The idea of “The American Woman” is a notion that has been constantly shifting, and evolving over time. Contemporary challenges to women’s lack of agency has led to a myriad of feminist and anti-
feminist initiatives. 19th century discussions are revived in the 21st century context where norms and laws of gender roles are being deconstructed, redefined, and reevaluated.
 

The cultural and biological ideas of womanhood, along with societal advances of women, continue to be challenged and conjure up new ideas of who the American Woman is and what she can be.
 

Hera Galley seeks work in any medium for, American Woman; Feminist Futures. We are looking for works that use feminism as a framework to document, re-envision and imagine what the American
Woman and American Womanhood could look like in the future; utopian, dystopian, fantastical, raw, honest, real. Can we use feminism as a tool to imagine a future of equity? Equality? Tolerance? Love? Or do current day events use feminism to predict a future of just the opposite. Are we doomed? Or can we be hopeful and participate in the shaping of the American Woman?
 

As one of the oldest feminist art cooperatives in the United States, Hera Gallery is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024. In celebration of this milestone, we have chosen to revisit past exhibitions that continue to have relevance today. The American Woman was one of the first exhibitions on view at Hera Gallery in 1974, featuring work by founding members Barbara Johns Waterston and Connie Greene Alexander.

Juror: Amy Smith- Stewart Chief Curator of the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

Amy Smith-Stewart is Chief Curator at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. Since 2013 she has organized more than forty-five exhibitions and projects at the Museum. Her unique perspective has
brought artists to The Aldrich during important stages of their careers including first time solo museum presentations with artists including Hangama Amiri, Chiffon Thomas, Hayal Pozanti, Milano Chow, Lucia
Hierro, Michelle Lopez, Genesis Belanger, B. Wurtz, Eva LeWitt, Elif Uras, and Jessi Reaves, and survey shows with Raven Halfmoon, Jackie Winsor, Frank Stella, Ruth Root, Suzanne McClelland, Harmony Hammond, and Karla Knight. Harmony Hammond: Material Witness, Five Decades of Art was named one of the best exhibitions of 2019 by the New York Times. The show traveled to the Sarasota Art Museum and was accompanied by the artist’s first monograph. Encompassing the entirety of the museum, 52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone, which Smith-Stewart co-curated, revisited the historic exhibition, Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists, organized by Lucy R. Lippard in 1971 and joined it with a new roster of
twenty-six female identifying and nonbinary emerging artists to track the evolution of feminist art practices over half a century. It was accompanied by a 200-page book. Current exhibitions on view
include Raven Halfmoon: Flags of Our Mothers (book), co-organized with the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Chiffon Thomas: The Cavernous  (catalogue), and Ping Zheng: Where Memories of
Travels Go (zine). Hangama Amiri’s exhibition, A Homage to Home (catalogue) travels to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, where it will open in January 2024. Future exhibitions at The Aldrich
include: Loie Hollowell: Space Between, A Ten Year Survey (book); Layo Bright: Dawn and Dusk (catalogue); Martha Diamond: Deep Time (co-curated with Colby Museum of Art; monograph) and A
Garden of Promise and Dissent (an intergenerational group show of 21 artists, spanning the galleries and grounds). Smith-Stewart has organized more than eighty exhibitions in museums, collections, galleries, and temporary spaces. She is founder of the eponymous nomadic curatorial project, Smith-Stewart, previously located on the Lower East Side from 2007–2009. She began her career as a curator at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (now MoMA PS1), where she mounted nineteen exhibitions and projects including first time solo museum presentations with artists Adrian Paci, Mika Rottenberg, Taryn Simon, and Aleksandra Mir, as well as group exhibitions including Day Labor and Greater New York 2005 (cocurated). From 2006–2007, she was a Curatorial Advisor for the Mary Boone Gallery, where she organized a series of group exhibitions introducing a new generation of artists to the Gallery. She has organized exhibitions at Socrates Sculpture Park and the Noguchi Museum and was the 2006–2008 Guest Curator for the Peter Norton Collection. She has served on faculty at the School of the Visual Arts, MFA Fine Arts department, and the Sotheby’s Institute of Art MA Contemporary Art program. Her writing has appeared in books and catalogues published by Taschen, Gregory R. Miller & Co., Revolver Publishing, Bates College Museum of Art, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Charta, Perrotin, among others.

Application Requirements

Application Deadline: March 2, 2024
Exhibition Dates: May 11th- June 15th

Notification of Acceptance: Hera Gallery will contact artists by March 28th, 2024 regarding their inclusion in The American Woman: Feminist Futures

Delivery Due Date: Artwork must be at the Gallery by Thursday, May 2nd.

Artwork Delivery: Local delivery instructions will be sent to all accepted artists.

Return Shipping: The artist is responsible for all shipping costs and shipping containers.  The artist must include a prepaid return shipping label.

Sales Commission: As an artist-run nonprofit, Hera takes no commission in our national juried exhibitions, 100% of sales go directly to the artist.

Insurance: Although the utmost care will be taken in handling your work, Hera Gallery assumes no responsibility for damage, loss, or theft. Artists are responsible for their own insurance.

Photography/Publicity: Hera Gallery reserves the right to photograph work for publicity.  By entering this exhibition, you agree to the use of your name, likeness, certain personal information, and artwork in any publicity material or documentation developed for the exhibition.

About Hera Gallery:
Hera Educational Foundation and Gallery celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024. As one of the first women art cooperatives in the United States, we continue to promote contemporary professional artists through a comprehensive exhibition schedule of member work, curated, and juried intersectional social justice shows. Together with thought-provoking programming our organization encourages dialogue that enriches the cultural life of our non-urban Southern RI community. We provide a venue for young talent to find a public voice, and creative support to local health services. Since its inception in 1974, Hera has been resolutely dedicated to gender equity and feminist discourse to challenge perceptions and inspire social change.

Because of its flexibility and commitment to presenting exhibitions with artistic merit and integrity Hera has been awarded numerous grants for its exhibitions and programs including grants from Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, The Champlin Foundation, Rhode Island Council on the Humanities, Rhode Island Foundation, and the Puffin Foundation.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility: Hera Gallery seeks work in all media, 2D, 3D, and video for this timely, critical exhibition. 3D is limited to 100 lbs and must fit through a 5’10” x 6’8” door. 2D must also fit through said door.