NCWCA IN 2025
NCWCA DECEMBER 2025 ACTIVITIES
THANK YOU MEMBERS FOR A FAB AND EVENTFUL YEAR!
We closed off a big year with our annual Holiday Party! Thank you Kay Kang for donating your beautiful event space for this party! We ate, we broke some ice, did our Bollywood dance, and laughed over our White Elephant gifts. Here are some photos taken by Na Omi Shintani and Priscilla Otani.
DEC 12 REFUGE CURATOR & ARTISTS' TOUR
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We had a huge turnout for Na Omi J. Shintani's curatorial and artist tour: "Refuge II, Place, Creation, Culture Exhibition. Artists of Asian Heritage" on Friday, December 12, 2025 at the Center for Creativity in Redwood City.
Artists Cindy Chan, Lisa Chun Rondoni, and Priscilla Otani discussed their work in the exhibition and Naomi shared insights into the works by the other artists in the show.
Artists Cindy Chan, Lisa Chun Rondoni, and Priscilla Otani discussed their work in the exhibition and Naomi shared insights into the works by the other artists in the show.
NCWCA NOVEMBER 2025 ACTIVITIES
NOV 22 FALL OF FREEDOM COMMUNITY POSTER-MAKING
On November 22, 2025 NCWCA participated in a Fall of Freedom poster-making event at the Abrams Claghorn Gallery in Albany, California. The following slideshow documents posters made at this event.
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Nov 18 South Bay Pod Guided Tour of Women of Afrofuturism at the SFO Museum
A guided tour through the SFO Museum!
Date of tour: Tuesday, November 18 Time: 11:00 am Exhibit: Women of Afrofuturism https://www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/women-afrofuturism This exhibition includes work by Afatasi the Artist, 2021 NCWCA Mentee! After the exhibit we are free to explore the airport at our leisure and see other exhibitions or public art All NCWCA members are welcome but each participant must fill out a form and return it by November 2 to Chandrika Marla. The museum will issue a badge that allows us to go through security without a flight ticket. Please email Chandrika at chandrika[at[ncwca.org to obtain the form if you missed her chaptermail. |
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NOV 1 DIA DE LOS MUERTOS: WE LOVE YOU
Exclusive Members' Tour by Elizabeth Addison
Meeting the Moment , Mixed Media, 12’ x 14’ x 12’, 2025
A collaborative Installation by Elizabeth Addison, Juliet Flower MacCannell, and Dean MacCannell with Bibi Yazd, intern and design assistant Project Assistants: Nadya Abo-Shaeer, Gina Padilla, Enrique Quintanar, and Céline Wallace |
“Meeting the Moment” recognizes René Yañez’s masterwork—the arc of almost twenty years of Day of the Dead exhibits at SOMARTS. In his life, René resisted all efforts to position him, his art, or his communities as exemplary of a particular gender, ethnicity or school. He gave space and freedom for the rest of us to do the same.
In the collective, outward-facing safety of his SOMArts shows could be found profound expressions from Women, Trans, and self-identified Gender Nonconforming artists, along with every other creative variation of humanity that refuses to simply exist and let others define their identity. Enter a Mayan arch guarded by Ix Chel and Kulkulkan, deities of creation and transformation. The interior contains a tribute to René Yañez and the creative community he nurtured. Continue to three panels presenting a timeline (c. 2000–René’s passing), where René’s Día de los Muertos themes are placed in dialogue with local and global events—revealing his deep attunement to the moment within the larger arc of time. When: Sat, Nov 1, Noon-1pm, Free SOMArts, 934 Brannan St. (between 8th & 9th) San Francisco, CA 94103 https://somarts.org/exhibition/weloveyou/ |
NCWCA OCTOBER 2025 ACTIVITIES
OCT 24 SHE ISN'T A METAPHOR
Curatorial Tour by Nimisha Doongarwal
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Friday, Oct 24th, 11am - 2 pm
Doongarwal's work in She Isn't a Metaphor reimagines mythological women – not as symbols of ideals and sacrifice – but as powerful, complex women, from a contemporary feminist perspective.
