Highbrow Magazine - women artists https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/women-artists en NAWA Celebrates Its 130th Annual Members’ Exhibition https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10211-nawa-celebrates-its-annual-members-exhibition <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 10/23/2019 - 20:23</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1nawa-leslie_tejada.jpg?itok=mzPD5Vhn"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1nawa-leslie_tejada.jpg?itok=mzPD5Vhn" width="402" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>Since the evening of January 31, 1889, when five innovative women artists met in the Washington Square studio of Grace Fitz-Randolph to discuss the formation of a women’s art organization, the nation’s women artists have been very busy.  It’s a good thing, because 130 years later, there’s still a lot of work to be done.  Promoting the public awareness of so many talented women is no easy undertaking but the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) is more than up to the task. </p> <p>NAWA’s recent exhibition at One Art Space in the heart of New York City’s Tribeca district was a testament to their tenacity and truly something to celebrate. The diversity, originality and sheer excellence of artworks on display were a stunning achievement. </p> <p>Although a sizable number of awards are given out every year, it’s a daunting responsibility for the highly professional curators chosen for each annual.  For many of the artists who choose to exhibit, it’s enough reward to come from near and far to share the commonality and camaraderie of being creators together. </p> <p>Five Medals of Honor were presented in five categories, and this year those recipients are as follows:  For Painting, Leslie Tejada for <em>Inscape #9: The Storm</em>, is an auspicious work of detail and texture, suggesting in its minimalism the power of its subject.  For Works on Paper, Karla Leopold’s charcoal and acrylic <em>Generational Women</em> <em>Bonding to Get Her to Move Forward</em> gives the viewer a haunting view of the social power in numbers.  In the Mixed Media/Collage category, Rhonda Urdang’s <em>Liberation</em> <em>of Harriet Tubman (1867</em>) is an intricate and introspective treatment of her historical heroine.  For Photography/Printmaking/Digital entries, Jill Sneidman’s  photograph <em>Vast Wasteland</em> is a moving gray landscape; and for sculpture, Betty Usdan-Zwickler’s <em>Cable News</em> (a humorously wry title) is a delightful pastiche of a wall hanging, made up of mixed fiber, stainless steel and brass washers, hex nuts, and cable ties.</p> <p>A considerable number of other memorial and institutional rewards were given out, too numerous to mention here.  A traditional approach for some, along with an excellence in execution can be its own award. </p> <p>Katherine Coakley’s <em>Sailing the Back</em> <em>Shore </em>provides an impressionistic technique, particularly rewarding for its off-center subject of three sailboats in the distance.  Nina Maguire’s <em>Tribute to Gulf War Heroes</em> gives us an evanescent but affecting image of an urban march, almost disappearing before our eyes.  Dawn Dahl’s <em>Ariadne</em> is an exquisite study of a female nude (a figure painting award winner) serenely quiet in the reserved pose.</p> <p>Imagination in free play has its days with several entries. Michiko Smith’s painting, <em>The Beings,</em> gives us pure enjoyment in its colorful, agitated swirls.  Roberta Millman-Ide magnetizes the viewer with a surrealistic take of her fantastical bird, observing its own image in <em>It’s What We See in the Mirror.  </em>Sculpture unleashed is apparent in the vibrant and expressionistic porcelain Firebird from Natalia Koren Kropf, which received the Celia Kaufman Award for Innovative Ceramic Sculpture.  The Esther M. Bjeldanes Memorial Award was given to Val Brochard for <em>Survivor I</em>, a supremely elegant and lifting figure in steel. </p> <p>With so much talent in women’s art at work in the U.S, there should be little doubt that NAWA will continue to embrace its mission—making the major galleries, museums and collectors here and abroad aware of the great gift right under their nose.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2nawa-karlaleopold.jpg" style="height:609px; width:624px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3nawa-rhonda_urdang.jpg" style="height:625px; width:527px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4nawa-jill_sniedmam.jpeg" style="height:417px; width:626px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5nawa-betty_usdan-zwickler.jpg" style="height:624px; width:327px" /></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1nawa-leslie_tejada.jpg" style="height:625px; width:524px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>Featured artists: Leslie Tejada, Karla Leopold, Rhonda Urdang, Jill Sneidman, Betty Usdan-Zwickler.</strong></em></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>Sandra Bertrand is</em></strong><strong> Highbrow Magazine’s <em>chief art critic and a member of NAWA.