THE ZENA COLLECTION
HOTEL ZENA CONTENTS
Introduction
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Chapter One
The Ancient Warriors
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Chapter Two
The Portrait Gallery
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Chapter Three
The Fashion Statement
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Chapter Four
The Sewing Circle
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REDEFINING THE FUTURE Viceroy welcomes you to the Hotel Zena and invites you to learn more about the artists, their vision and the people who inspired our powerful art collection simply entitled ‘Her’.
Hotel Zena celebrates female empowerment through provocative art and design in the heart of our Nation’s Capital, Washington, D.C.’s trendy Logan Circle. Inclusive of all genders, races, and sexualities, Hotel Zena is a haven for the liberated forward thinker where an atmosphere of strength and femininity live in harmony. Travelers and locals alike are immersed in a vibrant visual language told through a collection of original art, encountered everywhere from an awe-inspiring exterior mural to a dedicated gallery celebrating noteworthy figures. A rebellious and defiant yet playful energy radiates throughout the hotel’s public spaces while elegant guestrooms and suites offer a warm, nurturing and peaceful ambiance.
Enjoy!
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REDESIGNING THE FUTURE We at DDA did not start out with the idea of building a collection of hotels.
We conceived the hotel as more than just a comfortable, convenient space
It just happened. One inspiration led to another, links in a chain, segments
designed to meet the needs of guests. It was also to be a venue for artists to
of a snake. As it was in the beginning, when we first began to design the
share their messages and their stories. As a 62-year-old female business
Unofficial Z Collection in 2010, so it was with Hotel Zena. We let things
owner/artist in an industry dominated by men, I had to learn early that I had
develop naturally. It was the right time and the right place to step up and take
to be twice as good, twice as efficient, twice as creative to get noticed, much
a public stand. We wanted to create a new type of experience, a commercial
less to get respect. As a Boomer, I was told to simply ‘dodge’ and ‘ignore’
yet public space that celebrates the accomplishments of women all over
inappropriate male behavior, as this behavior was to be expected; it was just
the world in the struggle for gender equality and human rights.
boys being boys, or men being boys, or whatever. Now, as a mentor to a new generation of women, I share with them what I have learned. I coach them to pick up the sword and to join the fight; that this is no time for holding back.
Hotel Zena is not only about women. It is a celebration of people working together who have fought and died for the same cause; for the basic human and civil rights due all people, to be treated as humans, not as objects, nor machines to control, but as siblings under the sun. From the moment of its inception, every line, every detail of Hotel Zena was meticulously and intentionally crafted to send a message of celebration and recognition of the value of women, and of men who share that understanding. It is warm and nurturing; it is confident and fierce; and the aesthetic is crafted from thousands of carefully selected parts resulting in socially charged spaces,
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some quiet and some loud, where people can share stories and cocktails within a compelling, inclusive hotel.
Every piece of art in Hotel Zena was commissioned to send a message of empowerment. The artists who created them came from every part of the world, each with a story to tell through their creativity and imagination about gender equality, about respect, about courage, about being strong. Their art is a mingling of traditionally female art forms like embroidery, stitchery, and weaving with painting, multimedia and sculpture, Zena invites her guests of whatever faith, or culture, or gender to experience a unique vision of reality, of a future, often from an empowered woman’s point of view. The result is an invitation to all who visit Washington, D.C. to enjoy comfort, convenience, and a sense of community within spaces designed to tell stories of women and their struggle for respect and equal rights.
Architecturally every curving line leads to another moment of discovery for those who have the time to explore. Around each curve is a story, the stories forming a continuous narrative of the feminist movement, past, present and what to expect. Each piece of artwork has been carefully commissioned and curated to convey a message of unity, of women working together throughout space and time.
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None of this would have happened without the support of a world-class
that hotels are not just places to sleep; they are also places to wake up. With
group of artists, designers, architects and contractors who enthusiastically
an executive team of over 50% women, Jon has long believed in the power
participated in our grand experiment of fusing art, hospitality, storytelling
of females. He was raised by a powerful woman himself, and he has always
and civil rights. Some of the artists faced severe consequences in their own
considered himself a feminist. When I approached him with my vision for
countries for having participated, their personal messages as displayed at
Zena, he immediately and enthusiastically embraced it, and responded that
Hotel Zena, unacceptable to those who make the rules at home.
a hotel designed to celebrate women’s accomplishment was long overdue. In fact, the idea seemed so simple, the need so obvious, that we could only
I would like to thank my patron of the last twenty years. His name is Jon
shake our heads and wonder why it had never been done before.
Bortz, the CEO of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. Jon has provided me with the freedom, the guidance, and the funding to build a truly memorable
It does take a Village.
collection of hotels that fuse the experience of public art with the intimacy and flexibility of hospitality. We have worked together almost hand in hand to build spaces that are inviting, and original and “real,” and at the same time, provide opportunities for artists and designers to express themselves in unique and creative ways, ways that are not only clever, even outrageous at times, but that make out guest part of the scene, that engage them in fun and often interactive ways.