Where Oakland Cultural Center, 388 9th St Suite 290, Oakland, CA 94607
Tour 11-12 followed by 1-2 pm no-host lunch at Shooting Star Cafe, 1022 Webster St, Oakland
RSVP nimishart2017[at]gmail.com
OCT 10 ADRIFT: LANDSCAPE OF LOSS AND DISTANT VOICES
Curatorial Tour by Renée Owen & Sherrie Lovler
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Renée Owen
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Sherrie Loveler
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Friday Oct 10th, 11am -2pm
Renée Owen's sculptural work in her exhibition Adrift: A Landscape of Loss creatively blends paper, felt, wire and wood, for an organic immersion in the pathos of our environment and the challenges of our world today. Sherrie Lovler’s abstract calligraphic paintings, from large scale to miniature, in her exhibition Distant Voices, evocatively capture asemic and gestural markmaking, hinting at the voices that make-up our shared humanity.
Where Gallery Route One, 11101 CA-1, Point Reyes Sta
Tour 11-12 pm followed by no-host lunch 1-2 at Cafe Reyes
https://www.reneeowenartandpoetry.com/ | https://www.artandpoetry.com/
https://galleryrouteone.org/
Renée Owen's sculptural work in her exhibition Adrift: A Landscape of Loss creatively blends paper, felt, wire and wood, for an organic immersion in the pathos of our environment and the challenges of our world today. Sherrie Lovler’s abstract calligraphic paintings, from large scale to miniature, in her exhibition Distant Voices, evocatively capture asemic and gestural markmaking, hinting at the voices that make-up our shared humanity.
Where Gallery Route One, 11101 CA-1, Point Reyes Sta
Tour 11-12 pm followed by no-host lunch 1-2 at Cafe Reyes
https://www.reneeowenartandpoetry.com/ | https://www.artandpoetry.com/
https://galleryrouteone.org/
NCWCA SEPTEMBER 2025 ACTIVITIES
SEPT 17: "WOMEN EMPOWERING WOMEN": THE ART OF TRANSFORMATION
SESSION 2 at COMMONWEALTH CLUB
Join us for the second event in the Women Empowering Women series: The Art of Transformation, an evening focused on navigating career shifts, balancing work and family, battling imposter syndrome, and taking bold steps toward meaningful change.
You’ll hear from a dynamic panel of women leaders--Debbie Chinn, Vera Maslova, Debra Reabock, and Sawyer Rose—each of whom has forged a unique path through personal and professional transformation. The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Anne W. Smith, Member-Led Forums chair at Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Following the panel, each speaker will host a roundtable discussion, giving you the chance to dive deeper into the topics that matter most to you.
Topics include:
- Building networks that open doors
- Navigating work and family at every stage
- Overcoming imposter syndrome
- Designing your next chapter
- A light reception will follow the discussions
The Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California
110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium
San Francisco, CA
In Partnership with Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art (NCWCA)
SEPT 12 "THE RIVER FLOWS" BUSHRA GILL EXHIBITION TOUR
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"The River Flows" is a collaborative exhibition featuring NCWCA artist Bushra Gill and artists Yuting Wang, and Kiana Honarmand.
Curatorial Tour: September 12 from Noon to 1 PM
Location: Olive Hyde Gallery, 123 Washington Blvd, Fremont, CA
Tour followed by lunch at 1pm, at Cantarito's, 1530 Washington Blvd, Fremont
RSVP: bushra[at]bushragill.com
Curatorial Tour: September 12 from Noon to 1 PM
Location: Olive Hyde Gallery, 123 Washington Blvd, Fremont, CA
Tour followed by lunch at 1pm, at Cantarito's, 1530 Washington Blvd, Fremont
RSVP: bushra[at]bushragill.com
NCWCA AUGUST 2025 ACTIVITIES
AUG 29 SOUTH BAY POD TOUR OF KAY SEKIMACHI EXHIBITION
Join the South Bay Pod on a tour of Kay Sekimachi's "Ingenuity and Imagination exhibition at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles.
Kay Sekimachi is a distinguished Bay Area artist and recipient of the National WCA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Her work was included in the Shah Garg Collection exhibited at BAMFA recently.
Tour: Lunch at 11:30 followed by tour of the exhibition at 1 pm
Location: 520 S 1st St, San Jose, CA 95113
Kay Sekimachi is a distinguished Bay Area artist and recipient of the National WCA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Her work was included in the Shah Garg Collection exhibited at BAMFA recently.
Tour: Lunch at 11:30 followed by tour of the exhibition at 1 pm
Location: 520 S 1st St, San Jose, CA 95113
AUGUST 8 "OBJECT [IM]PERMANENCE" RACHEL LEIBMAN EXHIBITION TOUR
Exhibition: Object [Im]Permanence
(Local artists challenging structural norms of discarding) Location: David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Downtown Berkeley Art Tour, August 8, 11AM - 12PM Photos from the Tour |
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NCWCA JULY 2025 ACTIVITIES
JULY 18 "GONDOLAS OF LACE" JENNIFER EWING SOLO SHOW TOUR
I have a unique view of Venice, Italy that is based on many visits there, each one building my empathy and interest in how this city is staying alive. Venice is frail, as I am too, so I identify with the state of Venice today but with an eye towards the future.
