Women of Northern California: Making Meaning for Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Join us at the John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis, California to see the major exhibition Women of Northern California: Making Meaning for Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. This exhibit will offer a historic and contemporary survey of many of the most important women artists who have left lasting artistic legacies in this region. It will be open from March 1 to April 1, 2023. A public reception will be held on March 4, 2023 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm.

The John Natsoulas Gallery is pleased to announce that, coinciding with Women’s History Month, we will be hosting an exhibition entitled Women of Northern California:Making Meaning for Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. This exceptional exhibit will showcase how women have and continue to develop unique artistic visions that derive from the varied social, political, and cultural experiences that are endemic to this particular region. Northern California is a unique nexus of influences, and the women who are a product of this environment have drawn from diverse sources of inspiration. This exhibition and the accompanying publication will contribute to the overdue recognition of many of these outstanding artists. While women have played a crucial role in building the regional artistic community and have pushed art making in new directions, their persisting exclusion from the artistic canon is an issue that needs correcting. This exhibit is a celebration of the strong, influential women who have led the way in establishing and developing artistic movements and media. It will also offer the opportunity to explore the many ways in which these artists have contextualized and represent their experiences living as women in Northern California. Through this examination of both historic and contemporary art, the collection of art will highlight the tenacity of the artistic legacies that women establish, often for other women. By looking at the past and present, we aim to reveal the vision of the future.

The opening reception for the exhibition will be on Saturday March 4 from 7:00 - 9:00pm. There will be refreshments and a performance by one of the featured artists - Allison Fall. Come enjoy a night to celebrate seven decades of art by Northern California’s most notable women artists.

Join us for additional programming on March 10 at 7pm. One of the featured artists, Julia Couzens, will sign books and discuss her powerful, feminist series, Textile Tags. 

Featured Artists:

Salma Arastu, Ruth Asawa, Joan Brown, Squeak Carnwath, Julia Couzens, Jay DeFeo, Allison Fall, Viola Frey, Kim Frohsin, Franceska Gamez, Michelle Gregor, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Laura Hohlwein, Mildred Howard, Margaret Keelan, Sahar Khoury, Marilyn Levine, Hung Liu, Pat Mahony, Kara Maria, Klea McKenna, Jenna Meacham, Michelle Murillo, Deborah Oropallo, Emmy Lou Packard, Maija Peeples-Bright, Lucy Puls, Rachelle Reichert, Lisa Reinertson, M. Louise Stanley, and Seongmin Yoo