Highly respected in the hospitality and investment world, and the largest owner of luxury lifestyle hotels in the USA, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has long
“Every piece of art in Hotel Zena was commisioned to send a message of empowerment and unity.”
Andrea Dawson Sheehan
been known as a leader in innovation and recognized for its portfolio of
Art Director and Curator
award-winning design-forward hotels. Jon Bortz and his team understand
Dawson Design Associates
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UNOFFICIAL Z COLLECTION MANIFESTO WE DIDN’T SET OUT TO CREATE A COLLECTION OF HOTELS. IT JUST SORT OF HAPPENED THAT WAY. WE SIMPLY FELT THE TIME HAD COME TO REALIZE THAT A HOTEL IS NO LONGER JUST A PLACE TO SLEEP. IT’S A PLACE TO WAKE UP. A PLACE WHERE LIKE-MINDED NONCONFORMISTS COULD BOTH LOSE AND FIND THEMSELVES, IN INTENTIONAL SPACES DESIGNED TO JUXTAPOSE EVOCATIVE ART AND CHEEKY IDEAS. A PLACE FOR THE WALKING CATALYSTS AMONG US WHO EXIST IN THE MOMENT, BORED WITH BLASÉ IN A FEARLESS PURSUIT OF UNAPOLOGETIC LIVING. A PLACE FOR THE ECCENTRICS WHO EFFORTLESSLY CHANNEL CULTURE, IMMERSED IN ART, MUSIC, AND ECLECTIC EXPERIENCE. MOST OF ALL, A PLACE FOR INDEPENDENT SPIRITS AND BOLD CHANGEMAKERS TO CONNECT AS A POSITIVE FORCE FOR GOOD, IN DYNAMIC COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. ALL DRIVEN BY THE INTENTION, BEST EXPRESSED BY EMERSON, TO “INSIST ON YOURSELF; NEVER IMITATE.” THE RESULT IS THIS INTRIGUING COLLECTION OF SINGULAR HOTELS. EACH Z STANDS ALONE, DELIBERATELY DISTINCT FROM ITS PEERS, YET UNDENIABLY CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER. LIKE ALL OF US. OFFICIALLY STANDALONE. UNOFFICIALLY UNITED. Z.
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THE ANCIENT WARRIORS CHAPTER ONE
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GUARDIANS OF THE FOUR DIRECTIONS MISS CHELOVE - Washington, D.C. Cita Sadeli, also known as MISS CHELOVE, is an independent Washington, D.C. based art director, muralist, designer and illustrator. MISS CHELOVE’s work reflects her multicultural background, which is rooted in the tropical mysticism of Java and Indonesia and in her formative years growing up in the punk, go-go, and graffiti-fueled streets of 80’s/90’s Washington, D.C. MISS CHELOVE’s work combines tools and methods of graffiti and Street Art Culture with location-specific, often biographical storytelling.
MISS CHELOVE’s vision for Hotel Zena’s exterior mural was to create an atmosphere of intrigue evoked by a pair of fierce yet curious warrior/ sentinel women, here to protect Mother Earth/Pachamama. their guard set amid lush natural elements and botanicals. MISS CHELOVE is a child of a determined, powerful mother herself, a single mother of four, from whom she learned that one woman can do the job of two; that given need and determination, that women can do anything, and with style, humor and grace.
“With this concept, I hope to remind the viewer that women are continuing to evolve their power as leaders and agents of change - that this earth needs us, and we must fight to preserve the beauty on which we are privileged to stand.” HOTEL ZENA
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OF THE SKY, FROM WATER, OVER LAND, THROUGH AIR MISS CHELOVE - Washington, D.C. Continuing Hotel Zena’s exterior warriors’ stories, MISS CHELOVE created a three dimentional piece for the boardroom. Hotel Zena’s warriors are seen charging forward against a background of billowing clouds and small worlds created using reclaimed materials, in keeping with Hotel Zena’s mission of sustainability.
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APPLE Rachel Herbert - Sausalito, CA Rachel started drawing as a young child to entertain herself during long hours at church. She earned her BA in Fine Arts in Drawing, Painting and Printmaking from Portland State University focusing on traditional old master techniques. She has also been a dancer, trapeze and performance artist. She lives in Sausalito, CA just across the Golden Gate Bridge and splits her time between her personal work, her commercial work, and her two daughters. She is also co-founder of Truth To Paper, a multi-faceted, collaborative art agency whose website states that they are “artists, moms, and entrepreneurs living the ceaseless pendulum of nurturing and expression on a mission to connect to what matters.” Her profoundly religious parents named her Rachel Eve, a choice for which she later mocked them, as any good brooding teen in a strict religion would. “Rachel meaning innocent and Eve being the downfall of mankind? I mean, come on! What kind of mixed up self-image might that inspire. I’ve always felt a connection to the myth of that first woman.”
