Committee Chairs

by Samar Hussaini, NAWA Exhibition Chair

The NAWA Exhibition Committee is dedicated to providing members with a wide range of opportunities to showcase their talents through both in-person and online exhibitions. By curating an annual schedule of exhibits that highlight the diverse skills and creativity of NAWA artists, the committee ensures that the richness of the community is reflected in every showcase. These exhibitions, whether hosted in galleries or online, give members valuable opportunities to engage with wider audiences and increase visibility for their work.
Samar Hussaini will continue serving as Exhibition Chair, joined this year by Jenn Malone as Exhibition Co-Chair. Together, they bring a shared vision and dynamic energy to the NAWA Signature Member Artists’ exhibition programming. With their leadership, the NAWA Exhibition Committee remains deeply committed to supporting women artists and expanding opportunities for creative expression.
A key focus of the committee is building partnerships with galleries and foundations. Collaborating with established institutions, emerging art spaces, and influential foundations opens new opportunities for NAWA members to display their artwork in a variety of settings. These partnerships further the exposure and recognition of NAWA artists. And the addition of online exhibitions connects NAWA artists with the global audience. All NAWA online and in-person exhibitions are open to the public, with artwork available for purchase through the NAWA website or by contacting the office.
Examples of recent and upcoming exhibitions for 2025 include:

• The Feminine Horizon: Inner and Outer Landscapes, an in-person exhibit at the Green Door Studio, LLC, Milburn, NJ.January 6, 2025 – January 30, 2025
• Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories, an in-person exhibit at the Vanda Gallery, New Rochelle, NY. March 1st – March 29th, 2025,
• Flushing Bank Partnership (in-person at Flushing Bank, NYC, and Brooklyn, NY),
• ALoft Partnership (in-person at Long Island City, NY),
• The NAWA 136th Anniversary Annual Members Exhibition (in-person & online at Leonovich Gallery New York, NY)
• Winter Small Works (online)
• Summer Small Works (online), and individual online exhibitions dedicated to photography, sculpture, and mixed media, showcasing the unique talents of our artists in each discipline.

By cultivating these collaborations and offering diverse exhibition formats, the NAWA Exhibition Committee upholds its mission of promoting women artists. These efforts ensure members have ample opportunities to showcase their work, access new resources, and gain recognition within both the gallery world and the broader arts community. Signature Members are encouraged to join the committee, supporting and uplifting one another through shared inspiration, resources, and a collective passion that promotes growth and collaboration. NAWA continues to expand support for artistic expression, encouraging artists to push boundaries and audiences to explore new perspectives, thus enhancing the vibrant and engaged arts community that is NAWA.

The NAWA Exhibition Committee is dedicated to providing members with a wide range of opportunities to showcase their talents through both in-person and online exhibitions. By curating an annual schedule of exhibits that highlight the diverse skills and creativity of NAWA artists, the committee ensures that the richness of the community is reflected in every showcase. These exhibitions, whether hosted in galleries or online, give members valuable opportunities to engage with wider audiences and increase visibility for their work.
Samar Hussaini will continue serving as Exhibition Chair, joined this year by Jenn Malone as Exhibition Co-Chair. Together, they bring a shared vision and dynamic energy to the NAWA Signature Member Artists’ exhibition programming. With their leadership, the NAWA Exhibition Committee remains deeply committed to supporting women artists and expanding opportunities for creative expression.
A key focus of the committee is building partnerships with galleries and foundations. Collaborating with established institutions, emerging art spaces, and influential foundations opens new opportunities for NAWA members to display their artwork in a variety of settings. These partnerships further the exposure and recognition of NAWA artists. And the addition of online exhibitions connects NAWA artists with the global audience. All NAWA online and in-person exhibitions are open to the public, with artwork available for purchase through the NAWA website or by contacting the office.
Examples of recent and upcoming exhibitions for 2025 include:

