is a city that celebrates the camaraderie and community of athletics, and we look forward to bringing this dynamic exhibition to the region.”
The exhibition showcases how the innovative designers and manufacturers responded to the shift in societal norms for women’s wear over the course of 160 years of Western fashion.
The attire on view come primarily from Western Europe and North America. The garments often belonged to the affluent, who had greater access to leisure and sport activities. These rare surviving pieces illustrate the active lives of women—some known, others anonymous— who wore ensembles such as these to challenge the status quo, to better themselves, and to serve as examples of achievement for ensuing generations.
“While this exhibition spans 160 years of sporting ensembles, every woman represented, whether it be in 1800 or 1960, was a pioneer of modernity,” said Kevin L. Jones, curator at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Museum, Los Angeles.
The Cummer Museum in collaboration with a host of community partners has organized a slate of dynamic exhibition-related programs that invite visitors to explore Sporting Fashion in new and exciting ways. See cummermuseum.org for more information.
This exhibition is organized by the American Federation of the Arts and FIDM Museum at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Los Angeles. Support for the national tour is provided by the AFA’s Gold Medal Circle: Elizabeth Belfer, Stephanie Borynack Clark, Ashleigh Fernandez, Lee White Galvis, Stephanie R. LaNasa, Merrill Mahan, Clare E. McKeon, Jennifer New, Angela Timashev, and Victoria Ershova Triplett.
2024 Cummer Museum of Arts & Gardens Exhibition Presenters include: Season Presenters - City of Jacksonville and Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville; Presenting Sponsor - State of Florida; Lead Sponsors - The Robert D. Davis Family Endowment and The Schultz Family Endowment; and Celebrated Sponsors - The Jaguars Foundation, The Van Vleck Family Foundation, A Generous Anonymous Donor and the Director’s Circle Donors at the Cummer Museum.
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About the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens:
For more than 60 years, the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens has been committed to engaging and inspiring through the arts, gardens, and education. A permanent collection of more than 5,000 objects and historically significant gardens on a riverfront campus offers nearly 140,000 visitors a truly unique experience on the First Coast each year. Nationally recognized education programs serve adults and children of all abilities. The Museum is committed to ensuring that diversity and inclusion are woven into the fabric of its exhibitions, programs, and offerings. For further information, including hours, visit?www.cummermuseum.org.
About the American Federation of Arts
The American Federation of Arts is the leader in traveling exhibitions internationally. A nonprofit institution founded in 1909, the AFA is dedicated to enriching the public’s experience and understanding of the visual arts through organizing and touring art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishing scholarly exhibition catalogues, developing innovative educational programs, and fostering a better understanding among nations through the international exchange of art.
About the FIDM Museum
The FIDM Museum is a nonprofit institution, founded in 1978. It collects, preserves, and interprets fashion objects and support materials with outstanding design merit. It fosters student learning, public
engagement, and recognition of the creative arts and entertainment industries by providing access to the collections through exhibitions, publications, and other research opportunities. The FIDM Museum has one of the nation’s finest fashion collections of more than 15,000 objects, dating from the seventeenth century to the present, and yearly presents major exhibitions.