Vancouver artist Hilarie Couture helped YWCA Clark County observe its centennial with a “Founding Mothers” portrait project.
Couture painted the portraits of 47 women, past and present, who have been significant contributors to the community.
Couture’s partnership with YWCA Clark County, which had its 100th anniversary gala on Sept. 10, was not her first link to a YWCA organization.
There was an earlier involvement more than a decade ago, in another part of the country. Couture supported the YWCA there; and it was through the YWCA that Couture realized she was a victim of domestic violence.
‘Founding Mothers: Portraits in Progress’
• At the Clark County Historical Museum, 1511 Main St., through Oct. 1; museum entry fees apply.
• At the Slocum House, 605 Esther St., from Oct. 7 through the end of the year.
“I was in a not-very-good marriage, with an abusive husband — now ex-husband — in Arkansas,” Couture said. “I did fundraising with the YWCA to help battered women get back into the working world.”
As the owner of a beauty salon, “I collected clothing from my hair clients and put outfits together so women could go to job interviews and apply for jobs.”
After doing $10 haircuts for a street fair, “I donated the proceeds to the YWCA for their battered women’s shelter,” Couture recalled.
“I was talking with the woman in charge of the shelter. She brought out some brochures” for Couture’s clients to read.
“One evening, as I cleaned up the salon, I started reading one of the brochures: ‘If you’ve ever experienced any of these things, you’re a victim of abuse.’ Ten of the 12 applied to me and my marriage.”
(The other two pertained to children, and Couture didn’t have any.)
“It really was an awakening for me. I knew I wasn’t happy; but that brochure from the YWCA hit me over the head. I’m doing something for domestic violence when I’m a victim myself.
“That’s what encouraged me to leave my ex-husband, and I got counseling,” she said.
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