Submitted photo “The 4 of Potholders in the Kitchen Tarot” by Susan Shie is one of the works featured in the g oup show “From Woman 19,” one of three exhibitions opening Tuesday at the McDonough Museum of Art.

A trio of exhibitions open 2026 at the McDonough Museum of Art.

The galleries will feature from Tuesday until Feb. 28 the invitational show “From WOMAN 19,” curated by Mary Urbas, as well as solo exhibitions by Misty Gamble (“Of Flesh and The Feminine”) and Hannah Parrett (“I Do Not Always Understand, But I Feel Desire”). Urbas was gallery director at Lakeland Community College, where she did several annual and biannual exhibitions.

When the college closed the gallery and Urbas lost her job, she tried to find other locations for some of those shows.

McDonough Director Claudia Berlinski said, “She approached me and said, ‘Would you ever allow an outside curator?’ And I said I’d love to do this. It’s artwork by women and about women. It’s always a great show.”

Most of the artists are from northeast Ohio, and the show features a wide range of media.

In her curator’s statement, Urbas wrote, “‘From WOMAN 19’ celebrates women and their art. I chose artists that are presenting fresh visual approaches to storytelling from the female perspective. Visual impact is key; the underlying inspirations and backstories are intriguing. Emotion with technique in balance.”

Gamble is an associate professor of art at West Texas A&M University. She’s received numerous residencies, grants and fellowships and her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She submitted a proposal to Berlinski for consideration.

“I was really blown away by her work,” Berlinski said. “She does this ceramic sculpture that’s quite intricate. They’re like busts with this really sort of decorative, Rococo type hair, and then she adds things to that. Many of the pieces have this sort of cage coming out of the hair, and it has ceramic-cast chicken parts that people would eat.

“She is a self described ecofeminist and vegan, and she feels that one of the most important issues in the world today is the impending ecological disaster. Being a vegan, she chooses not to eat meat because of the cruelty to the animals, and also how the production of animals for consumption is really adding a lot to the changing climate and destruction of landscape and things like that that are affecting us ecologically.”

Because of the size and fragility of the work, Gamble drove her sculpture from Texas to Youngstown for the exhibition.

Parrett is a Cincinnati artist who was recommended to Berlinski by another Cincinnati artist that she selected for an exhibition at the Youngstown State University’s Judith Rae Solomon Gallery in Bliss Hall.

Parrett received an Individual Excellence Grant from the Ohio Arts Council in 2025 and has shown her work in Ohio and nationally. She carves compressed, rigid foam panels used for insulation and then adds paint and other details.

“Her thing is this idea of the possibilities and limits of world building,” Berlinski said. “She really responds to how the landscape architecture and interior spaces interact. And so you definitely get this feeling of architectural and personal interior spaces. And then there are even some aspects that look very much like flora. It’s just very unique. I haven’t really seen too many artists working in this way.”

Instead of an opening reception, there will be a closing reception for the three shows on Feb. 28. Berlinski said they switched to a closing event for the winter shows in hopes of avoiding inclement weather, and this year they made that closing reception a Saturday afternoon instead of a Friday evening so attendees wouldn’t have to drive at night.

Parrett will talk about her work at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the McDonough auditorium. Admission is free. Gamble will give a gallery talk at the closing reception at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 28.

If you go …

WHAT: “Misty Gamble: Of Flesh and The Feminine,” “Hannah Parrett: I Do Not Always Understand, But I Feel Desire” and “From WOMAN 19,” curated by Mary Urbas

WHEN: Tuesday through Feb. 28 with closing reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 28. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

WHERE: McDonough Museum of Art, 525 Wick Ave., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Admission is free. For more information, go to ysu.edu/mcdonough-museum or call 330-941-1371.