In conjunction with Foxcroft School's Centennial Celebration, the NSLM is organizing an exhibition focusing on women as sporting enthusiasts, sporting artists and sporting art collectors.

Opening during Women's History Month, 'Foxcroft School: The Art of Women and the Sporting Life' will be on view from March 15 – August 24, 2014. Comprised of loans from alumnae of the prestigious Middleburg college-preparatory school for girls and their relatives, approximately thirty paintings and sculptures develop a picture of the collecting interests of these remarkable women and their role in 20th century sporting life and art.

From its inception Foxcroft students have been exposed to diverse educational opportunities including a riding program introduced by the school's founder and first riding instructor Charlotte Haxall Noland, who also was Joint M.F.H. of the Middleburg Hunt from 1932-46.

"Miss Charlotte," as she was called, made riding an integral part of the Foxcroft experience from the School's inception in 1914 and took her students on a variety of riding expeditions, including an annual three-day trek to Luray Caverns. The prominence of horsemanship and quality, breadth, and depth of its riding program continue to attract recreational and competitive riders as well as turf and field sport enthusiasts.

Among the many prominent women represented in the exhibition are alumnae Gertrude Sanford Legendre, Foxcroft Class of 1920, owner of Medway plantation, big-game hunter and conservationist; and Helen Kleberg Groves '45, Cowgirl Hall of Fame member and owner of the King Ranch in Texas; and alumnae relatives Phyllis Mills Wyeth, owner of the Thoroughbred Union Rags, winner of the 2012 Belmont Stakes; and Penny Denegre, champion sidesaddle rider, Joint Master of the Middleburg Hunt, and Foxcroft School Trustee.

Also highlighted in the exhibit is the burgeoning success of female animal and sporting artists in the 20th century. Among the artists included are: Jean Bowman, founder of the American Academy of Equine Artists; Heather St. Clair Davis; Eve Prime Fout, whose daughter Nina '77 and granddaughter Caroline '13 are both Foxcroft graduates; and Foxcroft alumna Julia Jitkoff '65. Additionally, works collected by Foxcroft alumnae that are by artists such as N.C. Wyeth and Aiden Lassell Ripley which depict women in sporting pursuits round out the exhibition's focus on the art of women and the sporting life.

For more information about Foxcroft School, please go to www.foxcroft.org.

Admission: free
NSLM hours: Wednesday - Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Web site: www.nsl.org
Telephone: 540-687-6542
Address: 102 The Plains Road, Middleburg, VA 20118