August 26th is Women's Equality Day 2022 ~ Not a Partisan Issue

Suffrage Envoys from San Francisco greeted in New Jersey on their way to Washington D.C. to present petition to Congress, c. 1910. via library of congress

Did you know that is was our own Bella Abzug (D-NY) who presented a bill in 1971 designating August 26th as Women’s Equality Day? Finally, Women’s Equality Day was designated by the U.S. Congress on August 26, 1973, commemorating the 19th Amendment.

This year’s theme for Women’s Equality Day is ‘Celebrating Women’s Right to Vote.‘ Ladies, if we don’t use it, we will lose it. Standing for Women’s Rights doesn’t mean that we agree on every issue. It means that a governmental body won’t dictate a blanket law, without regard to individual, and sometimes very personal rights. It means that we look at each other and say ~ I won’t presume to know what’s best for you, and I hope you will treat me with the same respect. When it comes to Women’s Rights, there should be no division among us. #Vote!

In that spirit, here are a few ways to celebrate the day.

Monumental Women

The redesigned Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument featuring Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Rendering of the statue in its future Central Park location, image courtesy Monumental Women

#MonumentalWomen will hold a video celebration online. In addition, take a walk along Literary Row in Central Park and visit the monument dedicated to three incredible women who came before us, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Visit All the Monuments for Women

Installation for The Girl Puzzle in progress on Roosevelt Island. Image via prometheusart.com

Throughout our City, visit monuments to women in our parks and public places near you.

Visit the Center for Women’s History at New York Historical Society

Image taken 2017, New York Historical Society, Center for Women’s History

Here, Women’s History unearths the lives and legacies of women who have shaped and continue to shape the American experience with exhibitions and films. The Museum even offers scholarly resources for teachers.

Visit Pen + Brush

This 127 year-old not-for-profit fights gender equity in the arts every day, providing a platform to showcase the work of women, non-binary and female-identified transgender artists and writers. Visit online or in person in their beautiful gallery located in the Flatiron District.

Visit Living With Art

Installation view ‘Only Natural: The Summer Salon at Living with Art’ curated by Connie Lee. Image courtesy of the Gallery.

Living with Art Salon is a non-profit gallery with a primary focus on under-recognized women in the arts. Catch the summer exhibition, ‘It’s Only Natural’, works by six women, on view through September 21, 2022. Living with Art Salon is located in the Mount Morris Historic District of Harlem. Visit Here.

Be Inspired by ‘Activist New York’ at The Museum of the City of New York

Artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya in front of her new mural, Raise Your Voice, at the Museum of the City of New York

Now entering its second decade, ‘Activist New York‘ examines the ways in which ordinary New Yorkers have advocated, agitated, and excised their power to shape the city’s ~ and the nation’s ~ future.

Visit The Sackler Center for Feminist Art at Brooklyn Museum

Judy Chicago (American, born 1939). The Dinner Party, 1974–79. Ceramic, porcelain, textile, 576 × 576 in. (1463 × 1463 cm). Brooklyn Museum; Gift of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10. © Judy Chicago. (Photo: Donald Woodman)

Occupying the fourth floor, The Sackler Center for Feminist Art is an exhibition and education environment dedicated to feminist art, its past, present and future. Unfortunately, ‘The Dinner Party’ by Judy Chicago will be closed on August 26th ~ but worth adding to your list for another day.

Also on view at the Museum, ‘A Woman’s Afterlife: Gender Transformation in Ancient Egypt‘.

The Current Exhibition, ‘Matrixes’ ~ an All-Women’s Art Show at Kate Oh Gallery

Artist Christina Massey, Cracked Notion, blown glass, aluminum, paint, wire for the exhibition, ‘Matrixes’ an All-Women’s Art Show at Kate Oh Gallery

Better hurry. This exhibition is only on view through August 27th. Kate Oh Gallery is located at 31 East 72nd Street, NYC.

Visit the Park that Bears Her Name ~ Bella Abzug Park

Honoring the memory of feminist, civil rights activist, lawyers and U.S. Representative, Bella Abzug (1920-1998), the park is connected to Hudson Yards on West 36th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues.

Take a Ride to Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarytown for the Exhibition ‘A Woman’s Work’

For generations the artistic contributions of women have been marginalized. A new exhibit at New York’s Lyndhurst Mansion featuring female artists past and present allows us to view “unimportant” historical objects through a modern eye.
BRUCE M. WHITE

Howard Zar, executive director of Lyndhurst Mansion, is co-curator of a new exhibit that’s full of surprises, called “Women’s Work,” a presentation spanning 300 years featuring historic and forgotten works, many crafted by anonymous women. He told correspondent Faith Salie, “Women’s work that is performed in the home in a domestic setting, like the one that we’re in, although a grand one for that matter, all that gets diminished and marginalized.”