What does it mean to be a girl? What does it mean to be a girl who makes art? What does it mean to be a girl who makes art NOW? Hera Gallery has curated an international selection of works to empower all those who feel like a girl and make art like a girl; to celebrate, protest, and advocate the complex and diverse lives of  GIRL ART NOW.

In 2024, Hera Gallery will celebrate 50 years of cultivating gender equity in the art world, as one of the first women’s  cooperative galleries to open in the United States. In 2004, Cynthia Farnell conceptualized the original Girl Art Now stating that “From its inception,  Hera offered women artists an alternative space to show their work during an era when it was  often difficult to gain representation by commercial galleries, or have their work displayed in (or collected by) museums. During that time of challenging viewpoints and new ideas, the feminist movement influenced the conceptual and formal content of art, including the work of  the members of the Hera co-operative.”

Twenty years later, The National Museum of Women in the Arts reports that “Only 13.7% of living artists represented by galleries in Europe and North America are women,” and it is estimated that less than 4% of this statistic reflect trans women and  women of color.

With women's art continuing to be excluded from major galleries and museums, our stories continue to be dismissed and erased. With trans rights, and women’s health care on every ballot, especially for women of color this 2024 election season, our voices demand to be heard. Our lives depend on it. 

Girl Art Now will take place throughout the year of 2024. All selected works will be on virtual display throughout the duration of the exhibition on heragallery.org. Each week, Hera Gallery will choose one featured artist and their work from the exhibition to be posted on all social media accounts. Stay tuned for more information about upcoming virtual artist talks. Girl Art Now is best viewed via desktop.

Wanling Xu

Sensitive Fragments

Photographic Series

2019

Eileen Hoffman

And Now We are Mommies

Acrylic paint & pen on dura-lar, chenille stems

58" x 175"

2022

Desirae Brown

The Queen

Bed foam and rhinestones

68" x 7" x 50"

2023

Zelda Zinn

Arctic #7523H, Arctic #5741, Arctic #5693I, and Altered Arctic 6574B

Archival Pigment Print

13" x 19" x 1"

Artwork for Sale: Yes

$850.00 each

2020

Girl Art Now!

2004 Curated by Cynthia Farnell, Juried by Deborah Bright

Who We Are, What We Do, and What This Exhibition is About:  Hera Gallery began as not-for-profit women's artist cooperative in 1974. From its inception, Hera offered women artists an alternative space to show their work during an era when it was often difficult to gain representation by commercial galleries, or have their work displayed in (or collected by) museums. During that time of challenging viewpoints and new ideas, the feminist movement influenced the conceptual and formal content of art, including the work of the members of the Hera co-operative. Since then, Hera welcomes artists of both genders making work in all stages of their careers. As part of our 30th Anniversary in 2004, Hera will host, GIRL ART NOW, a national juried exhibition that will explore the status of women, both as subject and maker, in the art of the 21st Century. Hera Gallery seeks current work by male and female artists making work about women and women's issues, and/or employing materials and processes traditionally associated with women.