• The Feminine Horizon: Inner and Outer Landscapes, an in-person exhibit at the Green Door Studio, LLC, Milburn, NJ.January 6, 2025 – January 30, 2025
• Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories, an in-person exhibit at the Vanda Gallery, New Rochelle, NY. March 1st – March 29th, 2025,
• Flushing Bank Partnership (in-person at Flushing Bank, NYC, and Brooklyn, NY),
• ALoft Partnership (in-person at Long Island City, NY),
• The NAWA 136th Anniversary Annual Members Exhibition (in-person & online at Leonovich Gallery New York, NY)
• Winter Small Works (online)
• Summer Small Works (online), and individual online exhibitions dedicated to photography, sculpture, and mixed media, showcasing the unique talents of our artists in each discipline.

By cultivating these collaborations and offering diverse exhibition formats, the NAWA Exhibition Committee upholds its mission of promoting women artists. These efforts ensure members have ample opportunities to showcase their work, access new resources, and gain recognition within both the gallery world and the broader arts community. Signature Members are encouraged to join the committee, supporting and uplifting one another through shared inspiration, resources, and a collective passion that promotes growth and collaboration. NAWA continues to expand support for artistic expression, encouraging artists to push boundaries and audiences to explore new perspectives, thus enhancing the vibrant and engaged arts community that is NAWA.

by Jen Haefeli, Co-Chair

The NAWA PR Committee is comprised of several units working in unison to provide NAWA members with a cohesive, branded communication effort that is available on our website (www.theNAWA.org) via email delivered to your inbox, our social platforms: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and our online magazine NAWA NOW, as well as our weekly newsletter, This Week With NAWA.

Co-Chairs of The PR Committee are Jen Haefeli and Rhian Swain. Jen is the owner of Wild Root Creations®. She is an InterArtist with a background in non-profit. She works with organizations such as the American Heart Association, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, and the United Way. Joining Jen to Co-Chair the PR Committee is Rhian Swain, owner of Red Wolf Advertising. Rhian is leading the Marketing efforts of the PR Committee. Rhian’s background includes graphic design, photography, social media development, digital and web design, experience with ad placement, and more.

The PR Committee works closely with the Executive Team, the Exhibitions Committee, the Membership Committee, and the NAWA NOW Magazine staff. The work of NAWA Historian Susan Rostan plays a central role in providing synergistic cohesion between the two primary online publications for NAWA, NAWA NOW, published quarterly, and This Week With NAWA, published weekly, via her Luminaries Series.

The PR Committee has micro-projects available for those looking to volunteer their time. Please let the committee know if you are interested in helping with any of the following:

• Writing or editing press releases
• Canva-based graphics creation
• YouTube video content
• Pinterest Updates
• This Week With NAWA topics: Glad You Asked/Did You Know
• NAWA Luminaries & Chapter Articles

The PR Committee is committed to supporting NAWA members. Signature artists are encouraged to participate in committees at the national and chapter levels. Please consider ways you can support NAWA and your fellow artists.

by Kay Clarke and Jill Cliffer Baratta, Awards Committee Co-Chairs

NAWA is in the process of renewing awards for the Annual Members Exhibition in June.

As of this writing, we have about 40 funded awards, 14 of which are from bequests. There are over $15,000 in awards to be disbursed so far. There are three new awards: One in memory of Carol A. O’Neill, for any medium; one for oil or watercolor, and one for painting in general.

Most of the yearly funded awards have been renewed (and this writing is before the deadline). The Awards Committee now has six members all contributing to the awards creation process, plus the President and Vice President acting as advisors to the committee. NAWA is very proud of this program, which inspires the members to submit to the exhibits, and we love bestowing the awards for the excellent artists in our historic organization.

We are also proud of the Peer Jurors, which are rotated to get a variety of views for choosing the artist participants and awards for each exhibit, not counting the Annual Exhibition, in which high-profile outside jurors are hired to choose the awards.