Outdoor art exhibition open Aug 26 to Sep 30, 2020

View exhibition in the Community Garden at Laguna & Haight from 7am-9pm, Aug 26-Sep 30.

19th Amendment: 2020 Vision features the poster art of 22 women and non-binary artists. Their art celebrates the achievement of the suffragists, reflects on the complex and troubled history of the suffrage and voting rights movement in the United States, and points to a more hopeful future in which all people, especially those from marginalized communities, have full enfranchisement. Their responses are celebratory and critical; hopeful and righteous; poignant and powerful. Some allude to the posters and signs with which the suffragists protested in the 19th and early 20th centuries; some refer to more contemporary protest movements. Most look to the unfinished business of our democracy: the need for racial and socio-economic justice and an end to oppression due to gender and sexual orientation.

We are honored to pay tribute to the leaders who fought for the passage of the 19th Amendment and all the laws that followed that made its promise real. And we are grateful for the people in the streets and the courts still fighting for our country to deliver on that promise: that our vote and our voices matter, and can be the source of change for good.

Women’s Suffrage Movement in the US

1

The origins of the women’s suffrage movement owe a great debt to the Haudenosaunee, or the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, which had (and still have) a “family/governmental structure based on female authority”. Learn more here.

2

Abolitionism laid the foundations for the women’s suffrage movement, but the relationship between the two movements was at times contentious. Black men and women played central roles in both the abolition and women’s suffrage movements, contributions that are sometimes minimized. Read more here.

3

The Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 is generally seen as the birthplace of the women’s suffrage movement in the United States, but the roots of the movement predated the convention by decades. More here.

4

After the Civil War, suffragists formed multiple organizations with a range of approaches. Some were more radical than others, calling for the possibility of militant action. Many of these organizations were racially segregated, and some white leaders marginalized women of color to appeal to white Southern women.

5

Queer women were many of the most important and visible leaders of the women’s suffrage movement. More here.

6

Suffragists experienced harassment, violence and police brutality, particularly in the decade before the passage of the 19th amendment. They were beaten and arrested; went on hunger strikes and were force-fed; and at least one leader was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility. Nevertheless, they persisted.

7

The story of Indigenous women’s participation in the women’s suffrage movement is complex. Many Native Americans were not American citizens until 1924, and so did not have the right to vote. The story of Zitkala-Ša sheds light on this history. However, many Indigenous communities were disenfranchised until at least 1948.

8

Black women activists, organizers and leaders played an essential role in the passage of the 19th Amendment. Read more about these heroes here, here and here. Yet, many Black communities were blocked from voting until 1965 by violence, poll taxes, and other forms of intimidation and disenfranchisement.

9

Hispanic women, particularly in the Southwest, played an important role in politics and women’s suffrage: an important reminder that Spanish, and Spanish-speaking communities, have always had a central place in our country’s politics and history.

10

Most Asian American women couldn’t vote until 1952. Yet they were leaders in the women’s suffrage movement. Read the story here.

11

Today, we continue the struggle for full enfranchisement, for all people. We are proud to present the work of these extraordinary artists who celebrate the achievements of the suffragists, even as we reckon with our troubled history and point to a more hopeful future.

Alexandra
Fischer


Brooke
Fischer


Caitlin
Mattisson

Carolyn
Ferris


Cece
Carpio


Darrin
Brenner


Domo

Elizabeth
Blancas


Girl
Mobb


Jennaé
Bennett


Jess X.
Snow

Kah
Yangni


Karina
Perez


Karyn
Jimenez-Elliott


Kate
DeCiccio

Lauren
Yurkovich


Monica
Trinidad


Nisha K.
Sethi


Shyama R.
Kuver

Sophia
Zarders


Trap
Bob

Ytaelena
Lopez



The Haight Street Art Center gallery is temporarily closed, but please visit the Community Garden behind the gallery to view this outdoor art exhibition. It is free and open to the public from 7am-9pm.

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