Aside from forbidden fruit, the apple symbol is found throughout many cultures and traditions, signifying totality in its near spherical shape, referencing womb, planet and cycles, containing a star when cut crosswise (the pentagram), and symbolizing the Greek goddess Venus. The pull of both materialism and sensuality.
“Eve tasted the apple in the Garden of Eden in order to slake that intense thirst for knowledge that the simple pleasure of picking flowers and talking to Adam could not satisfy.” - Elizabeth Cady Stanton
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SERPENT Andrea Sheehan x Lightlite The Serpent is one of the oldest mythological symbols. Benjamin Franklin used its segmented form to represent the 13 colonies, accompanied with the words “Join or Die.” He chose it because as a female she “was lidless and always watching, always vigilant.” Historically serpents represent fertility or a creative life force. As snakes slough their skin, that skin is replaced with one better suited for their expanding form, In that sense, they have become symbols of rebirth and transformation; as well as healing and feminism - perhaps even of immortality itself. Our Serpent was designed to circle the lobby while shedding its light upon our guests. We think of her as an Ancient Warrior, always watching, always vigilant, always protecting.
Andrea Sheehan and her team at DDA, designed the 50’ sculpture for its powerful symbolism. Scott Schiesel and LightLite Studio of Portland Oregon, brought this 50’ dynamic light sculpture to life. It is made of thin sheets of bonded, hand-crafted rings of wood to create its complicated form.
“...an Ancient Warrior, always watching, always vigilant, always protecting....” HOTEL ZENA
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MONEY IN MIND: A PORTRAIT OF GAIA Shaun Gagg - Flamborough, United Kingdom Shaun was brought up in the mining village of Wombwell near Barnsley in Yorkshire. At school he always enjoyed art and was fascinated by Salvador Dali’s work. For years he worked as a roofer, working with slate. In time, he became passionate about the materials he used, and as he worked, he began visualizing what other things he might craft. He became a full-time artist specializing in welded sculptures and has seldom looked back. His skill at intricate detailed welding allows his imagination to sculpt practically anything.
Inspired by his ‘Money In Mind’ series, Shaun created a portrait for the Hotel Zena of Gaia, the mythical Greek Goddess who is the personification of earth and mother of all things. It is constructed out of nine hundred welded coins, the majority of the sculpture is made up of British 10p coins from different years, each showing another female warrior, Queen Elizabeth II, at different stages in her life. The eyes of the sculpture are made out of the eagles of thirty U.S. quarters. The eyes of the sculpture are made out of the eagles of thirty U.S. quarters, the eagle symbolizing the strength and freedom of America.
“The female deity Gaia (Earth) appears first, before Ouranos (Heaven) and the other gods. So before any male deities, there is an Earth mother” - Greek Mythology
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LIBERTY FOR ALL Rose Jaffe - Washington, D.C. Rose Jaffe is a visual artist working in mural painting, ceramics, printmaking and digital illustration. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Jaffe earned her B.F.A. at the School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan. After teaching art in middle and high school, she made the decision to commit herself totally to her art. Her work has been featured in over a dozen publications, including The Washington Post and City Paper. She has also appeared on television as a guest on NBC, CNN and D.C.’s Channel 9. Themes of her work include political activism, social justice, natural healing and spiritual grounding. She is dedicated to the work of harnessing the power of art to find connection, build community, spark conversation and create social change.
Jaffe’s striking mural of Lady Liberty is crowned with a golden halo. It stands proud and defiant demanding “Liberty of All!” against a backdrop of earth, moon, and sun.
Jaffe is dedicated to the work of harnessing the power of art to find connection, build community, spark conversation and create social change. HOTEL ZENA
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HEAR ME ROAR Brian Mock - Aloha, OR Brian grew up in Portland, Oregon. He spent much of his youth drawing, painting, and woodcarving. In the late 1990s, he began sculpting with recycled metal. He discovered that working with metal allowed him to tap into certain inner resources that the medium revealed and fired a creative passion that still burns. He works from his home studio, the surrounding yard a veritable scrap yard of reclaimed metal and other materials. His self-taught skills continue to evolve and to reveal his artistry and craftsmanship which are recognized by both critics and his peers. He is sometimes referred to as a “metal evolutionist” and a “welding virtuoso.”
The Lioness Mock sculpted for Hotel Zena is fabricated from rough steel juxtaposed against softer, traditionally more feminine materials to emphasize the power, resourcefulness, leadership and protectiveness associated with a lioness in the wild.. The juxtaposition of hard and soft materials also signify the balanced nature of feminine strength.
The Lioness is an animal known for her power, leadership, and ability to define her territory. HOTEL ZENA
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OTRERA Toby Short - Athens, Greece Toby Short is a UK artist living since 1994 in Athens, Greece. He grew up in inner London where he studied at Central School of Art and Camberwell School of Art.
