By Jennifer Jean Okumura
President, NAWA-Massachusetts

We are in the waning days of summer. The most important memories will be the conversations held, relationships strengthened, connections to new and familiar faces, and the love and care for one another as we enjoy the last of the salt, waves, and sand. Be well as we continue to make waves in 2023 with new creative adventures for all. Here are a few energizing updates:

Arts Center Exhibit and Pre-Gallery Night Receptions Held:
The reception for the June 12-August 11, 2023, exhibit, “We are Not Women; We are Gods,” at the Multicultural Arts Center featured “Big Leaf,” as emcee/DJ, and Spoken Word Poet Liza Zayas, both pictured below at the event with attendees:

The exhibition featured 2D and 3D works that capture the lyrical genius of Halsey’s words, “I am not a legend; I’m a fraud.” From the show description: We want this life to mean much more; blink, blink, flash, the old life’s gone, the blinds pulled back to a bright new dawn – a life worth living at what cost we were made a name, all for everlasting fame. In our lives, we are the conduits where time collides, and societal ideas of women change. As artists, we present these changes in ways others can’t – change, endings, and new beginnings. For more, go to: youtu.be/n-vvNkTzYZs

NAWA Massachusetts Chapter Member Madolin Maxley (pictured at left with her painting) opened her home in Rhode Island to hold the Chapter’s pre-celebratory salute to the Dance with Orange party during The Gallery Night Providence Reception that occurred on July 20, 2023, at the University of Rhode Island (URI) —Providence Campus Gallery, in collaborative partnership with the URI Providence Campus Arts and Culture Program.

From the show description: A color or emotion; I mix it up because I am orange. The melting marmalade to tangerine sunbeams, setting the tawny sky ablaze. Orange is no hiatus color or emotion, just one isolated yet important orange brushstroke that de- mands a stare and focal point of the artwork, exciting, bringing the viewer in, making the eye travel around from all that is orange; marigolds and orange juice in a tequila sun- rise; she is the color of the flames of the sunset and sunrise to monarch butterflies dancing on tiger lilies as the song the oriole sang snacking on papayas and mangoes to alluring autumn leaves.

Chapter 2023 Scholarship Recipients Announced:
Congratulations to our 2023 scholarship recipients: Avery Stephenson ($1500); Catherine Bonilla ($1500); and, Abigail Spillane ($1000). The special recognition award is underwritten by Charlie & Joanne Occhino. Applications for the 2024 Scholarships may be found at: open https://nawama.org/scholarships

Junior League—NAWAMA Exhibit Partnership:
Welcome back this year to the Junior League of Boston, NAWAMA’s long-standing partner to showcase works at the Junior League’s headquarters, 117 Newbury Street, Boston.

This venue will feature an ongoing, non-juried two-month rotating gallery for NAWAMA members, and President Jasmine Howard chose to display our newest members. It is great exposure in a prime and prestigious area because of its numerous upscale boutiques and shops; it has earned a reputation as one of the most expensive streets in the world.

Promotional Activity:
In addition, the Chapter continued Members’ visibility through other activities such as landing NAWA’s first show (“Pattern Play”) in May 27-June 21, 2023 at the woman-owned and -operated Gallery Sitka’s Newport, Rhode Island location. The exhibit featured 15 NAWAMA artists with 25 works: Joan Appel, Michele Champion, Janice Charles, Katherine Coakley, Carin Doben, Karen Fitzgerald, Christine Frisbee, Lisa Goren, Anne Harney, Jill Law, Carmela Martin, Maidy Morhous, Jennifer Jean Okumura, Susan Scavo Gallagher, and Neva Setlow. For more about the show and Sitka Gallery, go to: whatsupnewp.com. The show was juried by Tamar Russell Brown, Managing Owner of Sitka Creations® LLC, a 20-year-old woman-owned and -operated branding/social/WebDev Design Studio in New York City and Massachusetts.

The Chapter continued its collaboration with the Berkshire Art Museum, featuring the works of watercolorist Anita Helen Cohen (who died in July 2023), and other members’ paintings, sculpture, textiles, prints and more. For more about this show, read the online article in Artscope Magazine, which also featured advertising about this collaboration in its quarterly issues: https://artscopemagazine.com/2023/07/a-spiritual-evolution-nawama-expands-its-message-to-the-berkshires/, https://artscopemagazine.com/2023/05/transmit-transcribe-transform/

Coming Attractions:
For exhibit opportunities, educational events, and social gatherings, please visit the Chapter’s website for full details: www.nawama.org/calendar. Some highlights include a workshop March 2, 2024 from 1 pm to 3 pm, ‘Marketing and Social Media as Part of your Creative Arsenal IX’ and information about the TransCultural Exchange’s International Conference: Create the Future.

