The NAWA office is abuzz! This year, NAWA is proudly 135 years old, and it is said we don’t look it. That is true, but let’s look AT it. NAWA is the source for art created by some of America’s best artists. Keep creating and please, dear public, keep buying NAWA artists’ work.
I want to emphasize NAWA as a “source.” We have many high priorities, such as selling more of these amazing artworks. Other priorities include: finding excellent venues to exhibit the meaningful work NAWA members create with full hearts, grant writing, scholarships, expanding member benefits, strategic planning, and consolidating office organization, among others – all while we raise children and grandchildren, care for parents and spouses, hold jobs, and all those juggling acts. Amazing women!
In celebration of this 135th Anniversary, there are three exhibits coming in March, Women’s History Month: NAWA at Hollis Taggart, Vanda Gallery, and Graham Shay. Hollis Taggart, a commercial Chelsea NY gallery, curated several NAWA member works, plus six NAWA Honorary Vice Presidents will be represented. At NAWA member Zahra Jlayer’s Vanda Gallery in New Rochelle, there will be a selection of peer-juried works in the exhibit, “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.” Graham Shay 1857 East 67th St., New York City, will have an exhibit of historic NAWA members’ work from the past. (See This Week with NAWA and the NAWA website for more details. www.thenawa.org)
NAWA’s 135th Anniversary Annual Members Exhibition will return to One Art Space in Tribeca, New York City from June 7- to 22, 2024 with a free opening reception on June 7, from 6 to 9 pm. Panel discussions will be held on June 13 and June 20. The June 13 event will include a historical slide presentation and panel of knowledgeable people regarding NAWA’s past. For the June 20 panel, award winners from the Annual Members Exhibition will be invited to talk about their artwork. The panels will have a suggested donation and event registration.
In conjunction with the Annual, there will be an online auction of the “Bottle Project” works made from recycled (empty) American Woman Whiskey bottles. American Woman Whiskey is a NAWA award donor and sponsor. Fifty percent of the proceeds will go to a NAWA Scholarship Fund. Signature Members may pick up a bottle from the office or call to discuss shipping. Donated artwork entries can be submitted with photos of the Bottle Projects through May 30, 2024. Details are online in the member portal. Supporters, watch for the auction in June. Please support NAWA and the Scholarship Fund.
As I write, I am about to leave for the College Art Association Conference in Chicago. NAWA will have a table in the Book Fair, February 15 to 17, 2024, so we can tell the artists, authors, academics, students, professors and their friends all about NAWA and its legacy. I will report more after the event.
A big thanks to all the NAWA sisterhood, the flourishing NAWA Chapters in Florida, Massachusetts and South Carolina, our friends, families and supporters. We don’t look a day over 130! (Time sure flies!)