I am offering an opportunity to journey with me in a gondola of lace, floating down a Venetian timeline. The art that carries my story is a 32' long scroll executed in ink and paint on frosted mylar. My drawings and sculptures will also invite you to travel with me. These works form a major piece of my on-going theme of Fragility. After working for 20 years with Spirit Boats in their many forms, paintings, drawings, prints and installations, they have evolved into Venetian gondolas of lace. In combining these two Venetian icons I arrived at a new symbol that invites questions around the impossibility of such a vessel. It will be most rewarding for me to share this journey with you. WHEN: Friday, July 18 at 11 am, followed by Lunch at noon WHERE: Developing Environments Gallery, 540 Alabama Street - bet. Mariposa and 18th, San Francisco RSVP FOR NO HOST LUNCH at Tartine Manufactory, 595 Alabama Street following the tour; please RSVP so we can get a headcount: jennifer[at]ewinggermano.com |
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NCWCA JUNE 2025 ACTIVITIES
JUNE 20 "SOIL, SOUL, AND THE BAY STORIES" SALMA ARASTU SOLO SHOW CURATORIAL TOUR
WHAT: Soil, Soul, and the Bay Stories artist talk
WHO: Salma Arastu Solo Exhibition
WHEN: Friday, June 20 at 11 am, followed by Lunch at noon
WHERE: Flex Gallery, 5616 Bay St Unit 5610, Emeryville, CA
HOW: Please send RSVP to Salma Arastu at [email protected]
I’m so excited to share that my latest exhibition, "Soil, Soul, and the Bay Stories," is on display in Emeryville this June! It's an honor to finally have an opportunity to showcase my work in Emeryville, my home, as a part of my artist residency with the Rotten City Cultural District (RCCD).
I invite you to enjoy art, connection, and stories as I share my Bay Stories alongside my large Arabic Calligraphy paintings and the new Mycelium series.
WHO: Salma Arastu Solo Exhibition
WHEN: Friday, June 20 at 11 am, followed by Lunch at noon
WHERE: Flex Gallery, 5616 Bay St Unit 5610, Emeryville, CA
HOW: Please send RSVP to Salma Arastu at [email protected]
I’m so excited to share that my latest exhibition, "Soil, Soul, and the Bay Stories," is on display in Emeryville this June! It's an honor to finally have an opportunity to showcase my work in Emeryville, my home, as a part of my artist residency with the Rotten City Cultural District (RCCD).
I invite you to enjoy art, connection, and stories as I share my Bay Stories alongside my large Arabic Calligraphy paintings and the new Mycelium series.
JUNE 13 DI ROSA EVENT
NCWCA MAY 2025 ACTIVITIES
DI ROSA MAY 9 EVENT
NCWCA APRIL 2025 ACTIVITIES
PAIN POINTS: NATIONAL WCA ONLINE EXHIBITION APR 14-JUN 15
Go HERE to view the Kunstmatrix gallery and the catalog of the exhibition.
NCWCA members selected for the exhibition: Laura Abrams, Elizabeth Addison, Susan Bercu, Blond Jenny, Lorraine Bonner, Cynthia Brannvall, Starr Davis, Quin De La Mer, Marguerite Elliot, Bushra Gill, Karen M. Gutfreund, Kelly Hammargren, Vivana Leija-Sysak, Tanya Momi, Raji Musinipally, Carol Newborg, Priscilla Otani, Durba Sen, Ruth Peterson-Shorer, Sondra Schwetman, Fleur Spolidor, Caskey Weston, Tanya Wilkinson. Sandra Wolfson, and Marian Yap.
NCWCA members selected for the exhibition: Laura Abrams, Elizabeth Addison, Susan Bercu, Blond Jenny, Lorraine Bonner, Cynthia Brannvall, Starr Davis, Quin De La Mer, Marguerite Elliot, Bushra Gill, Karen M. Gutfreund, Kelly Hammargren, Vivana Leija-Sysak, Tanya Momi, Raji Musinipally, Carol Newborg, Priscilla Otani, Durba Sen, Ruth Peterson-Shorer, Sondra Schwetman, Fleur Spolidor, Caskey Weston, Tanya Wilkinson. Sandra Wolfson, and Marian Yap.
