Hera Gallery

#MeettheWomxnProject The Woman Project is a group of RI artists and activists formed in 2016 by members of Hera Gallery and community members to use art as a catalyst for Women's Reproductive Freedom. The Woman Project is exhibiting parts of their Petition Quilt, which was used to help codify abortion rights into RI law in our 5th anniversary exhibition The Fifth Decade. On February 21st as part of the talk for the exhibition, " Hera, Artist Cooperatives and Social Justice",  The  Womxn Project will   present their Quilt to the Pembroke Center Archives at Brown University. Tell us your artist story, some biographical info, when did you decide to be an artist? Why do you make art? Where did you study? Etc. The Womxn Project (TWP) is a statewide organization dedicated to building a strong movement that harnesses the power of art, activism, and advocacy. We believe that together we can dismantle systems of oppression and uplift the voices of people in our co...

#MeetHerartistSonjaCzekalski   Tell us your artist story, some biographical info, when did you decide to be an artist? Why do you make art? Where did you study? Etc. In my kindergarten “All About Me” book I wrote “When I grow up… I want to be an art teacher.” 20 years later, I am doing just that! I earned my BS in Art Education with a concentration in painting and photography at Rhode Island College. I am now completing my MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts at MassArt in Boston. I make art to express my thoughts and ideas, share stories, and to teach… and to make my house prettier.  What do you want people to walk away with after experiencing your work? I create work that reclaims and empowers the bodies, skin, crafts, and stories of women. I aim to provide the viewers with an empathetic glimpse into these lives and stories that are often looked over or looked down upon.  I want my work to confront viewers with their own biases towards these topics and...

#MeettheHeraArtistJasonSmith   Tell us your artist story, some biographical info, when did you decide to be an artist? Why do you make art? Where did you study? Etc.   I was always an artist it was a natural gift that was I was encouraged to pursue from a very young age. I decided to take art seriously after completing CCRI and committing to a Fine Art curriculum at URI. Printmaking, drawing and digital art were my concentrations. I make art because it is fulfilling a destiny and it’s a way to express what I read and the awareness of it in engaging art form.  What do you want people to walk away with after experiencing your work? I want them to have a profound experience absorbing the layers in the work literally and figuratively and to appreciate attention to detail, the mix of planning, research on topics and rare images for influence and spontaneity, the use of color and the mixing of ancient influences and knowledge with contemporary aesthetics. I ...

 #MeetHeraartistKathieFlorsheim Tell us your artist story, some biographical info, when did you decide to be an artist? Why do you make art? Where did you study? Etc. I am not sure I decided to be an artist. The decision crept up on me when I was an undergrad, taking design, photography and sculpture classes. I thought those classes were gut courses, a respite from all the reading required of a history major. Little did I know…. Soon I was spending all my spare time in the bronze-casting studio on the heels of taking a year of design classes. By the time I graduated, I was hooked and itching to make things- not to delve farther into modern European history.  Nonetheless my undergraduate education taught me how to ask a question, and how to look for the answer. That has been essential in my studio practice. The pleasure of Making is the most exciting thing I can think of doing, in this or any other lifetime. Whenever I daydream about other professions, like ...