The Mother of Us All, an opera chronicling the life of suffragist Susan B. Anthony, was composed by Virgil Thompson, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, to a libretto by Gertrude Stein. Robert Indiana created the sets and costumes for the Santa Fe Opera’s 1976 American Bicentennial performance. His 1960s cut-paper designs inspired by the opera became the basis for a portfolio of ten prints, including this one depicting a character who sings baritone in the opera.

In Indiana’s imagery for The Mother of Us All, the visual arts merge with political science and women’s studies, two areas of scholarship available to students at Kansas State University.