Every year in honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, P.S. ARTS Staff chooses a few favorite female artists to highlight. From visual artists to singers to dancers and more, there is no shortage of talent among women, and we’re proud to continue to help raise up the next generation of creative females through our arts education programs.
Wendy Red Star
Wendy Red Star is a visual artist in Portland, Oregon whose work focuses on indigenous representations, identity, and erasure by using humor and pop culture across media types. Her works are whimsical and witty, often drawing attention to the importance of family, Indigenous roots of feminism, Crow mythology, and the history of Montana landscape. Her exhibitions have been shown at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, The Autry, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Cindy sherman
Cindy Sherman is a well-known American photographer and an icon in contemporary art. Her work explores self-identity, social constructs, gender, and pop culture. Using herself as the main subject for her work, Sherman dresses in full makeup, often incorporating wigs and props, and photographs herself in various settings to tell a story and convey a mood.
Her amazing series of photographs titled “Untitled Film Stills,” are just a few examples of her amazing work. In “Untitled Film Stills,” Sherman portrays herself dressed up as different female characters. These characters spark conversation around feminism, society roles, identity, and the unknown. Cindy Sherman’s work is more than just self-portraits. It is an art that goes beyond a picture and lives to tell a story
Hunter Schafer
Hunter Schafer is an American actress, model, and activist. In her latest role in the HBO series “Euphoria”, her character Jules tackles often unmentioned hardships faced by trans youth. Having both acted and helped write episodes and lines for her character, she is sure to build awareness and empathy as she represents a too often unseen dynamic. Her work spans beyond acting, and she is also a writer, producer, and model. Although she doesn’t consider herself an activist (and just views her influences as being vocal about the rights of trans people and sharing her experiences) she served as a plaintiff with the ACLU in a lawsuit against North Carolina’s bathroom bill. By being true to herself and her identity through all aspects of her art, Schafer has helped open doors and minds to create a more inclusive world.
June Edmonds
June Edmonds is a practicing artist and worked with P.S. ARTS for over a decade and is P.S. ARTS’ 2021-22 heART Award recipient (to be publicly honored at a celebratory event this fall). Edmonds currently has an exhibit titled “Full Spectrum” at the Laband Art Gallery on the LMU campus in Los Angeles, which surveys her work over the past 40 years with works addressing topics such as race, gender, balance, and movement.
Julie Flett
Julie Flett is a children’s book illustrator and author of Cree and Metis descent. Her writing and illustrations feature indigenous children and their families and the stories are often written in a mix of English and Cree or Michif. My family loves her books and illustrations because her computer collage, watercolor and textile-based illustrations and quiet, contemplative stories aren’t the usual brightly colored, high-energy children’s fare. Instead, they feel reverent and respectful of a child’s perspective on the many ways life can feel complex and overwhelming. Her books have led to some wonderful family conversations. While the stories always have an undercurrent of longing for the past, they are also reminders that family relationships and traditions can firmly ground us in the present.
Karon Davis
Karon Davis is an American artist and co-founder of The Underground Museum in Los Angeles. She is often most known for her sculpture work which she uses to tell stories and shed light on untold truths within our history often simultaneously highlighting and questioning humanity. Having studied film it wasn’t until more recently that she began to really focus on her art practice and obtained a studio in 2019 where she now spends a lot of her time.
Thank you for reading our #5WomenArtists 2022 picks! You can read previous years’ highlighted artists here:
#5WomenArtists2021
#5WomenArtists2020
#5WomenArtists 2019
#5WomenArtists 2018
#5WomenArtists 2017