To explore other residencies, go to: residencies to explore

Meeting to finalize prospectus: The Art Complex ‘Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?’- April 28-September 3, 2024. Meeting with former NAWA-MA president Kim Alemian and Craig Bloodgood on November 28, 2023 to finalize prospectus.

‘Member Appreciation Soiree’ at New Bedford Yacht Club www.nbyc.com on September 29, 2023 at 5 PM

‘Together As One’ will be held July 5-28, 2024, at Galatea Fine Art. From the show description: We are all one; we are all the same. The strength to be one and understand the world as creators, artists, and humans through our craftsmanship, heavy and love-filled hearts, and hope for change speak volumes through our hands.

Other Recent Chapter Events:
The exhibition, ‘We’ve Been Around Forever,’ with a complimentary show catalog beautifully designed by Kim Alemian, was held May 7-June 11, 2023, at Cotuit Center for the Arts. From the show description: Women have “been around forever” and creating since time began. The works displayed how our mind wonders – our imbued and blurred vision – to comprehend society in a 2D and 3D curated exhibition, where everything was implanted as if we were only flesh without a soul.

The ‘Contrast’ exhibit was held May 5-May 28, 2023 at Galatea Fine Art, SoWa Art & Design District. From the show description: The art world has many shades, is defined as differences, and is widely used as a principle of art. In the show, the heavy future was reflected in the artist, the weight on the water, and the strain of the rock; the stage is here to play between art elements like color, value, size, texture, and other aspects of choice.

‘FEMALE,’ is open at The Berkshire Art Museum until October 7, 2023. From the show description: Without females, could we survive? Your touch is courage; we journey through you, and a person’s desire reflects in you. You tame even the wildest storm; the climate changes from overwhelmed to admiration, a tutor of life regardless of race, language, creed, and culture. The world listens to delight; you are the giver of life, a mother, a femme fatale, a female. For more information, go to: artscopemagazine.com

‘NOTHING PERMANENT,’ was held July 14-August 26, 2023, at Dartmouth Cultural Center. From the show description: A group exhibition of 2D and 3D works where change is welcome for all the reasons, a sense of responsibility, an invite of shared empathy, hope, and a need for action as Nature may force you to accept and resign. Nature’s change is inevitable and continuous. The artists in this exhibition question, celebrate, and explore Mother Earth’s beauty. They are concerned with the planet’s fate from our gluttony, searching for empower- ment, and never stopping to encourage change. For more information, go to: dartmouth.theweektoday.com

The exhibit, “Time,” is scheduled for July to September 2024 at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Seaport. From the show description: ‘TIME’ is a group exhibition that explores all things that have their turn to change with time. In us, past, present, and future meet. In our lives, we are the conduits where time collides and cultures change. As artists, we present these changes in ways others can’t – change, endings, and new beginnings.

“Female,” June 14 – October 7, at the Berkshire Art Museum. Without Females, could we survive?
In keeping this good vibe going from the beautiful collaborations with colleagues, creative friends, and our families, we have untempered optimism for a fantastic mid-year. Art will always shine and inspire us in our lives as it is the glue that connects laughter and tears. I cannot wait to connect with all our members and hear of their successes. Congratulations to all as we go into the holidays. You are appreciated for everything you do, from the phenomenal Board to our unparalleled members.

By
Denise Cormier Mahoney
NAWAFL President

Our Florida Chapter has been busy this year with a great lineup of individual member exhibitions and art talks. This group of professionals makes us proud to call them fellow members.

Beau Wilde has a retrospective at the Ormond Memorial Art Museum & Gardens through October 15, 2023.

Karlene McConnell and Pat Zalisko have an exhibit at the Sarasota Arts Center in the Center’s Annual Juried Abstract Show entitled “An Abstract View,” which will exhibit through September 23, 2023. Congratulations Pat for winning second place in the show!

Karlene McConnell is in a group show entitled “Endless Summer” at Arts on Douglas in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Arts Advocates is sponsoring “Artist Talks” by our very own Diana de Avila and Patricia Anderson Turner in the next few months.

