By Meghan E. Gattignolo
In March, we celebrate the achievements of women, and few institutions do a better job at showcasing the work of women artists than the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center, thanks to Curator of Exhibits Terri Jordan’s eye for talent. The museum has a reputation for being a bastion for women’s representation in the arts.
Here are just 5 examples of women artists who have exhibited at the Customs House Museum in the past including one whose work is currently on exhibit. They each have very different methods of expressing their talent.
Snake Rattle Roll by Maria D’Souza. Multimedia. From the Maria D’Souza: From Dreams exhibition at the Customs House Museum, 2023.
D’Souza brought new life to animal bones in her 2023 show Maria D’Souza: From Dreams. One of the most intriguing details about D’Souza’s work is how she communicates with the ranchers and farmers from whom she sources animal skulls for her art. The people who actually knew the animals the skulls were sourced from tell D’Souza something about what the animal was like in life. With the information she gathers, she carefully encrusts the skulls with studding beadwork. Her intention is to make something dead become alive again in a new and interesting way, with a hope to capture the living animal’s spirit in a way the viewer can feel. Those who have seen her work in person haven’t forgotten the impression it left.
D’Souza continues to be a successful working artist. Check out her website to see what’s new.
Renoir House by Jill Mayo. From the Art Houses exhibition at the Customs House Museum, 2024.
Jill Mayo’s miniature art is playful and a treat for the gaze. Her tiny paper houses are filled with exquisite detail, and every fresh glance brings with it a new thing that went unnoticed upon first look. A teacher and culinary instructor, Jill Mayo’s imaginative works have been featured more than once at the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center. Her most recent exhibit, Art Houses, was on display during the last holiday season. These little houses pay homage to famous artists and their most recognizable works.
Mayo has many talents and continues to teach watercolors to budding artists.
From the Brenda Stein: A New View exhibition at the Customs House Museum, 2023.
Self-taught woodturner Brenda Stein has her work permanently installed at Montgomery Bell Academy and the Nashville Public Library. Much of the wood for her pieces come from fallen wood or from trees that have been removed for construction, using what she has to glorify a place or give a person a special keepsake from a place they loved.
She previously exhibited at the museum in late 2023, and Brenda Stein: A New View was a treat–containing smooth wooden carvings, bowls, and hunks of raw wood reimagined as art.
Helianthus by Juliette Aristides. 28 x 22, Oil on panel, 2020. From the Life Work: The Art of Juliette Aristides exhibition at the Customs House Museum, 2021.
Award-winning artist Juliette Aristides’ exhibit Life Work: The Art of Juliette Aristides enjoyed a long stay in the museum’s Orgain Gallery in 2021, for good reason. Aristides is a contemporary realist painter. Her work is inspired by her studies of the old Renaissance masters. While many modern and contemporary artists have chosen more abstract or impressionist expressions, Aristides dives into figurative realism that is less common in modern art. She also paints still lifes, and during COVID, her time at home served as inspiration. Common household objects, doors, and windows became her subjects.
Aristides reveals the world as it is, only a little more beautiful. She’s also a champion of teaching her methods to aspiring artists, believing the simple act of drawing can lead to a better life. Drawing takes dedication and patience, and brings calm focus to an otherwise overstimulated world. She hosts classes, and has published books on how to draw. Find more on Aristides at her website aristidesarts.com.
Former teacher Sandra Paynter Washburn is a master of acrylic and mixed media techniques. She continues to practice art education through adult classes and workshops, but spends a lot of time experimenting with media and growing her own artistic talent.
Washburn exhibited at the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center in 2012, and museum staff at the time recorded an interview with the accomplished artist for a podcast. Check it out on YouTube to hear Washburn talk about her love of art and some details about how she approaches her craft. Then, go check out her new exhibit at the museum now!
Washburn’s current exhibit Sandra Paynter Washburn: Evolving Continuum, Art for Art’s Sake is available downstairs in the Jostens Gallery until April 27th.
Appalachian Ballad by Sandra Paynter Washburn. From the Sandra Paynter Washburn: Evolving Continuum, Art for Art’s Sake exhibition at the Customs House Museum, 2025.
Meghan E. Gattignolo is a freelance writer and longtime Clarksville, TN resident. She loves to obsess about historical subjects and annoy her family daily with unsolicited random facts. Meghan holds a History B.A. from Austin Peay State University and lives in town with her husband and two children.