His first solo exhibition was at Agathi gallery Athens in 2002 and he has since gone on to participate in works at the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens, Bozar, Palais des beaux-arts Brussels and cocreated a parallel exhibition to the 1st Biennial of Athens.
Toby is interested in the way that computers portray life, he calls it ‘fractal mentality’. A crossbreed of computer-graphic solids with something quite the opposite, very humane, arcane and instinctive creating a distinction
In Greek mythology, Otrera was the first Queen of the Amazons. Originally
between that which can be produced by mathematics, and that which can
a badly treated housewife in an arranged marriage Otrera learnt how to
found in nature and in the soul.
defend herself with a sword and a bow-and-arrow. She taught other women and housewives in her town to fight and her women rebelled and took over the entire town. Otrera and her women would march into neighbouring
In Greek mythology, Otrera was initiator and first Queen of the Amazons.
towns, liberate the women and enslave the men. She fled the country with her people and founded the capital city Sinope, where she trained her armies and gathered recruits while gradually expanding her territory
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DIANA THE HUNTRESS Red Swan - Baltimore, MD Red Swan is a women-owned, Baltimore-based mural studio run by artists Hanna Moran and Lindy Swan. For the past six years, Hanna and Lindy have been working together to design and paint vivid, unique walls throughout the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area. Inspired by their fine art backgrounds, Moran and Swan enjoy combining realistically rendered natural objects, such as oversized flora and fauna, with lively and colorful abstract patterns.
Known for their bold, digital collage-based style, the women of Red Swan wanted to create a modern mural interpretation of the Goddess Diana. Their mural depicts Diana, Roman Goddess of the hunt, the moon, and nature, with quiver ready and deer by her side. As appropriate for the Goddess of the Moon, itself a symbol of feminine power, Diana strides across an abstracted crescent with stars trailing in her path.
“Known as the Goddess of the Moon, Diana walks across an abstracted crescent, with stars trailing in her path.� HOTEL ZENA
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ARTEMIS Andrea Sheehan x Julie Coyle Art Associates The Ancient Warriors part of the collection serve as the hotel’s protectors by symbolically standing vigil over our hotel guests. Fierce, protective and nurturing, Artemis (the Greek name for the Roman goddess Diana) watches over the guestrooms and wraps the shower in a protective womb. Among the rural population of ancient Greece, Artemis was the people’s favorite goddess, and regarded as a patron of girls and young women and a protectress during childbirth. She is often used as an icon of the feminist movement. She is known as “The Huntress,” the “Wonder Woman” of ancient Greece. The ‘Wonder Woman’ of ancient Greece. She is the daughter of Zeus and the twin sister of Apollo, the God of the Sun, while she is Goddess of the Moon.
The design team at DDA teaming up with Julie Coyle and JCAA, sketched Artemis in her classic Grecian form. Elegant and flowing, light and quick footed, the sketch was transferred onto transparent film and then hand wrapped around each shower enclosure.
Often used as an icon of the feminist movement, Artemis is known as the huntress. The ‘Wonder Woman’ of ancient Greece. HOTEL ZENA
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VENUS Andrea Sheehan x Axiom The earliest Venus figurines were made 40,000 years ago. They are found in Paleolithic sites across Europe and Asia, including Siberia, and predate the Goddess Venus by thousands of years. It is thought that these voluptuous figures represent fertility and sexuality. They were most commonly carved from the ivory of Mammoth tusks and worn as jewelry. At Hotel Zena, our life-sized Venus is made of resin and filled with internal light. DDA went to Axiom, one of our creative partners, to produce our ancient “Goddess of the Pool.” They used a copy of an ancient Venus to recreate a goddess that now stands illuminated in the light of the hotel’s fire pits, an evocation of millennium lost in fog and time. The pool bar is deemed our pagan experience. “Come,” our Venus beckons, “join us in the night and play.”
Axiom is a design-led fabrication shop that specializes in custom, curated craftsmanship. Axiom empowers and celebrates women in every facet of the company, from draft and craft in their shop, to design minds in their studio. They are committed to providing growth opportunities for employees and are proud to have women in powerful roles that contribute to Axiom’s advancement like Art Director, Marketing Manager and Director of Accounts. At Axiom, women are vital to the community of fearless creativity.
Researchers believe that these figures were not portraits of real women but instead worshipped as religious icons. HOTEL ZENA
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THE FACES OF GAIA Various Artists It is only fitting that the hotel’s premier suite is dedicated to the Goddess Gaia, the Goddess Earth, who with her husband Uranus (Sky) gave birth to the Titans from whom the Olympians, Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera, emerged. Gaia, the Soul of the Earth, protects our planet and nourishes life. Here at the top of Hotel Zena she stands vigilant. The Gaia suite is filled with books written by some of the world’s most insightful, powerful women, who like Gaia, have fought and will continue to fight to protect earth’s children, to encourage sustainable practices, and to encourage the insights that will allow all species on earth the opportunity to compete and thrive. The Gaia Suite was designed as a reminder that women can protect the world and change it if they would only pick up their swords and fight.