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>For more information about the organization, visit: </strong><a href="https://www.thenawa.org"><strong>NAWA</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/national-association-women-arts" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">National Association for Women in the Arts</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/leslie-tejada" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Leslie Tejada</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/karla-leopold" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Karla Leopold</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/rhonda-urdang" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Rhonda Urdang</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/jill-sneidman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Jill Sneidman</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/betty-usdan-zwickler" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Betty Usdan Zwickler</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-york-artists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">new york artists</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-art-exhibits" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">new art exhibits</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women-artists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women artists</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sandra Bertrand</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Photos courtesy of NAWA</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Thu, 24 Oct 2019 00:23:36 +0000 tara 9107 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10211-nawa-celebrates-its-annual-members-exhibition#comments NAWA Presents TRANSPARENCY Exhibit at Arts Club of Washington https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/9829-nawa-presents-transparency-exhibit-arts-club-washington <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Sun, 02/10/2019 - 14:04</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/8nawadc.jpg?itok=UOUVy8-l"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/8nawadc.jpg?itok=UOUVy8-l" width="465" height="364" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>From February 1st to the 23rd, two prestigious arts organizations have joined<a name="_GoBack" id="_GoBack"></a> forces to present TRANSPARENCY, an exhibition to promote the works of professional women artists nationwide.  For a century, the Arts Club of Washington has promoted and celebrated the visual, performing, and literary arts in the nation’s capital. What better location could there be for the National Association of Women Artists, celebrating their 130th Anniversary supporting public awareness of visual art by American women, than in the club’s historic I Street mansion? </p> <p> </p> <p>Formerly the home of President James Monroe, it provides a perfect opportunity to celebrate NAWA’s founding in 1889.  Since that date, NAWA’s earliest exhibitions have included such early luminaries as Mary Cassatt and Suzanne Valadon, and a rollcall that has boasted the likes of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Louise Nevelson, Alice Neel and Faith Ringgold, among others.</p> <p> </p> <p>TRANSPARENCY is a challenging theme—it can suggest a translucence or clarity of light shining through a subject to make it more visible.  But it can also provide the artist a rare opportunity of exploring the social or psychological implications as well, such as that which is free of pretense.  Whether handled in a realistic or more abstract style, the 56 artists on display provide a wealth of interpretations.</p> <p> </p> <p>Jill Baratta’s twin collages, <em>Injustice </em>and <em>Justice</em>, provide the viewer with a splintered image of our nation’s home and another with a shaft of light breaking through the clouds and alighting on the same structure to signify the transparency of truth.  A simple message but a timely one.  Katherine Coakley’s swirl of colors against a black background give us a supernova; destruction and creation in one.  The power of abstraction writ bold is well represented—both in Mimi Herrera-Pease’s <em>Dazzle</em> and Loretta Kaufman’s arresting painting of triangular fragments, the latter creating a geometric puzzle of intricate beauty.  Portraiture and its potential to move us by its everlasting honesty is apparent in Alexandra Mears’ <em>Lady with Fan</em>. The radiance of her Elizabethan costume and the delicacy of the model’s pose with fan manages to make the image both evanescent and enigmatic.</p> <p> </p> <p>Photography’s ability to both manipulate and elucidate reality is well-served here.  Two photographers have given nature its rightful due.  Susan Phillips’ <em>Ice Art</em> plays with an overlay of ice crystals on a bed of leaves and forces us to examine her subject in extreme closeup.  Carolyn Rogers’ <em>Dreamscape</em> plays with a scene of water, air and a weeping willow in shades of grey that needs no explanation to appreciate its well-defined beauty.</p> <p> </p> <p>The well-attended reception on the evening of February 1st gave Washington and New York visitors alike a rare opportunity to see the versatility and excellence of women’s artworks in all their transparency.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1nawadc.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2nawadc.jpeg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3nawadc.jpeg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4nawadc.jpeg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5nawadc.jpeg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/6nawadc.jpeg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/7nawadc.jpeg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Artworks: 1. Jill Baratta; 2. Mimi Herrera-Pease; 3. Katherine Coakley; 4. Loretta Kaufman; 5. Alexandra Mears; 6.Susan Phillips; 7. Carolyn Rogers.