About
Matrons & Mistresses
women of the arts
Elizabeth Mathis Cheatham is the director of Matrons & Mistresses, a digital publication which speaks to the power of art to shift one’s perspective and touch one’s heart… a platform which shines light on the incredible women who shape the arts… and a community where there are far more questions than answers and people are encouraged to come as themselves.
Eli is the first to admit that she is easily moved by art and is most at home with creatives. In fact, there is little Eli enjoys more than studio visits and long conversations. It was during one of those conversations that her friend Susan asked if ‘writing might be her art.’ The challenge, though terrifying at first, gave Eli the push she needed to start Matrons & Mistresses.
When she is not writing or ‘out arting,’ you will find Eli hibernating with a book or adventuring with her boys Mac (9), Keats (4), and Charlie, her husband (a North Carolina native whom she just happened to sit next to on a Delta flight 14 years ago).
Eli serves on the North Carolina Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees and Advancement and Acquisitions committees and is the founder of the NCMA’s Matrons of the Art initiative. Prior to moving to North Carolina, Eli worked as a graduate gemologist in sales and client development for Harry Winston—a job which was in part gained by serendipitously being seated at the table next to Ronald Winston in Mumbai.
Eli is often amazed by the magic life can bring when mixed with a lot of hard work.
A Note From Our Director
The world has enough art critics, and there are far more skilled and educated art writers than I. And yet, too many stories about women in the arts remain untold and a discouraging amount of people choose not to engage in the art world, for they find it intimidating, inaccessible, and overly academic. It is for these people (for I used to be one of you) that I write this blog. I write to share with you what I love, what touches my heart and what feeds my soul: stories, artworks and women (Matrons & Mistresses) whose relevant and vulnerable works deepen and enrich our world as a whole. I am so grateful that you have joined me on this journey.... We have much to learn and celebrate together.
In love and light,
Elizabeth Mathis Cheatham