The DePaul University Art Museum, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave., is presenting a series of lectures in October on the careers of 19th and 20th century women artists. All of the lectures will be held in the museum’s North Gallery.

Kirsten Pai Buick, assistant professor of art history at the University of New Mexico, will lecture on the career of Edmonia Lewis at 6 p.m. on Oct. 10.

Lewis was the first celebrated African American and Native American female sculptor. Her masterwork, “The Death of Cleopatra,” was the only work by an African-American artist shown at the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876.

Melanie Herzog, professor of art history and director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Edgewood College in Madison, Wis., will lecture on the career of Elizabeth Catlett at 6 p.m. on Oct. 17.

Catlett, 91, a prolific sculptor and printmaker, was the first person to receive a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from the University of Iowa. Her wood sculpture, “Mother and Child,” completed for her 1939 thesis, won first prize in sculpture at the American Negro Exposition in Chicago in 1940.

Soo Kang, associate professor of art history at Chicago State University, will lecture on the career of Dorothea Tanning at 6 p.m. on Oct. 24.

Tanning is considered to be one of the last remaining members of the surrealist movement. Her paintings are noted for their abstract renderings of women’s sexual fantasies.

The lectures are free and open to the public.

The art museum is exhibiting through Nov. 22, “Undiscovered Worlds,” the paintings of Chicago artist Julia Thecla. Museum hours are: Mon. through Thurs., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fri., 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sat. and Sun., noon to 5 p.m. For information about the lecture series, or upcoming exhibitions, call the DePaul Art Museum at 773/325-7506 or visit the Web site: museums.depaul.edu/artwebsite.