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong> Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><strong><em>Sandra Bertrand is</em></strong><strong> Highbrow Magazine’s <em>chief art critic.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/national-association-women-artists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">national association of women artists</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/arts-club-washington" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">arts club of washington</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/transparency-exhibit" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">transparency exhibit</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/jill-baratta" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">jill baratta</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/mimi-herrera-pease" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">mimi herrera-pease</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/katherine-caokley-loretta-kaufman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">katherine caokley; loretta kaufman</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/arts-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">arts</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/art-exhibits" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">art exhibits</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women-artists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women artists</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sandra Bertrand</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Courtesy of NAWA</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Sun, 10 Feb 2019 19:04:52 +0000 tara 8536 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/9829-nawa-presents-transparency-exhibit-arts-club-washington#comments The National Association of Women Artists: Celebrating 128 Years of Art https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/7477-national-association-women-artists-celebrating-years-art <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Sun, 03/19/2017 - 16:13</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1nawa.jpg?itok=Vpe1Ac4Q"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1nawa.jpg?itok=Vpe1Ac4Q" width="403" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>The famous memoirist Anais Nin once said, “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”  On the evening of January 31, 1889, five women calling themselves The Woman’s Art Club met at the studio of Grace Fitz-Randolph on Washington Square in New York.  They were there to “demonstrate that creative achievement need carry no sex distinction,” but they were setting in motion an artistic revolution in scope and genius that is still honored today.</p> <p>One hundred and twenty-eight years later, you might ask what a small group of women sitting around a table chatting that winter night have in common with courage?  Well, just consider the climate of the time.  It was simply not acceptable for a woman to pursue a professional career.  Decorative artwork, maybe, with magazines like <em>Art Amateur</em> to light the way. In the words of NAWA’s past president Penny Dell, speaking at the recent opening of members’ works at the Ridgefield, Conn. Library, “This is the 100<sup>th</sup><sup> </sup>Anniversary of the Women’s Vote.  The National Association of Women Artists is older than that!  It is hard to imagine the changes that have transpired.  Women went from not having access to exhibiting their works or the privilege of generating drawing from life models to now, where there is freedom to generate any image the artist can imagine.”</p> <p>Susan G. Hammond, the executive director of the first national organization to support women’s art, has made “Our history is our future” her mantra. It’s for good reason.  A long line of dedicated women artists, given unswervingly to the mission of “fostering and promoting awareness of, and interest in, visual art by women in the United States,” have enabled members like Faith Ringgold, Judy Chicago and legions of others to find their way.  Many of their NAWA exhibiting predecessors were just as distinguished—Mary Cassatt, Cecilia Beau, and later, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Anna Hyatt Huntington, Louise Nevelson, Alice Neel and countless more.  It would be remiss not to mention that Faith Ringgold was just honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the College Art Association at 105 years of age.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2nawa.jpg" style="height:278px; width:532px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Few would argue that Cassatt’s star is permanently affixed in the firmament, but in 1892 when she exhibited along with almost 300 other member entrants in a West Village space leased for the occasion, the <em>New York Times</em> critic was unforgiving.  “The women and children in these colored prints (there are no men) are one and all of the last degree of ugliness.”  It must have taken a rare kind of mettle, even for a talent of Cassatt’s caliber, to weather such a review.</p> <p>Of course, exhibiting always implies a level of risk, but these were women willing to take the leap.  The same year the Women’s Art Club was formed, only four of the Society of American Artists’ 108 members were women.  The number of women represented in the National Academy that year was 49, an impressive number until one realizes that 362 artists in all exhibited.  