
On August 26, 1920, women were given the right to vote in the United States with the certification of the 19th Amendment. The launch of the Women Soaring Project (WSP) this fall 2020 fortuitously coincides with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage. It is with great honor that the WSP is able to celebrate this incredible achievement in women's history highlighting exceptional artworks with its inaugural exhibit, Women Suffragists.
The panel of jurors for this show was comprised of the WSP co-founders and advisory board members including Jane Le Skaife, Jackie Lo, Megan Seely, Leah Cluff, Jennifer Lugris, Grace Gray-Adams, Jenifer Vernon and Lesley Doig. While we received 48 submissions from artists all around the world, we voted on the top three pieces that displayed the strongest content and execution in addressing the theme of women's suffrage. We are pleased to announce these winning works are:
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First place - Artist Summer Herrera, Dorothy, A Young Activist, 2020
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Second place - Artist Ildiko Nova, Fair Representation, 2020
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Third place - Artist Angela (Azadeh) Raz, Healing, 2020
Please join us in congratulating these artists, and thank you to all those who participated. To see these works and more, please enter our virtual gallery below.
WOMEN

SOARING
An interactive arts and culture project seeking to see, know, and appreciate women in history
Who is Sylvia Rivera?
Sylvia Rivera was a Latina-American drag queen who became one of the most radical gay and transgender activists of the 1960s and 70s. As co-founder of the Gay Liberation Front, Rivera was known for participating in the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and establishing the political organization STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) with fellow friend and drag queen, Marsha P. Johnson. [Rivera] was poor, trans, a drag queen, a person of color, a former sex worker, and someone who also experienced drug addiction, incarceration and homelessness. For all of these reasons, Rivera fought for not only gay and trans rights but also racial, economic and criminal justice issues.
“Hell hath no fury like a drag queen scorned.”

Source(s): Excerpts from Biography; Inspiring Quotes
Sylvia Rivera at her Hudson riverfront home encampment in New York in 1996, Photo by Val Shaff.