Three Baltimore multidisciplinary artists Valeria Fuentes, Phaan Howng, and Kate Reed Petty join writers and journalists to examine the future of women in art and politics.

In the celebration of the Year of the Woman, three Baltimore multidisciplinary artists and writers discuss the future of women artists and politics in a patriarchal society.

The conversation furthers the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing and protecting women’s constitutional right to vote that began early this year. As part of the celebrations of women’s rights, the Baltimore Museum of Art dedicated has dedicated the whole of 2020 to showcase the work of female artists, highlighting their contribution to modern art.  Titled the 2020 Vision, the program brings together paintings, sculptures, designs, media art and installation art that highlight the struggles of female artists in their effort for adequate representation in a profession dominated by men. The multidisciplinary artists in these shows, tell the story of a neverending fight for recognition that continues in the 21st-century art. In preparation for the year of women, the museum bought more than 70 artworks by female artists in 2019.

Three Baltimore Multidisciplinary Artists Discuss the Future of Women

Valeria Fuentes: Addressing Social Issues Through Art and Design

A multidisciplinary artist and designer, cultural producer, and arts educator runs a platform for immigrants called Roots & Raíces. The platform aims to highlight, support, and celebrate immigrants through the arts in Baltimore.  Born in Bolivia but raised in Baltimore, Valeria Fuentes received both a BFA in Architectural Design and an MA in Social Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art. As part of the board of Baltimore Votes, her work revolves around civic engagement and voting in Baltimore City. Valeria is committed to helping Baltimore and communities of color achieve equity and justice through her role as an artist, designer, and catalyst.

Phaan Howng: Utopian Landscapes 

Phaan Howng practice centers around creating various narratives and landscapes that reflect nature thriving in a utopian post-human planet, or what she terms an “optimistic post-apocalypse.”  The Baltimore based Taiwanese American multidisciplinary artist received her MFA from the Mount Royal School of Art at MICA in 2015, and her BFA in Painting from Boston University in 2004. Howng has exhibited her work at various places such as the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Arts and Industry Museum, and the Spring Break Art Show in New York City. She joins other female multidisciplinary artists in discussing the future role of women and artists.

Kate Reed Petty: True Story

An award-winning writer, feminist, and environmentalist, Kate Reed Petty has written fiction and essays published online by Electric Literature, American Short Fiction, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. Her first novel entitled True Story is coming August 4, 2020, from Viking Books. She was recently awarded a “30 Below” prize by Narrative Magazine. Kate’s work has been supported by the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Bloedel Reserve, The Mount, and the Rubys Artist Grants. She lives in Baltimore. 

The conversation by the Three Baltimore multidisciplinary Artists Discuss the Future of Women artists is just one of the events that will be held in celebration of 2020 Year of the Woman in Maryland at the  Enoch Pratt Free Library. Another event is an exhibition of photographs and documents that exams Maryland’s role in the suffrage movement. Titled The Year of the Woman, the exhibition highlights the struggle and the struggle of women in Maryland as they fought for the right of women to vote.

Jennifer Steinhaue: Women and Politics

Veteran Hill reporter Jennifer Steinhaue will discuss her new book  The Inside Story of the Women Reshaping Congress as part of the highlight examining the continued impact of women in politics. In focus is the November 2018, elections that brought about the largest number of women ever elected to the 116th Congress. 87 women were elected to the House and 23 in the Senate. These women include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman to be elected to the House; Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland, the first Native American women in Congress; Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the first Muslim women representatives; and Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA agent.  In her book, Jennifer follows these “women’s attempts to transcend the partisan rancor and dysfunction of Congress from their positions as upstarts and backbenchers in a Democratic caucus directed by leaders old enough to be their grandparents.”

A seasoned journalist and writer,  Jennifer Steinhauer has spent the last twenty five years at the New York Times covering numerous high-profile beats. She was  City Hall bureau chief and Los Angeles bureau chief to Capitol Hill for the newspaper. She has won numerous awards including the Newswoman’s Club of New York Front Page Deadline Reporting Award in 2006 for her reporting on Hurricane Katrina. Her first novel is titled Beverly Hills Adjacent about the television business and food. She has also written two cookbooks: Treat Yourself: 70 Classic Snacks You Loved as a Kid (and Still Love Today.

Other events include Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon with Art+Feminism and Key Issues for the 2020 Presidential Election, a community workshop with Brittany T Love. Novelist Janis Wilson also speaks on how the women’s suffrage movement in 19th century England changed the world in a conversation of Women Who Changed the World 

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