In 1911, the critic Christian Brinton in reviewing the Club’s Annual, acknowledged that women were important in their “development of taste” but that they were “deficient in handling landscape painting and should not attempt to identify either in theme or in handling with that of men.”  Climbing the ladder of visibility and credibility would continue to be a slow and arduous effort.</p> <p>Even if some members may have identified with the mythic Sisyphus, trying time after time to gain solid footing only to fall repeatedly back to square one, others exhibited in the words of another critic “a splendid optimism.” Membership and opportunities with each Annual showing were on the increase and in 1913 the Club changed its name to The Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, not only to demonstrate the increasing importance of sculpture but to put to permanent rest the idea that the organization existed solely as a social club.  In 1917, “National” was added to this new designation and in 1941 a less cumbersome title was adopted and is still in use today.</p> <p>Visibility is important, but short-lived exhibitions don’t guarantee a permanent record of an artist’s accomplishments.  Documented exhibits are archived within the Smithsonian Institution, The Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Library of Congress, among many others. The permanent collection from NAWA’s earliest days to the present is housed at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.</p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/4nawa.jpg" style="height:483px; width:625px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>With growing pains an expected part of increased membership and more exhibiting opportunities, early attempts were made to organize chapters in Philadelphia and Baltimore.  This soon proved impractical.  Greater efforts were then made to organize shows in other parts of the country. In NAWA’s recent past, member Liana Mooney was an ardent supporter of chapter building and in the early years of our new century, became the driving force behind the founding of NAWA’s Massachusetts and Florida chapters—both highly successful and thriving in their communities today. Thanks to the power of the internet, committee members statewide and nationwide can meet “face to face” informally and as part of various committees.  One can only imagine what such ease of contact would have meant to earlier counterparts.</p> <p>The ups and downs of the real estate market took their toll over the years but this resourceful band of renegades was hardly deterred.  In 1925, when funds were needed to purchase a club house on 62<sup>nd</sup> Street, an auction of paintings was held.  Members anticipated that rental of the upper apartments and gallery, plus a restaurant concession, would pay the mortgage interest. When zoning regulations forced the Association to liquidate, the sale at $50,000 over the purchase price allowed for a lease on West 57<sup>th</sup> Street at the Argent galleries.  NAWA found itself at last in the heart of the art world. </p> <p>Other locations over the decades followed, with the same entrepreneurial spirit in play.  Just this past spring, NAWA moved its headquarters from the Union Square district to 315 West 39 Street, this time in the heart of the bustling Garment District.  In-house exhibits are held throughout the year in an Arts and Design building filled with artist studios and periodic open houses for the public.  NAWA’s juried annual exhibits are a prestigious affair, with over $9,000 dollars in awards.  For the last several years, these shows have been held at the Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Art Gallery in Manhattan to packed audiences.</p> <p>This past year, a prestigious two-part exhibit, between NAWA and the Women Painters of Washington, was held in Seattle and <em>Women Artists Coast to Coast - EAST</em> is currently at the Prince Street Gallery in Manhattan through the month of March 2017.  New York Public Library exhibits, headed by NAWA member Anita Pearl, demonstrate an ongoing commitment to the public.  Last spring, thanks to a generous grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, <em>Renaissance Women</em>—a traveling exhibit with panel discussions—was conducted at five different branch libraries.  In December, <em>SHELTER</em>, a joint exhibit by NAWA in cooperation with Violence Transformed—a Boston-based organization founded to celebrate the power of art to confront, challenge and mediate violence—was held at the Harlem School of the Arts.  NAWA anticipates that future exhibits with such social impact will be an ongoing consideration.</p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/5nawa.jpg" style="height:494px; width:625px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>The old adage, “You can’t keep a good woman down” is particularly apt this spring.  In honor of Women’s History Month, two library exhibits—one at the Riverside branch near Lincoln Center for the seventh year in a row and another at the historic Ridgefield Library in Ridgefield, Conn. continue the tradition of bringing NAWA members’ works to the community at large.</p> <p>In addition to outside shows, NAWA holds fundraisers and workshops as well as theme-related exhibits for members in its own gallery space.  Periodically, they rent the gallery to women artists who have often achieved considerable recognition.  This month, the work on view of Elizabeth Meyers Castonguay and Margery Freeman Appelbaum addresses environmental and mythological themes.  