2025 SAN FRANCISCO ART FAIR APR 17-20
NCWCA is honored to be a Cultural Partner of the event!
The thirteenth edition of the fair continues to honor the Bay Area's vibrant cultural institutions, its dynamic collecting community, and the enduring spirit of dedicated patronage. Experience presentations from 85 leading galleries from around the world—many new!—alongside captivating artist installations and public programming this April 17-20 at Fort Mason Festival Pavilion. |
APRIL 19 WOMEN-OWNED GALLERY TOUR AT THE SAN FRANCISCO ART FAIR
Photo courtesy of Sawyer Rose
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APR 16 EXCLUSIVE TOUR OF MAKING THEIR MARK: WORKS FROM THE SHAH GARG FOUNDATION
Making Their Mark brings together more than seventy artworks from the Shah Garg Collection, which is committed to amplifying the voices and visions of women artists. BAMPFA’s exhibition is the first museum presentation of this important collection, which premiered in New York in 2023. Making Their Mark juxtaposes contemporary practices with pathbreaking historical works to illuminate transgenerational affinities, influences, and methodologies among artists from the postwar era to the present. Featuring a wide spectrum of artworks spanning almost eight decades, the exhibition emphasizes dialogues between artists who circumvent and break through conventions in art making, embracing craft techniques, uncommon supports, and alternative materials. Accompanied by a major publication produced in advance of the exhibition, Making Their Mark assembles significant examples by artists whose works go beyond prescribed definitions of art making established within a historically patriarchal field.
What An NCWCA members-only exclusive curatorial tour Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Foundation When Wednesday, April 16 at 11:30AM, no-host lunch at Gather Restaurant Where Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center Street Berkeley, CA |
Photo courtesy of Chandrika Marla
Photo courtesy of Priscilla Otani
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APR 11 HANDMADE PAPER, JANE INGRAM ALLEN SOLO SHOW CURATORIAL TOUR
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When Friday, April 11 at 11 am
Where Spring Lake Village Art Gallery, 5555 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95409
Where Spring Lake Village Art Gallery, 5555 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95409
DI ROSA SEMINAR APR 4 - JUN 13, 2025
The opportunity to view artworks by well-known Northern California women artists in the Di Rosa collection and make artwork in response, over three sessions, was widely popular. The first come, first served event sold out quickly. We look forward to future opportunities for collaboration with Di Rosa and other arts organizations.
DI ROSA APR 4 EVENT
NCWCA MARCH 2025 ACTIVITIES
MAR 29 AAWAA SLIDE SLAM
The Asian American Women Artists Association (AAWAA) invited NCWCA members to their annual Slide Slam event in celebration of Women's History Month! The Slide Slam will feature rapid-fire presentations by AAWAA and The Ruby AAPI Women & Nonbinary Artists - 4 slides in 4 minutes! AAWAA also invited the following women luminaries to the event:
Naz Cuguoğlu - Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art & Programs at the Asian Art Museum
Candace Huey - Head Curator of Edge on the Square
Peggy Lee - Director of The Ruby SF
O.M. France Viana - Artist & Independent Curator, Founder of The Arrozidency
Renee DeCarlo - Artist & Founder of The Drawing Room SF & The Drawing Room SF Annex
Courtney Norris - Curator of The Drawing Room SF & The Drawing Room SF Annex
This is an event-sharing between NCWCA and AAWAA. Look for more opportunities like this later this year!
Left graphic courtesy of AAWAA
Naz Cuguoğlu - Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art & Programs at the Asian Art Museum
Candace Huey - Head Curator of Edge on the Square
Peggy Lee - Director of The Ruby SF
O.M. France Viana - Artist & Independent Curator, Founder of The Arrozidency
Renee DeCarlo - Artist & Founder of The Drawing Room SF & The Drawing Room SF Annex
Courtney Norris - Curator of The Drawing Room SF & The Drawing Room SF Annex
This is an event-sharing between NCWCA and AAWAA. Look for more opportunities like this later this year!
Left graphic courtesy of AAWAA
MAR 20 WOMEN EMPOWERING WOMEN AT THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB
On March 20, during International Women's Month, NCWCA and the Commonwealth Club partnered to present a panel discussion, "Women Empowering Women." NCWCA board member Debra Reabock moderated a stimulating conversation among Debbie Chinn, Vera Maslova, Sawyer Rose, and Dr. Anne W. Smith.
