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 Sojourner Truth?
Sojourner Truth carte de visite,1864, photograph, Courtesy of ZSR Library.
Sojourner Truth was an African American abolitionist and women’s rights activist, who is best known for her speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” during the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in 1851. The speech addressed the racial inequalities in the women’s rights movement. Truth was born into slavery as Isabella Baumfree and sold several times, even once as a 9-year-old with a flock of sheep for $100 at auction. She later escaped with her infant daughter in 1826 and changed her name to Sojourner Truth in 1843. Truth began her social justice efforts with abolition before fighting for other reforms such as prison reform, property rights, and universal suffrage.
“There is a great stir about colored men getting their rights, but not a word about colored women; and if colored men get their rights, and not colored women theirs, you see, the colored men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before.”
Sources: How Early Photographs Reveal the Indomitable Spirit of Abolitionist Sojourner Truth, “Sojourner Truth.”