Through visual positioning and mixed media, both Castonguay and Appelbaum give voice to the natural world—contained or set free.  Castonguay sees the more than 41,000 endangered species of fauna and flora as important to nature’s fine balance as humankind itself<strong><em>.  </em></strong>Appelbaum’s recent portraits refer to the shared complexities and pain between Greek mythological women and their contemporary counterparts. Like NAWA’s Susan Hammond, she believes “the past still follows us into the future.”</p> <p>These are powerful themes.  Daryl Mintia Daniels is a young emerging artist recently awarded a one-year free scholarship to NAWA.  Singled out by her professors, along with several other outstanding graduating students in the fine arts last year makes women of color her subject.  “I embrace the physical features within them that I was once insecure about…many of my figures are represented as Goddesses powered by nature.”</p> <p>Such confidence within the generation of women artists coming up is inspiring.  But is there a pressing need to continue such support? Absolutely.  For the Guerilla Girls, giving up the battle is unthinkable.  In 1985 iconoclastic posters decrying the marginalization of women artists appeared on walls in Soho and the East Village.  Howling indignation followed but these anonymous costumed women (as gorillas) have continued their efforts, aiming their wit at museums nationwide and abroad.  NAWA’s benefit luncheon this spring will feature costumed members of this controversial group.</p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/6nawa.jpg" style="height:352px; width:625px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Scholarship recipient Marie Peter-Stoltz believes that “women artists and the artists of color, those from the LGBT community, and artists from the “minorities” are not enjoying the exposure they deserve.  Her hope is that organizations like NAWA “will change mentalities so that tomorrow’s art world will offer more diversity to the public’s eyes.” As for camaraderie, Vice-<a name="_GoBack" id="_GoBack"></a>President Jill Baratta believes in the healing aspects of art and attests to the deeply meaningful friendships she’s formed based on a “joyful, creative and sometimes serious common interest.  We have our own cultural needs, often distinct from those of men.”</p> <p>Ronald G. Posano, the Guest Curator for NAWA’s Centennial celebration in 1988, summed up the continuing importance of women working together to carry on the spirit of their goals this way:  “In this day and age, when so many people, including artists, are busy promoting their own interests and careers, and have lost sight of the years of effort that have advanced them to a position to do so—is it not time to look back and reassess such values?”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Featured art: 1. Susan Hammond; 2. Guerrilla Girls; 3. Margery Applebaum; 4. Elisabeth Castonguay; 5. Mary Cassatt.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><strong><em>Sandra Bertrand </em></strong><strong>is Highbrow Magazine’s <em>chief arts critic.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/nawa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">nawa</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women-artists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women artists</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/national-association-women-artists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">national association of women artists</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/mary-cassatt" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">mary cassatt</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/faith-ringgold" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">faith ringgold</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/judy-chicago" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">judy chicago</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/alice-neel" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">alice neel</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sandra Bertrand</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">NAWA; Judith Carlin; Google Images</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Sun, 19 Mar 2017 20:13:44 +0000 tara 7429 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/7477-national-association-women-artists-celebrating-years-art#comments Modern Feminism: The Role of Women in Music https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3879-modern-feminism-role-women-music <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 04/04/2014 - 11:01</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1mileycyrus_depositphotos.jpg?itok=oJ6OX5xP"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1mileycyrus_depositphotos.jpg?itok=oJ6OX5xP" width="326" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">(Photo credit: <a href="https://depositphotos.com/stock-photography.html">Depositphotos.com</a>)</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p>I hate to even bring it up again, but remember Miley Cyrus’ performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards? The one with twerking teddy bears and misappropriated foam fingers, the one that, if they weren’t watching it already, sent every soon-to-be-outraged talking head to the Internet to see what they’d missed?