21st State to Ratify | South Dakota | Klaire Lockheart, Artist
Her Flag Artist, Klaire Lockheart
Women have been fighting for equality since the dawn of time, which is why I use dinosaurs as a metaphor for this ancient struggle.
Like other American women, South Dakotan suffragists fought a long and difficult battle to earn the right to vote. While women’s rights are a serious issue, I enjoy incorporating humor to make serious subjects approachable. The plastic dinosaur toys are silly at first glance, but I transformed them into suffragists to represent the South Dakota Universal Franchise League and the South Dakota Equal Suffrage Association. I made Suffragist Sue to honor the strength and tenacity of women from South Dakota including Mary “Mamie” Shields Pyle, Jane E. Waldron, and Etta Estey Boyce. In addition to the tyrannosaurus rex, I utilized other South Dakotan dinosaurs to celebrate my state’s unique contribution to the 19th Amendment. Furthermore, my original artwork is ink on fabric. I specifically chose to silkscreen on fabric since fiber arts are often associated with women’s work, and women worked hard to make the 19th Amendment reality.