“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” - Albert Einstein
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REACHING by Andreas Lie - Norway DAC Art Consulting
SURREALIST PORTRAITS III by DAC Art Consulting - USA DAC Art Consulting
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CABBAGE by Magdalena Russocka - USA Kevin Barry Fine Arts
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by Zolo Tarevs - Thailand Kevin Barry Fine Arts
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MISTRESS OF THE DESERT
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EARTH MOTHER by Peggy Kane - USA DAC Art Consulting
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by Steven Kenny - USA DAC Art Consulting
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THE BARK NECKLACE
ALL KINDS OF BEAUTY by Sandra-Mack Valencia - USA DAC Art Consulting
NIGHT by Alexandr Sutula - Russia Kevin Barry Fine Arts
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WOMAN-NATURE Pınar Baklan Önal - Ankara, Turkey After graduating with a first-class honors degree from the Ceramics Department of the School of Fine Arts at Hacettepe University in 2007, Pinar started a master’s program at the same university which she completed in 2011. In 2012, she started her Ph.D. in ceramics at Fine Arts Institute at Hacettepe University. She has participated in many national and international group exhibitions and symposiums. She opened her first solo exhibition in Kayseri Orta Anadolu Demir Karamancı Convention Center in February of 2013. Her second solo exhibition was opened in Ankara Nurol Art Gallery, Turkey in January of 2015.
Her last solo show was opened in İzmir İşsanat Gallery between 26th January and 26th February 2016. She has also worked at an art studio making wall reliefs for many individual and public organizations. In 2009, she started to work as a research assistant in the Ceramics and Glass Design Department at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Erciyes University, and has been working as a lecturer at the same department at Erciyes University, since 2012. She is always exploring new ways of working with ceramics and incorporating new materials.
“I created my ceramic sculpture named ‘Woman-Nature‘ by reflecting the woman and nature together in an abstract organic form.” HOTEL ZENA
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THE FIRST FEMINISTS Heather Lynn - Washington, D.C. Heather Lynn is an abstract, mixed-medium painter living in Washington, D.C. Lynn specializes in large scale residential, commercial and commission work. Her work is often dense with her self-created texture mediums and are constructed with vibrant color, movement and depth. Heather finds inspiration from her children: “I have spent years on the border between life and death. Two of my children are designated Miracle Kids for Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. Both had serious, yet unrelated medical issues; both defied every prognosis; and both are alive and thriving today.” She remembered, “The pain of almost losing them changed my perspective on the world. These traumas and their related miracles are in my every brush stroke.”
‘The First Feminists’ depicts Lilith and Eve. Lilith, the serpent, persuaded Eve to choose knowledge and take a bite of the forbidden fruit, an act that became known as Eve’s transgression. This violation of God’s law foreshadowed the historical struggle between women and men in society. Knowledge (despite pain or curses) is always empowering. Lilith and Eve are powerful, rebellious, and independent feminists whose assertiveness flies in the face of malecentered, patriarchal authority.
“Knowledge despite pain or curses is always power.” HOTEL ZENA
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BLESSING IN A DREAM Shawn Man Roland - Hudson Valley, NY Shawn Man Roland was educated at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and by several non-degreed masters. Roland is currently based in the Bay Area. He has over 25 years of experience working with designers, decorators, architects, and contractors. In 2007, he was awarded the “Lorenzo il Magnifico” award at the Bienniale d’Arte Firenze, Italy. His work has also been displayed at numerous events, including the Yuerba Buena Sculpture Walk in San Francisco. Shawn’s work incorporates a broad range of skills and knowledge. He creates paintings, murals, decorative finishes, design, music, and sculpture using a wide array of materials. Shawn has developed a lyrical style which reflects his fascination with the interplay of environment, color, texture, and line. He enjoys illustrating emotions and stories through figurative elements. His ability to collaborate with individual artists, as well as with teams of other artists, has enabled him to travel throughout the country working on projects for hotels, restaurants, private homes, theme stores and art exhibitions.
“ A reflection of one’s embodiment in love, warmth and muse.” HOTEL ZENA
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DRUID DANCE Rose Jaffe - Washington, D.C. In additional to her mural, “Liberty for All”, Jaffe created a mural depicting a dance of druids located at Hotel Zena’s rooftop bar and pool. The mural seems to invite the guests to join the dance as their eyes follow Jaffe’s fluid lines and enjoy her signature pops of color set against a blue and green aquatic background. Rose continues the sheer joy of the Pagan dance on the walls of the meeting spaces just off of the pool deck. Harkening back to the Goddess, the experience is a celebration of life and rebirth.
