HERSTORY 2026
March 10–28, 2026
OPENING RECEPTION
Thursday, March 12, 2026 | 6–8 PM
CLOSING RECEPTION & POETRY READING
Saturday, March 28, 2026 | 4–6 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Viridian Artists is pleased to present HERSTORY 2026, an exhibition of outstanding art by all genders celebrating women. The show extends from March 10–28, with an Opening Reception Thursday, March 12, 6–8pm and a Closing Reception and poetry reading by artists in the exhibit, Saturday, March 28, 4–6pm.
According to Wikipedia, we have been celebrating International Woman’s Day since March 8, 1909, organized by the Socialist party of America, but some say this is a myth. Others say it began in Europe in 1911 with over a million people in Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland with women demanding the right to vote, hold public office and protest against sexual discrimination in the workplace. President Jimmy Carter created the first Women’s History week to be March 2–8, 1980. Then in 1987, Congress declared March to be Women’s History Month.
Viridian has been celebrating this important month with its exhibition HERSTORY, an invitational curated by Vernita Nemec, an artist, curator and Director Emerita of Viridian Artists. The HERSTORY exhibit features artists of all genders reflecting through their art, a celebration of the gains women has made throughout the world and perhaps reminders of what we have lost. But do you see that word—‘His’? It should be ‘Her’… and from now on, it will be.
“Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future,” is the 2026 theme highlighting women’s contributions to sustainability and social justice. There is so much that we must confront in terms of global challenges: climate change, health care, economic insecurities and threats to what democracy is or should be at this moment in history/HERSTORY. These are insecure times because everything is changing so rapidly that we must constantly remind ourselves of what should be – what is good and what is bad and what must be or can be changed. Art is the door that gives us the freedom to explore all these ideas and express them, if necessary, in images rather than words.
Viridian’s first HERSTORY exhibit occurred in 2020 and because of the pandemic, the show was virtual and appeared only on the gallery website. The press release for the 2024 HERSTORY exhibition stated “Because women are still second-class citizens in so many ways, we have listed some of the startling facts of HERSTORY, both positive and negative. The source for these facts is: yourdream.liveyourdream.org Sadly, little has changed since the 70s and we have lost much that we gained back then.”
The first wave of feminism is believed to have started around 1848, often tied to the first formal Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York.
The second wave of feminism is believed to have been inspired by the civil rights movement in the US and the labor movement in England, taking place between the early 1960s to the late 1980s. This wave commenced as a result of the postwar chaos. Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, written in 1949, analyzes the history and institutions that had defined women’s lives up to then: marriage and motherhood.
During the second wave of feminism, women insisted on our right to do as we wished with our bodies and our lives. Abortion was legalized in 1973 and contraception was safe and easy. Betty Freidan’s The Feminine Mystique written in 1969, emboldened women’s fight against sexual discrimination and sexual harassment. Much was achieved, including the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and in 1974, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act enabled women to get loans and credit cards without a man’s permission. Finally, women were able to have the kind of jobs traditionally dominated by men.
Now we have passed through the third wave of feminism when second-wave feminists’ daughters focused on choice and were pro-sex, defending pornography, sex work, intercourse, and marriage, and reducing the stigma surrounding sexual pleasure for women. The concept of “girl power” arose, and “Riot Grrrl” was both a music genre and a feminist movement, but third-wave feminists with their open sexuality, were criticized, and it is felt that little was gained for women in terms of rights and legislation.
The fourth wave of feminism, thought to have started between 2007-2012, is defined by its focus on justice for women with social media helping to provide a means for women to communicate and speak out. The “Me Too” movement grew to be worldwide, and social media allowed women to share their experiences of harassment and sexual violence.
The artists in this chapter of HERSTORY ask you to see the meanings in their images and look to the future for women’s rights being equal to that of men. A select group of artists will be reading poetry at the Closing Reception on March 28.
For more information, please contact:
Lola Shepard or Louis Pardo
(212) 414–4040 | viridianartistsinc@gmail.com
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Saturday | 12–6 PM
548 West 28th St., Suite #632
New York, NY 10001
ViridianArtists.com
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