Dear Friends of HRM,

We’re not kicking off March quietly. There’s too much to be said, heard, seen, and learned during Women’s History Month.

We’re giving you plenty of reasons to show your support, flex your creative muscles, and learn more about women in the arts and sciences who have stories that deserve to be told.

Listen Up: Are you ready to take in the exhibitions while being immersed in a soundscape? We have the experience for you. DJ Sunny Cheeba, founder of Uptown Vinyl Supreme, will be infusing our galleries with jazz and new sounds today, Sunday, March 5, 1–4pm, creating a contemporary take on Frederick J. Brown’s practice of listening to music in his SoHo studio as he worked, while surrounded by the artist’s powerful portrait series, Frederick J. Brown: A Drawing in Five Parts. This simultaneously presents a unique opportunity to contemplate the historically underrepresented work of women of the Hudson River School, including the artists Sarah. E. Harvey, Frances Flora Bond Palmer, and May Wheelock, all featured in our nearby Collection Spotlight.

Pa’lante, Onward: The 1960s ushered in unprecedented change in civil rights, women in the workforce, and the sexual revolution. The printmaking process was pivotal to women’s self-expression and advancement in a male-dominated art world. Witness manifestations of that self-advocacy by joining us for Three Latina Artists on the Power of Printmaking on Saturday, March 11. Artists Nitza Tufiño, Luanda Lozano, and Julia Santos Solomon—all of whose impactful work is featured in Matrix: Prints by Women Artists, 1960–1990. To make your own artwork, step into our Monoprint Workshop with Luanda Lozano later in the month, with all levels welcomed, on Sunday, March 26.

For an overview of the exhibition, I recommend watching this new March 2, 2023 episode about the exhibition on WNYCArts | THIRTEEN, with an introduction by Philippe de Montebello and featuring Laura Vookles, Chair of HRM’s Curatorial Department.

There’s nothing like a powerfully virtuosic, women-led music performance, especially when the artists hail from five countries and four continents. On Sunday, March 19, don’t miss our live Cocomama Concert: Woman’s World. This superb group of musicians has a sound that is at once original and authentic, fierce, and beautiful. Come to think of it, that sounds also a lot like you, our audience.

Look up: Today, about 60 of the world’s 537 astronauts are women. By now we know that their road was not smoothly paved. Throughout March, visitors to the planetarium will be greeted by a panorama of women, including Margaret Burbridge, Dorothy Vaughan, Carolyn Shoemaker, and Sally Ride, all of whom have made outstanding contributions to science and space exploration. Our science educators will bring their contributions to light in our Sky Tonight live planetarium shows every Saturday and Sunday. I also recommend bookmarking Women @ NASA to stay informed of the numerous ways women drive scientific innovation on a daily basis.

NASA’s legendary mathematician Katherine Johnson is credited with saying, “I like to learn. That’s an art and a science.” At the HRM, during Women’s History Month, and every other month for that matter, those are words that propel us forward.

Meet us at the Museum,

Masha Turchinsky
Director and CEO

Photos: Courtesy of Cocomama. / Courtesy of Sunny Cheeba. / May Wheelock (American, 1841–1938). On the Esopus Creek, 1878. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of Hawthorne Fine Art, New York. / Courtesy of HRM.