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MAR 7 ACKNOWLEDGE THE SHADOW
QUINN KECK & LUZ MARINA RUIZ CURATORIAL TOUR
"Poetry begins where language starts: in the shadows and accidents of one person's life. --Eavan Boland
We work across various media, drawing, painting, printmaking, book arts, and installation, but printmaking drives our work. We see each freshly pulled print as the beginning of something new. We are interested in the theme of cycles and repetition represented by water and shadows. The book art form allows multiple images to merge to convey an idea in one structure. In physics, light is both a particle and a wave, just as the shadow is both presence and absence, revealing postmodern contradictions. To acknowledge the shadows is to shift our attention, to see there no I in the vacuum of space, and to hear José Ortega y Gasset when he says, "I am I and my circumstance, and if I do not save it, I do not save myself." Exhibition: Feb 7 - Mar 22 https://www.sevenmirrorsart.com/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYfGFx40YYD3TFcGvJrB9CAiYz_MlGcAxqM9npbapi9-tdzZ5K-HUZ1J9Q_aem_ec6j1t0K9JyBawHTv3EcKQ |
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NCWCA FEBRUARY 2025 ACTIVITIES
FEB 21 CHROMATIC RHYTHMS DURBA SEN SOLO SHOW CURATORIAL TOUR
Durba Sen’s vivid and colorful abstract paintings are narratives of her life in India amidst bright colors in art, culture, fabrics, festivals; her travels around the world; and the socio-political landscape focusing on women’s empowerment and climate change. Durba groups her art in a few broad categories of Geometric Abstractions, Fauvist Naturescapes, Women Muses, and Abstract Expressionism.
On February 21, Durba Sen led a curatorial tour of her solo exhibition, "Chromatic Rhythms" at the Olive Hyde Gallery in Fremont. Attendees enjoyed viewing her colorful works and a lunch at the Burma Bay Cafe. The exhibition lasts through March 15, 2025. |
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2025 COLLEGE ART ASSOCIATION (CAA) CONFERENCE FEB 12-15
"PERSONAL AND GLOBAL: CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN FEMINIST ABSTRACT AND ABSTRACTIONIST ART"
PANEL CHAIR TANYA AUGSBURG, COMMITTEE ON WOMEN IN THE ARTS
NCWCA JANUARY 2025 ACTIVITIES
JANUARY 11, 2025 BOARD RETREAT
Board Retreat participants: (front row left to right) Elizabeth Addison, Laura Abrams, Durba Sen, Sandy Yagi, Debra Reabock. (back row left to right)Giammattei, Christine Cianci, Sawyer Rose, Priscilla Otani, Tanya Augsburg, Na Omi Shintani, Vickie Simms, Linda Joy Kattwinkel, Marguerite Elliott, Chandrika Marla. Photo by Debra Reabock.
The NCWCA Board of Directors held its annual retreat in Half Moon Bay, courtesy of Na Omi Shintani. We discussed the results of last year's goals and set the organization goals for 2025. We also have a full slate of Board candidates for the June, 2025 Board Elections.
The NCWCA Board of Directors held its annual retreat in Half Moon Bay, courtesy of Na Omi Shintani. We discussed the results of last year's goals and set the organization goals for 2025. We also have a full slate of Board candidates for the June, 2025 Board Elections.
January 24 "Here & Now: The Bay Area Figurative Movement Grows" Curatorial Tour
Today’s narrative, expressive phase of the Bay Area figurative movement is about reflecting on the world we live in. We are telling stories that reach beyond academic achievement and accuracy. We are truth seeking. Sometimes we embrace the unbeautiful. Or create beauty for its own sake. Our work might reflect on our personal struggles or reflect the tensions that surround our lives. We are presenting a range of select artists who focus on the figure and are living and working in The Bay Area. Each is grounded in the figurative movement yet continues to explore and express their humanity through portrayals of the form in context.
NCWCA members enjoyed their first curatorial tour of the year with Susan Kirshenbaum and Catherine Merrill leading a discussion of their group exhibition, "He & Now: The Bay Area Figurative Movement Grows" at the Sausalito Center for the Arts at 750 Bridgeway, Sausalito.
NCWCA members enjoyed their first curatorial tour of the year with Susan Kirshenbaum and Catherine Merrill leading a discussion of their group exhibition, "He & Now: The Bay Area Figurative Movement Grows" at the Sausalito Center for the Arts at 750 Bridgeway, Sausalito.
