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By Bob Curley
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True to form How strong ideals have carried Hera gallery through the decades
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Photography: Marylou Butler
Wakefield’s Hera Gallery is named for a Greek goddess, and while it’s not exactly ancient, its founding in 1974 as a venue where women could have equal opportunities to showcase their work seems pretty archaic from the perspective of 2013. Even those of us old enough to have lived through the era of Betty Friedan, bra-burning and the Equal Rights Amendment, can be startled to recall that a feminist gallery was necessary in a male-dominated art world even as the last U.S. troops were coming home from Vietnam. Yet more than a decade into the 21st century, and a year shy of its 40th anniversary, Hera Gallery has continued to thrive. Opened as one of just a few non-urban women’s art collaboratives in the country, Hera has outlived most of its contemporaries by long ago dropping its gender focus but retaining a commitment to showcasing innovative contemporary art and the work of emerging artists. “We still consider ourselves a feminist gallery, but we are very supportive of artists of either gender,” says Hera Gallery director Dora Szekely. She came onboard about six months ago, just as Hera was relocating from its longtime home on Main Street in downtown Wakefield to new, more polished-looking digs in a former mill building on High Street. “Although female artists are more featured in our state now then they were when Hera began, female artists are not nearly equally represented in contemporary art museums and influential galleries in the U.S.” “The National Museum of Women in the Arts estimates only five percent of art currently displayed in U.S. museums is by women, making this aspect of the gallery still crucial, even in 2013,” notes Szekely. “Hera’s recognition as a respected gallery throughout the state opens the door and introduces young female artists to the greater art world in Rhode Island, giving them a venue to grow and be supported in achieving their goals.”
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Hera Gallery Director Dora Szekely
The gallery is actually somewhat smaller now, but still has ample space for simultaneous solo exhibitions by two members, as well as room for entrants in the gallery’s 11 annual curated, invitational and juried shows. Delays in moving had the positive side-effect of boosting Hera’s community outreach. Led by member John Kutula, Hera has been staging more off-site exhibits than ever, such as December’s show on “Sandy and Its Aftermath” held in Westerly’s Hoxie Gallery. Other Hera shows have been presented in such diverse spaces as public libraries, the Bagelz cafe and even alongside the South County Bike Path (in a space dubbed “the world’s smallest gallery”). Through the years, Hera has provided generations of young artists with their first opportunity to exhibit in a gallery through the annual Children’s Show and the biennial Young Adults’ Exhibition, which showcase the works of elementary/middle-school students and high-school students, respectively. These shows - both of which have been
held for more than two decades – “Not only inspire young artists but help build the future of the gallery,” says member Alexandra Broches, who has been active with Hera nearly since its inception. “We’re at a point where we’re very eager to have more young members involved,” she says, pointing to the hiring of the 20-something Szekely as well as the recent addition of two student members. One of the latter, Emily Humphrey, first got involved with Hera as a Young Adults entrant in high school before enrolling at URI as an art and landscape-design student. She curated an exhibit this fall on green landscaping that featured architectural drawings, models and photography as art, carrying on one of the traditions that have helped keep Hera vital down through the decades. “We’ve always had members who have had ideas and taken responsibility for exhibitions,” says Broches. “We have a strong core, even if it has changed over time.” www.heragallery.com March 2013 | SO RHODE ISLAND
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