Diana de Avila is at the Arts Advocates Gallery, The Crossings at Siesta Key Mall, 3501 S Tamiami Trail on September 29, 2023 at 4pm to discuss the discovery of her artistic gift after a traumatic brain injury and the delayed diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. For more information, go to: artsadvocates.org

Please join Patricia Anderson Turner at the Arts Advocates Gallery, The Crossings at Siesta Key Mall, 3501 S Tamiami Trail on October 13, 2023 at 4 pm for her Art Talk, “Visualizing social issues –The art of Patricia Anderson Turner.” In her award-winning mixed media work, Patricia explores complex socio-political issues such as gun violence, white supremacy and climate change. For more information, please go to: artsadvocates.org

Randy Globus has a solo show opening on October 12, 2023, at the Arts Center of Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. She will be giving an artist’s talk at 6 pm on October 20, 2023, and conducting a workshop from 1 pm to 4 pm on October 21, 2023, at the Arts Center. Randy has been recognized for her paintings of carousel horses and her paintings of hand-made puppets she calls “avatars” (see example pictured below). Randy relocated to Florida after a career in New York City as an art director and art educator. [For more information about Randy’s exhibition and work, please see NAWA NOW’s Red Carpet Interview of her in this issue].

Margaret Schnebly Hodge has three works in “Abstracto” at the LeMoyne Art Center through September 21, 2023, in Tallahassee, Florida. For information, go to: https://www.lemoyne.org/ . Margaret also is in a group show at the Daytona Beach Art League, Daytona Beach, Florida, through September 22, 2023. For more information, go to: https://www.artleague.org/.

Judith Carlin is in a group show, “Inspired by the Weight of Object” at the Montclair Art Museum from September 14 to October 28, 2023.

Maidy Morhous has two paintings on display at the Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California from September 1 through September 10, 2023, and had three bronzes on exhibit at Jen Tough Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico in “The Bright Side” Exhibition that closed at the end of August. Pictured below is one of the bronze works, “3 Second Rule” (2017).

Patricia Tewes Richards showed two paintings at the Regional Juried Show (New England) at the Barn Gallery of the Ogunquit Art Association in Ogunquit Maine.

Bobbi Mastrangelo is part of a group exhibition called “Celebrating American Diversity” at the Orlando Science Center Fusion Gallery, running through September 3, 2023.

Jill Sneidman is showing her photograph, “RENISFJARA” in the “Provocative” Art Exhibit at Hotspots from September 2 through September 30, 2023.

Leslie Jeffery has an entry in the Juried Member Exhibition at The Bascom in Highlands, North Carolina and was Featured Artist during White Linen Night on August 5, 2023, at Guess McCall Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Katherine Coakley has been accepted into RAA&M’s National Show, which is juried by acclaimed artist John C. Traynor. The exhibit will run from September 30, 2023 through November 5, 2023, at the Rockport Art Association & Museum in Rockport, MA.

BOARD NEWS

NAWA-SC Chapter has exciting board news to announce. We have added two incoming board members and we say goodbye and thank you to two outgoing board members. We send Mary Steffen off to her studio with our deepest gratitude for sharing her expert organizational skill, responsiveness, and web design abilities. Taking over the treasurer duties, we welcome Melinda Welker. And stepping into exhibit direction, we welcome Staci Swider. Both are off and running and the transitions could not have been smoother.

Also stepping away from board leadership is Fran Gardner. She has led the NAWA-SC Chapter for two years. “I am very proud of the work I have done with the Chapter and with NAWA,” said Fran. “Both the organization and our SC Chapter are unwavering in our dedication to the mission to promote awareness of and interest in the work of women artists in the United States. It has been an honor to work with such dedicated professional artists on both the Chapter and National levels.”

 

Under her leadership, the NAWA-SC Chapter has secured two upcoming exhibitions in prominent South Carolina coastal venues, the Burroughs Chapin Museum at Myrtle Beach in 2024 and Brookgreen Gardens at Murrells Inlet in 2025.

We extend very special thanks to three members who have volunteered for service to the Chapter. Emi Sisk will manage the Chapter’s website, Mary Ann Browning Ford is co-chairing the upcoming exhibition at Burroughs Chapin Museum, and Fran Gardner is researching and editing the interpretive materials for the exhibit.

The NAWA-SC Chapter is very interested in continuing to expand its Board and Volunteers. If you are a member of National and the SC Chapter, and you have an interest in helping to design exhibitions, select venues, develop online activities, post on social media, and/or communications with members, please contact art.nawasc@gmail.com. You would be joining a team of strong leaders who believe in the mission of NAWA. Our websites are full of information about the National Association of Women Artists (thenawa.org) and the SC Chapter (nawasc.org). Please  contact us to be part of the leadership of an organization with a focused mission to promote women artists. (https://nawasc.org/contact).

