A Preview of Womxn in Art 2023
Today, the media was invited to a preview ahead of the launch of the Womxn in Art exhibit at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts. It’s the second consecutive year since the COVID pandemic that the Institute of Creative Arts is putting off the event in person and this year around, activities will be held over a three-day period. ICA Director Kim Vasquez speaks of the events that will be held, beginning this Thursday and featuring empowered female creatives from a wide cross-section of society.
Kim Vasquez
Kim Vasquez, Director, Institute of Creative Arts
“Last year we had a good start, got the momentum going and here we are with an explosion of creativity of women, female talent. It’s come together really nicely through the vision of Gilvano Swasey. Gilvano is no stranger to Womxn in Art; he was one of the first curators of the exhibit. He is so impressed with the young girls that are participating for the first time in photography, in painting, in fashion design, graphic design, digital art, videography. And Womxn in Art this year is a three-day event. We are so excited to be able to have it spread out. We have an art class on Friday, with artist Gayla; we have a special talk on wellness for the creatives by Miss Lucia Ellis and we have on Saturday, our big sisterhood fashion and design marketplace in front of the Bliss. We are inviting the public to come out. We have another thirty separate creative entrepreneurs participating; they’ll have all their products on display and what we are really excited about is our fashion runway by the sea. We have a little mini fashion showcase. It’s almost like the first event for fashion and we know that more will be happening later on this year. This is our participation in women’s month and it is so important for us to continue to give this platform for women artists. It’s still a man’s world – the art world is still male dominated, the artwork of men still sell for more, women still have disadvantages to be able to have a career in the arts – whether it is visual arts or performing arts, so we try to make this as inclusive as possible. We know that for the opening tomorrow, we have some performing arts as well; there will not only be some speeches, but we can look forward to some exciting elements and so we encourage the public to come out for the opening tomorrow at seven, here at the Bliss.”