</p> <p>In retrospect, Cyrus’ nude-bikini-clad tongue-wagging was a key moment for women in pop music this past year – at least, it was certainly one of the most memorable. Her complete one-eighty from twee Disney starlet to lascivious media whore (and I do mean whore in the most sex-positive way possible, as a fully conscientious and consenting adult accepting payment for what she does with her body for a living) is in some ways predictable, following in the good-girl-gone-bad footsteps of the likes of Britney and Christina, but at the same time opens up new and challenging conversations about the ever-evolving roles of women in popular music.</p> <p>Take the infamous exchange of open letters between Miley and the notoriously open-mouthed singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor. After Cyrus cited her as an inspiration in a <em>Rolling Stone</em> interview, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/03/sinead-o-connor-open-letter-miley-cyrus">O’Connor wrote</a>, “in the spirit of motherliness and with love,” a plea to Cyrus not to allow herself to be prostituted by the music industry. “Real empowerment of yourself as a woman would be to in the future refuse to exploit your body or your sexuality in order for men to make money from you,” she wrote.</p> <p>Cyrus’ responses were flippant, and she denies acting as a role model for anyone – including her largely young-teens female fanbase. But that’s just the thing: as minorities in the music business, women out front-and-center like Miley serve as representatives for the population at large, whether they intend to or not. They serve to inform other females about culturally acceptable modes of behavior and how to express their sexuality while at the same time teaching men what to expect and/or desire from women.</p> <p>Cyrus’ tactic is especially complicated: Yes, she seems to insinuate oral sex with just about every inanimate object she comes across and her appropriation of Black culture can be read as exploitative, but her brand of female sexuality is also fresh, in a way. It’s both calculated and aggressive. She eschews some (but certainly not all) traditional beauty standards and does away completely with the whole innocent-little-girls-are-sexy thing that plagued Britney Spears and many more along with her for so long. Cyrus is not innocent, and she wants you to count the ways.</p> <p>Unlike the interchangeable pop divas of music eras past, Cyrus is breaking the mould – and legions of female artists are right along with her. The year 2013 saw a massive outpouring of music from women in all genres from rap to indie rock to country, and with it a growing sense of respect from the male-dominated biz. Outside of blockbuster Top 40 radio pop, female artists have been historically marginalized or othered, placed in some separate-but-equal ranks where “female singer-songwriter” is somehow a different category from “singer-songwriter.” But in 2013, many Best-Of year-end round-ups had a strong showing of women on top – not as tokens, not with any qualifiers or asterisks, but judged equally alongside their male peers. Beyoncé’s self-titled surprise drop was named <em>Billboard</em>’s album of the year; Kacey Musgraves won a Grammy for Best Country Album; <em>Paste</em> magazine named Janelle Monáe’s “Q.U.E.E.N.” best single of the year.</p> <p>New talents, too, pepper the lists of industry faves, from 17-year-old Lorde to post-punk rockers Savages, and from Scottish electro-pop group CHVRCHES to So-Cal sister-rock Haim. The new multitude of faces actually gives young girls – <em>and</em> boys – options of where to look on how to be a rock star. Too often, female performers are judged first by their gender, second by their appearance, and only third by their art. But at least for this past year, the boys’ club of the music media industry has arrived at near-equal representation of women; girl-fronted groups or artists sometimes made up nearly half of any given mag’s Top-10 list. We’re past relegating songs made by women as strictly for women, or solely comparing female artists to other females, or judging a woman’s stage presence by how good she looks in a pleather bodysuit.</p> <p> </p> <p>Which is not to say that sexism has gone and disappeared completely from the music biz, or the music coverage biz. Take, for example, a 2012 cover story from the <a href="http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/a-star-is-born-and-scorned/">New York <em>Times</em>’ <em>T</em> magazine</a>, where the author described songstress Lana Del Rey as “a skinnier Adele, a more stable Amy Winehouse.” (“We’re a gender, not a genre,” <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/dec/11/popandrock">says Adele</a>.) Both <a href="http://pitchfork.com/features/cover-story/reader/savages/">Savages</a> and <a href="http://www.gigwise.com/news/81905/haim-guys-at-our-gigs-would-think-oh-f**k-its-a-girl-band">Haim</a> recall early gigs where sound technicians dismissed them as a girl group, later apologizing to the effect of “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were going to be good.” Canadian singer Grimes took to her <a href="http://actuallygrimes.tumblr.com/post/48744769552/i-dont-want-to-have-to-compromise-my-morals-in-order">tumblr</a>, tired of men who act “as if the fact that I’m a woman makes me incapable of using technology. I have never seen this kind of thing happen to any of my male peers.” She also writes: “I don’t want to be molested at shows or on the street by people who perceive me as an object that exists for their personal satisfaction.”