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THE PORTRAIT GALLERY CHAPTER TWO
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THE PORTRAIT GALLERY The Portrait Gallery in the main lobby of Hotel Zena presents the portraits of ten powerful women who have made significant contributions in the struggle for Women’s Rights & Gender Equality. The artists who were commissioned to create the portraits were chosen from a selection of celebrated female artists, many of whom were based in the Washington, D.C. area. We assembled an international team to screen artists whose body of work included powerful statements in support for Women’s Rights & Gender Equality. The support for the project among the hundreds of artists screened for the project was amazing. In the end, though there were many, many artists whose work was deserving, the team had to narrow the choices to ten. Those selected were commissioned to share their considerable talents and unique points of view in the creation of a portrait of a powerful Women’s Rights activist from a list of 30 of the most influential in history, including some who are still active today.
The artists were presented with the list, which included a biography of each of the thirty women, each biography focusing on the woman’s contributions to the cause of Women’s Rights. They were asked to consider the list and choose the woman with whom they most powerfully connected. They were asked to create a portrait using whatever style or medium they thought appropriate in order to give the viewer the opportunity to look into the eyes of the woman being portraited.
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RUTH BADER GINSBURG
Andrea Sheehan x Julie Coyle Art Associates
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a powerful beacon to the world for her struggle for female rights. She has always been a hero of mine. It is with the utmost respect that we created this most intimate, female tribute to an amazing woman. Once we had the pointillist concept for the RBG portrait down, we began composing just how this pegboard portrait should look, then pitched the idea to the hotel owners, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, who loved it. We would like to thank CORA, the producer of sustainable and organic We then brought on our long-time collaborator, Julie Coyle, who began
cotton tampons for their generous contribution of 35,000 sustainable
experimenting with different tampon types to gauge stability. She and her team
tampons for this special Ruth Bader Ginsburg portrait. CORA’s mission:
then created the specialty pegboard filled with nearly 20,000 hand-painted
“We exist to empower women. We believe every woman is a force of
tampons of the “notorious” RBG, notorious for her fearless, and often humorous
nature and should be revered as such. We also believe every girl deserves
and controversial, advocacy of women.
an education, yet millions of girls around the world miss school during their periods because they can’t afford pads. That’s why with every Cora
“...women will only have true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.”
purchase, we provide pads and health education to a girl in need. “
- RBG
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PORTRAIT: SHIRLEY CHISHOLM Chanel Compton - Baltimore, MD Chanel Compton has had a love for museums and art since she was a child. She earned a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts at the Mason Gross School of the Fine Arts at Rutgers University, and a Master of Arts in Arts Management from American University. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, she now has a studio in Baltimore, Maryland, where she works not only as an artist, but as an arts educator and Museum Director. Compton has exhibited in both group and solo exhibitions in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and in Brazil.
‘Shirley Chisholm for the Win’ celebrates and explores the political work of the late Honorable Congresswoman Shirley Anita Chisholm of New York’s 12th Congressional District. In 1969, Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972, she was the second woman, and the first woman Democrat, to run for the presidency. From 1977 to 1981, she was head of the Democratic Caucus in the House of Representatives. Chanel Compton expresses Chisholm’s grit and determination in a passionate, allegorical manner. Compton used ripped pieces of painted paper, some of which include references to Chisholm’s past, and various other materials to create a collage symbolizing unity out of differences and transformation.
Compton lives by the strong belief “...that the process of creating art is both healing and can create deep connections with others.” HOTEL ZENA
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PORTRAIT: SAMPAT PAL DEVI Hatty Butler - London, United Kingdom Hatty Butler is a contemporary portrait artist based in the United Kingdom. “My work is about people,” she states on the Singulart web page. “Exploring their vulnerability, capturing an honest and exposed resemblance, creating a vivid and forceful image.” Butler was a 2016 graduate of Bath Spa University. In 2017, she was short-listed for that university’s prestigious Jerwood Visual Arts Prize. That same year, she was also short-listed for the Royal Arts Prize and received the Visitors’ Choice Award. The young artist’s work has been featured in both group and solo shows across England.
Butler chose to paint Sampat Pal Devi because Sampat is the founder and warrior leader of the Gulabi Gang -- an all-woman vigilante force protecting women in Uttar Pradesh, one of the poorest regions of India, where domestic abuse and other violence against women is common. This sisterhood takes matters into its own hands, fighting against domestic and sexual predation. The Gulabi Gang’s pink saris have become an iconic symbol in India of these fearless, resilient women. The artist chose to capture Sampat Pal Devi in a moment of reflection, of empowerment caused not by a show of muscle, but in a show of thoughtfulness; and in the stillness of that moment, in reflection on the challenges in which she lives, to establish her amazing strength -- and her endurance.
