ATLANTA, GA.- Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries present “Women Enchanting the Muses: Selections From The Cochran Collection,” an exhibition on the university’s main campus, 223 James P. Brawley Dr., S.W., in Atlanta. The exhibition is free and open to the public and runs through April 30. Gallery hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday – Friday.

“Women Enchanting the Muses” continues CAU’s celebration of the 60th anniversary of the unveiling of the “Art of the Negro” mural series by Hale Woodruff.

Co-curated by CAU Art Galleries director Tina Dunkley and CAU art professor Christopher Hickey, the exhibition comprises 40 selections from the collection of works on paper by African-American women artists from the extensive American art collection of Wesley and Missy Cochran in LaGrange, Ga. There is a broad and enlightening range of prints, drawings, collages and paintings by Faith Ringgold, Rochelle Puryear, Maren Hassinger, Selma Burke, Betye Saar, Margo Humphrey, Valerie Maynard, and many others.

Complementing this exhibition are portraits of several of the acclaimed female artists featured in a recast of Woodruff’s all-male assembly in “Panel 6: Muses.” The 8ft. x 8 ft. oil pastel mural was created by CAU students in Drawing Class CART 204, under the direction of Hickey. The class project was inspired by a recurring public query as to why Hale Woodruff did not include women artists when he painted the series in 1950-51.

Fondly described as “unsung heroes” and “pioneering art collectors from the Deep South,” the Cochrans have amassed a major collection of 20th century masters. Central to the Cochrans’ mission is making the art of eminent and obscure artists accessible to all populations. Their collection includes works by Jacob Lawrence, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Hale Woodruff, James Rosenquist, Alexander Calder, Jim Dine, Jasper Johns, Joan Miro, William H. Johnson, Willem De Kooning, George Segal, Helen Frankenthaler, Louise Nevelson, Robert Rauchenberg, Camille Billops, John Biggers and Mildred Thompson, among others. The Cochrans will discuss the development of their remarkable collection at 3 p.m. during the Sunday, Jan. 20, reception.