2023 ANNUAL MEETING:

Our South Carolina Chapter Annual Meeting on April 28, 2023 in Myrtle Beach, SC, drew warm feedback from our members. We gathered at Burroughs Chapin Museum in Myrtle Beach for a morning welcome and tour from the curator, Liz Miller. Here are some of the member comments:

“The NAWA SC annual meeting was a joy to attend. Thank you to everyone who planned and organized the event making the entire day great start to finish.”

“…informative, joyous, inspiring, and provided a feeling of NAWA sisterhood. Combining the awards presentation and ceremony, a poetry reading and book signing, and a delicious lunch in an inviting meeting space made for a great afternoon of NAWA administration and celebration of artists and artistry.”

“I think it’s a good thing for us all to get together in person, meet and talk with each other. I always come away inspired when we do.”

“SO sad Fran and Mary are leaving [stepping down from the Board], but I understand we should pass the baton and give others a chance to participate in positions of leadership.”

We also extend a very special thanks to Jill Baratta, Executive Director of NAWA-National, for hopping a plane and making a surprise visit to our Annual Meeting. Her presence was a great example of her leadership style – always encouraging, always supportive.

 

Annual Meeting Highlights: AWARDS

We gathered at Brookgreen Gardens for lunch and the awards presentation of We See: Creating from Verse. We were fortunate to have South Carolina poet Lisa Hammond as our special guest. She read from her work and discussed the connection between art and poetry.

Writers of literature have long used art as an inspiration for their written work. In our exhibit, We See: Creating from Verse, we turned this around and used poetry as a device to conceive a work of art. The exhibit theme encouraged artists to be inspired by Lisa’s poetry and create a visual of their experience.

In an exceptionally strong show, these artists’ works were selected for awards by notable South Carolina artist, Mary Edna Fraser:

First Place – No Equation, by Sheila Grabarsky
Second Place – Windowsill Ripe, by Judy McSween
Third Place – Sun-kissed, by Pat Zalisko
Honorable Mention – Eastern Towhee Calling, by Melinda Welker
Poets Choice – Giving Tree, by Laura Hitchcock

The South Carolina Chapter is pleased to support women artists by presenting high quality exhibitions in online and prominent venues and we congratulate all artists for their participation in this exhibition.

Other Annual Meeting Highlights: NEW EXHIBITS ANNOUNCED

The timing of the Annual Meeting worked well for planning our exhibit, The NAWA Sisterhood-Inspiration from Our Members Past & Present, at Burroughs Chapin Museum, Myrtle Beach, SC, from January 2 through April 14, 2024.

The goal of this exhibition is to celebrate the sisterhood that is NAWA and our mission of promoting the awareness of, and interest in, visual art created by women in the United States. The year 2024 marks NAWA’s 135th anniversary of supporting women’s art in the United States.

When this support happens, bonds form and “Sisterhood” is the result. All SC Chapter members are invited to exhibit their work. We encourage our artists to help us celebrate our rich history by choosing a NAWA member who may have influenced or inspired them in art making, though this is not required for acceptance into this exhibit. When we honor our historical tradition, it forges and strengthens the path for the future while celebrating our present. Historically, too often, women continue to face barriers to showing and selling their work. By honoring a previous member artist, we acknowledge that her work, her life, her creativity has held special, even personal meaning to another artist. This is our way of telling the world how these artists, well known or not, have inspired and furthered the NAWA tradition. If you’d like to join in this special museum exhibition, watch for the prospectus to hit your inbox (current SC Chapter members). If you’d like to join the SC Chapter to participate, please email art.nawasc@gmail.com.

We also introduced our 2025 exhibit theme, Brookgreen Inspires, to be held at the incomparable Brookgreen Gardens. This theme invites our artists to explore the many ways that this exceptional place has inspired so many, including its founder and NAWA member, Anna Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973). Brookgreen Gardens is a National Historic Landmark and home to the largest collection of American figurative sculpture in the United States. Its educational mission extends to the ecology and history of the South Carolina “Low Country” and attracts 360,000 visitors per year.

At the conclusion of the Annual Meeting, Members toured the Brookgreen Gardens to get early inspiration for this 2025 exhibit.

OTHER CHAPTER ACTIVITIES:

In April 2023, several of our Chapter members were juried into the multi-day, ArtFields festival of contemporary art, considered one of the largest contemporary art events in the Southeast.

On April 29,2023, a few Members attended ArtFields to view art at various venues – galleries, small businesses, and restaurants. It was a total art immersion. NAWA-SC Chapter took the stage for the closing night awards ceremony. Congratulations to recipient Diana Kirkpatrick, who is now officially a NAWA member, by way of her NAWA-SC Chapter/ArtFields Partnership award.