“When I paint any woman, I hope to capture their power, but also their vulnerability, the combining factors that make women such an incredible force.” HOTEL ZENA
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PORTRAIT: FRANCES E.W. HARPER Nguyen Khuyen - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam Born in rural Dong Nai, Vietnam, Nguyen Khuyen has dedicated herself to mastering traditional Vietnamese techniques of woodcarving and woodcut printing and expressing those skills in her art. She shares her skill set with a younger generation of artists in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2015, Khuyen was discovered by ArtBlue Studio, and in 2016 she had her first international exhibition in Singapore. This was followed by exhibitions in Hong Kong and London. She takes pride in her craft and pays meticulous attention to detail in all of her creations. “In all my work, I am looking for a certain sense of perfection and fulfilment,” she noted.
Khuyen grew up in rural Vietnam where a woman’s education is not a priority. Early in her life she developed a passion for reading as well as drawing. She found great inspiration in the poetry of Frances E.W Harper, a leading African-American poet and writer. Harper, an activist in the abolitionist and women’s rights movements, was the first African American woman whose writing was published in the United States. Khuyen described her portrait of Francis W. Harper as an expression of her admiration for her, and also as a celebration of her own journey as a female artist in Vietnam.
“Growing up I had no books. I had to go to the library to read every day. It was the source that gave me the strength to become an artist.” HOTEL ZENA
Washington, DC
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PORTRAIT: JOSEPHINE KULEA Yngrid Chacon - Washington, D.C. Yngrid Chacon is a Honduran-Dominican visual artist and designer. She first began experimenting with visual arts by drawing characters from her father’s comic books. Inspired by fantasy and sci-fi, Yngrid began to visualize local people and situations within the framework of the multi-cultural comic book genre, a perspective that influenced her studies at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, British Columbia where she graduated with a degree in Communication Design. Upon moving to Washington, D.C., she began visualizing her unique worldview through her art, which is a mix of pop-culture and her Latin-x identity. Chacon is constantly exploring her identity both as a woman of color, and as a Third culture Latin-x person through her visual art.
Chacon’s portrait of Dr. Josephine Kulea attempts to capture Kulea’s bravery and revolutionary spirit. “I wanted her portrait to highlight her strength, power and selflessness as seen through my lens,” the artist said. Josephine Kulea is a fearless Kenyan Women’s Rights campaigner who challenges destructive traditional practices that affect girls. These practices include Female Genital Mutilation which impacts 200 million women living in 30 countries today (estimate by UNICEF). The legacy of her courage and determination will live on in all of the girls she has rescued.
“I wanted my portrait of Dr. Josephine Kulea to highlight her strength, power and selflessness as seen through my lens.” HOTEL ZENA
Washington, DC
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PORTRAIT: DR. VINA MAZUMDAR Louisa Powell - Washington, D.C. Louisa Powell is a D.C. based artist working from her backyard studio in Silver Spring, MD where she grew up. Powell attended Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) for undergraduate studies and completed her Master of Fine Art degree in sculpture from the University of Georgia. She has spent the succeeding years developing her ideas through her drawing and sculpture. Her portrait of Dr. Mazumdar celebrates her lifelong effort to open up the eyes of India’s public to the challenges facing India’s lower income women.
Dr. Vina Mazumdar was a pioneer in women’s studies in India and the Women’s Rights Movement. She was among the first women to combine activism with scholarly research. Her work as Director of the Center for Women’s Development Studies was groundbreaking. With the support of CWDS, a group of Indian women living in a forest society led an initiative to offset the effects of deforestation in their area. Powell’s portrait celebrates that victory. With Mazumdar’s help, the women were able to acquire a plot of land on which to plant Tussar moth host trees to replace those destroyed. Dr. Mazumdar helped the women re-establish their business of creating and selling tussar silk woven from the cocoons of the moths living in the replanted forest.
“I am particularly inspired by women who fight convention to prove that women and men need not be limited to existing as one of two discrete lists of characteristics.” HOTEL ZENA
Washington, DC
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PORTRAIT: WAI WAI NU Michelle Shiyu Chen - Washington, D.C. Michelle Shiyu Chen is a muralist and calligrapher based in Washington, D.C. Her early training in Chinese calligraphy informs her handling of brush and spray can to evoke the expressive economy of that tradition. Her art often highlights women in arts and activism whose voices and visions are underrepresented. Since 2013 she has worked with other artists on 25 works of public art, including a project featuring muralist Cita Sadeli aka MISS CHELOVE. Chen has created murals in the Washington D.C. area, Belgium, and Taiwan. Michelle received a B.S. from Georgetown University where she studied Culture & Politics.
Chen’s portrait depicts Wai Wai Nu, the internationally acclaimed Burmese women and human rights activist. In 2005, when Nu was 18 and already in her second year of law school, she and her entire family were imprisoned by the governing military junta. Nu refers to her years in prison as a “life education.” While in prison she learned about the conditions of women in Myanmar from other women prisoners. In 2012, she and her family were granted amnesty by Myanmar’s new government. Nu went on to finish law school and establish two NGOs – the Women’s Peace Network and Justice for Women. Chen renders Nu life sized, her image set amid the flora and geography of her native country.
