Opening reception of the exhibition Gender Queer, June 7, 2024
Dear MAWA supporter,
What a year it has been!
A fire on Main Street in the early hours of December 13, 2023, left MAWA homeless for the first months of 2024. But that didn’t stop us from continuing to offer a wide range of visual art programming. Thanks to the generosity of our loyal supporters, MAWA was able to continue to offer its 25 core programs while packing up, moving and renovating a sunny space on Cumberland Avenue. Within weeks, the bright, beautiful “new MAWA” opened its doors.
In 2024, MAWA’s programs served thousands of artists and art-lovers. They included participants in four concurrent mentorship programs, beaders at 14 Cross-Cultural Beading workshops, young artists and their parents at the exhibit Gender Queer, and more. Being mindful of the foundational importance of drawing, MAWA offered a digital drawing workshop, multiple feminist figure drawing sessions and opportunities to draw in venues as varied as Dalnavert Historic House and the University of Manitoba Anatomy Lab.
The fire also didn’t stop us from celebrating four decades of feminism and four decades of art. MAWA kicked off its 40 th birthday activities with a screening at the Dave Barber Cinematheque, and kept the party going with the magnificent exhibition Reverberations, curated by Abigail Auld and Jenny Western.
What is the impact of all these art + education opportunities? A former Foundation Mentorship Program mentee who was featured in Reverberations said it best:
MAWA truly changed my life. –Francesca Carella Arfinengo
In the past 40 years, we have achieved a lot as women and gender minority artists, as feminists, and as members of a knowledge-sharing community. With your continued support, we can do more for more artists.
Make your donation by visiting our donation page. Together, we will create more opportunities for women and gender minorities in the visual arts.
If you haven’t already, please visit us at the new location on Cumberland Avenue. The MAWA Members’ Exhibition Play is filling the MAWA space with creativity and joy. The last chance to see this showcase is Dec. 6 (First Friday). As always with the Members’ Exhibition, all sales go directly to the artists.
Let us continue to support each other—to lift each other up—and build a generous,creative community.
I look forward to seeing you either this year or the next!
With warmest wishes,
Co-Executive Director Shawna Dempsey
204-949-9490
[email protected]