By Diana Reuter Twining, AWA Board President

On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment, ensuring that the right to vote could not be denied based on sex. It was signed into law on August 26, 1920. The fight for women's right to vote began 72 years earlier, at the Seneca Falls Convention in New York, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, in July of 1848. 

The fight for ratification was long and at times violent. Discrimination against women's rights was commonplace.  Many inspiring and courageous women worked tirelessly for this cause. Suffragette Carrie Chapman Catt, founder of the League of Women Voters, wrote so eloquently: 

" The vote is the emblem of your equality , women of America, the guarantee of your liberty. That vote of yours has cost millions of dollars and the lives of thousands of women. Money to carry on this work has been given usually as a sacrifice, and thousands of women have gone without things they wanted and could have had in order that they might help get the vote for you. Women have suffered agony of soul which you can never comprehend, that you and your daughters might inherit political freedom. That vote has been costly. Prize it! The vote is a power, a weapon of offense and defense, a prayer. Understand what it means and what it can do for your country. Use it intelligently, conscientiously, prayerfully."

 

How appropriate that American Women Artists will be having its fifth annual museum exhibition,  Making Their Mark, at The Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA, opening on May 27, 2020, the same year as the centennial celebrations of women's suffrage. We can be proud of our organization's place in the struggle for women's equality. Our exhibition at the Booth will continue to bring attention to women's accomplishments in the fine arts and our rightful place in the finest cultural institutions in America.

AWA Artist Shana Levenson recently had the honor of having her work featured in Time Magazine.  Here's what she wrote about the experience:

"The Time Magazine commission was such an incredible opportunity!  Victor Williams, the magazine's Art Director, emailed me asking if I were available to paint a portrait of a prominent figure for their year-end issue. The finished piece needed to be completed in seven days. I was actually leaving the next evening to teach a four-day workshop; only giving me three days to do the painting. I know my work ethic, and I had confidence I could do it, so I said 'Yes!' even though I had no idea who I'd be painting. Later that day, I was assigned to paint the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. I was nervous about choosing the right image from the five they sent me. I wanted to make sure I captured him as best I could.  Victor also asked me to incorporate my personal background texture and patterning, so that's what I did!  Since Emmanuel Macron is the head of the EU, I painted the background blue with yellow stars; the European flag. I feel like I was able to successfully capture the leader of France without having met him in person and I still can't believe I have a painting in the Person of the Year issue of Time Magazine, one of their biggest issues of the year!"

JURIED ART FAIRS & FESTIVALS

Check out  links  on ZAPP

LINKS TO ARTICLES

100 Years Ago American Women Got the Vote. Art Museums Are Using the Anniversary to Chart a New Path Forward.

Women and Art of the West

A Conversation with AWA Master Member  Gladys  Roldan-de-Moras, at the Briscoe Museum

Visiting museums and galleries may help people live longer, according to a new study.

This New Book Is the Most Extensive Anthology of Women Artists Ever Published

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