TRI KAPPA EXHIBIT Celebrating 125 Years
~ by Mandi Rainwater
The Tri Kappa philanthropic sorority is celebrating its 125 th anniversary with a special exhibit at the Brown County Art Guild, featuring 20 carefully curated pieces from its extensive collection. Tri Kappa was formally organized in 1901, establishing what would become an inspiring legacy of charity, culture, and education. Today, Tri Kappa manages a Fine Arts Endowment valued at over $ 43,000 and maintains over 200 active chapters across the state that support the fine and performing arts. Each year, Tri Kappa awards more than $ 4,000 in scholarships to students of art, music, theater, and dance.
Tri Kappa has a long history with Brown County arts and artists. In 1926, the organization founded the Hoosier Art Salon, a visual arts exhibition showcasing Indiana’ s premier artists. Brown County’ s own T. C. Steele contributed to the inaugural exhibition. By 1932, Tri Kappa had established an impressive art collection that began traveling the region, presenting high-caliber fine art to Indiana communities.
Over the years, the touring nature of the exhibit took a toll on the precious pieces in the collection. To better preserve the art, Tri Kappa established a permanent home for its collection at the Brown County Art Guild. The Tri Kappa paintings resided here in Brown County from 1955 to 1973, when the majority of the pieces were moved to the Rose- Hulman Institute of Technology for permanent exhibition.
Today, the Tri Kappa art collection comprises 107 works appraised at more than $ 555,000. In celebration of Tri Kappa’ s 125 th anniversary, The Brown County Art Guild, Tri Kappa, and The Richmond Art Museum collaborated to choose a selection of pieces from the Tri Kappa collection with connections to Brown County and the Richmond area.
The works on display will include several images familiar to those who know Brown County well. Mary’ s Window by Hildegarde Donaldson is a depiction of the Mary and Ralph Osborne residence on Greasy Creek Road. C. Curry Bohm’ s Early Monday Morning was painted along Greasy Creek, capturing an early morning scene in what Bohm described as“ a poem in subtle grays.” Leota Loop, who maintained a studio-home in Nashville, painted Petunias-A-Plenty from blooms she cultivated in her own garden.
The collection features a wide range of techniques, from the gouache and inks carefully applied to glass to create Esther Commons Nusbaum’ s Fall Fantasy to the advanced silk screen layering that gave birth to Sister Mary Ignatia’ s Salute to I. A. L. F.
The Brown County Art Guild issued a statement conveying its enthusiasm for the exhibit.“ The Guild is deeply honored to celebrate Tri Kappa’ s 125th anniversary with this special exhibition. Our collaboration with Tri Kappa and the Richmond Museum of Art is truly a gift to the Guild. Bringing selections from the Tri Kappa art collection into each of our historic galleries and communities is incredibly exciting, and we are thrilled to share in this meaningful milestone together.”
The Tri Kappa Exhibition will be on display at the Brown County Art Guild from February 22 through June 26, 2026.
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32 Our Brown County March / April 2026