In covering the arts for Alabama Public Television, I have seen few events matching the size and scope of "Voices Rising," and I wanted to create a video document worthy of this spectacle.

In the history books and in museum, private and corporate collections, women artists have not been given the same amount of credit as their male counterparts. The exhibit, "Voices Rising: Alabama Women at the Millennium" aims to correct that slight.

Years in the making, the exhibit opened at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D. C., and after it's Alabama opening at the Birmingham Museum of Art, the exhibit will travel to the museums in the state for the next two years.

Having traveled to other parts of the country, where Southern accents signal the stereotypical reactions - rural, poor, under-educated, uncultured, this exhibit places Alabama in a different and surprising context. Each of the twelve artists in the exhibit expresses herself in unique and diverse ways. From the religious stitched paintings of Annie Lucas to the metaphysical black and white photographs and writings of Pinky Bass, from the meticulously constructed assemblages of Janice Kluge to the abstract color fields of Lucy Jaffe, this exhibit displays all of the different and challenging kinds of art being created in Alabama.

In travelling to each of the artist's home and studio, I have been given a once-in-a-lifetime peek into the creative process of twelve very different women. And even though many of the artists were not born here - and two no longer reside here, each expressed their fondness for the state and the influence Alabama has had on their work. Meeting each artist and seeing their work is a valuable lesson on the individuality of Alabamians and the impressive, fertile artistic roots growing here in this state.

--Eddie Rollins