</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1adele_depositphotos.jpg" style="height:368px; width:670px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p>(Photo credit: <a href="https://depositphotos.com/stock-photography.html">Depositphotos.com</a>)</p> <p> </p> <p>In September, CHVRCHES frontperson Lauren Mayberry came forward in an article for the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/sep/30/chvrches-lauren-mayberry-online-misogyny"><em>Guardian</em></a> with the same attitude as Grimes, detailing the misogynistic, offensive, lewd, and even threatening online messages she receives daily from anonymous or unknown men. She denies the oft-held response that it’s just something that comes with the territory of being in a successful band in the public eye, especially in the age of the Internet. “Is the casual objectification of women so commonplace that we should all just suck it up, roll over and accept defeat?” Mayberry writes. “I hope not. Objectification, whatever its form, is not something anyone should have to ‘just deal with.’”</p> <p>The conversation about women’s representation in music media came to a head in November with Lily Allen’s controversial video for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0CazRHB0so&amp;feature=kp">“Hard Out Here.”</a> The song’s lyrics criticize many of the double standards about sexuality, ambition, and physical appearances faced by women not just in the music industry, but in everyday life. The video is meant as a parody, but Allen’s backup dancers – all of them skinny, conventionally beautiful, scantily clad black women – twerk and grind pretty much the same way you’d see in any modern MTV video. Few visual ethics are challenged, and the treatment isn’t absurd enough to be satirical. As a white woman directing black dancers, Allen (unintentionally) turns the focus instead on racial oppression – something that Miley’s been <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kia-makarechi/miley-cyrus-race-vmas_b_3817286.html">equally accused of</a> with her stage show.</p> <p>Meanwhile, Allen sings, “Don’t need to shake my ass for you ‘cause I’ve got a brain.” No doubt she meant to empower women and young girls, to put out the message that a female is more than the sum of her, um, parts. But in doing so, she denigrates the very women around her whose sexuality is a celebrated part of their livelihood – her own dancers, her peers like Rihanna and Beyoncé, or even the young college girl stripping her way through college. Modern feminism means embracing women of all races, shapes, orientations, and occupations. It means that there is no right or wrong way to act as a woman, so long as she’s acting of her own accord. The girl-on-girl judgments, scrutiny, and slut-shamings, even when touted under the brand of feminism, are just as detrimental to achieving equality for all women in a patriarchal society.</p> <p> </p> <p>The music world needs representation of lady rockers, punks, rappers, crooners, drummers, and even writers, publicists, engineers, A&amp;R reps, label execs, and producers. <em>Billboard</em>’s annual <a href="http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/record-labels/5812355/billboard-women-in-music-2013-full-list-features-video">Women in Music</a> feature on the faces behind the scenes is starting to read less like an exhaustive list of females in the business and more, as they say, “like a roster of the top people in the music business who happen to be women.” The scene for women, on-stage and off, is growing: Instead of a Britney vs. Christina camp, girls can aspire to be as fierce as Beyoncé, as cool as Janelle Monáe, as bold as Adele, or as savvy as Atlantic Records COO Julie Greenwald. They can combine their talents, mix-and-match personalities, to find a purpose that is all their own. The point is that they have a choice.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong><br /> <strong><em>Sandra Canosa is</em> Highbrow Magazine’s <em>Chief Music Critic.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>For Highbrow Magazine</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/miley-cyrus" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">miley cyrus</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/vma-awards" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">vma awards</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/twerking" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">twerking</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/adele" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">adele</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/beyonce" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">beyonce</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/chvurches" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">chvurches</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/kacey-musgraves" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">kacey musgraves</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/lorde" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">lorde</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women-artists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women artists</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/women-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">women in music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music-industry" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">music industry</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sandra Canosa</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 04 Apr 2014 15:01:37 +0000 tara 4540 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3879-modern-feminism-role-women-music#comments