“In creating her work, Chen investigates stories, new and inherited, that we weave to build realities of self, community, and culture.” HOTEL ZENA
Washington, DC
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PORTRAIT: ROSA PARKS Marcelina Amelia - Cracow, Poland Marcelina Amelia is a contemporary artist based in Brighton, UK and Cracow, Poland. She works with mixed media in her approach to print, painting and drawing. Amelia often draws inspirations from her Polish heritage. “I like to play at the tense borders between lust and innocence; joy and sadness; fun and pain. My interest in juxtaposition comes from my origins and fascination with East European culture which was eloquently described by Grayson Perry as ‘nowhere else could such horrific grief be met with such fairy-tale romanticism.’”
Marcelina’s portrait ‘Freedom Yes’ depicts Rosa Parks, an American activist in the Civil Rights Movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. In 1955, Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system. One of the leaders of the boycott was Martin Luther King. The United States Congress has called Rosa Parks “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement.” Marcelina’s portrait captures Rosa’s peaceful and quiet power. She is shown in company with Strelitzia flowers, international symbols of freedom and immortality. Also featured is a fragment of the banner “Freedom Yes, Apartheid No” carried by Rosa at a 1984 protest march against Apartheid at the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C.
“Rosa’s story has deeply inspired me and restored my faith in the theory that every little step matters. Every small action can make a huge difference.” HOTEL ZENA
Washington, DC
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PORTRAIT: GLORIA STEINEM Maggie O’Neill- Washington, D.C. Maggie O’Neill is an artist, designer, and creative entrepreneur based in Washington, D. C. She is best known for her pop impressionist paintings of iconic DC landmarks and people. In 2012, O’Neil had the honor of personally delivering a portrait to President Obama, and in 2014 her ‘Uncle Sam’ was featured on the front page of The New York Times. O’Neil is also the cofounder of SWATCHROOM, a full-service design, art and fabrication studio, and she is the founder of SUPERFIERCE, a national traveling art exhibit that highlights female artists, benefits local charities, and mentors aspiring artists. In addition to her creative work, O’Neil supports a number of charitable causes and is active in her local community.
O’Neil explained her decision to paint Gloria Steinem: “My mother was the first feminist I knew. She is a remarkable example of a fierce spirit of leadership, courage, and passion for equality and women’s rights helping to build the women’s studies programs at several local universities. A tremendous source of inspiration for her came from Gloria Steinem. As an activist, writer, speaker and thought leader who often stood alone.” In terms of the portrait itself, O’Neil added: “ I selected this body language and composition and deliberately chose a bold and bright color palette that plays with intense contrast.”
“My mother was the first feminist I knew.” HOTEL ZENA
Washington, DC
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PORTRAIT: THEODORA Dominique Fierro - Washington, D.C. Dominique Fierro is a Haitian-American born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area. Fierro works with mixed materials to construct contemporary abstract pieces and portraits that reflect not only the diversity and influence of her background, but a mastery of her craft enhanced by an inner eye sharpened by her skills as a photographer. She says that she is inspired by everyday life and the emotion within. Her work brings these emotions to the surface revealing what is magical within the complexity of what might appear to be simple things. Fierro donates a portion of her profits to human rights organizations that fight to end crimes against humanity & to empower women.
Fierro chose to portray the 6th century Byzantine Empress Theodora as she was one of the first rulers in world history to advocate for the rights of women. Theodora’s personal story is almost unbelievable. She was a former prostitute who became the empress of the mighty Byzantine Empire. She had an enormous impact on the decisions made by her husband, the Emperor Justinian, who credited her contributions, describing Theodora as “a partner in my deliberations.” Her advocacy was extensive. Not only did she free girls sold into sexual slavery, she also built her own female prison run by nuns so that women wouldn’t be at the mercy of male guards.
“My subjects are women. They stand before my camera exposed and vulnerable. I relate to them. I am one of them.” HOTEL ZENA
Washington, DC
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PORTRAIT: WAJEHA AL-HUWAIDE Ania Hobson - London, United Kingdom Ania Hobson is a contemporary figurative painter. She has exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in both 2016 and 2018, the Royal Society of British Artists, and the Society of Women Artists at the Mall Galleries in London. At the 2018 BP Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery, London, Ania was awarded the prestigious Young Artist Award for her painting ’ A Portrait of Two Female Painters’. She continues to champion women in her work. Last year she exhibited at one of the official collateral events of the Venice Biennale at the European Cultural Centre. Her work is currently (2020) being featured in a solo show at the Catto Gallery, London.
Ania said, “I enjoy celebrating strong modern day women in my paintings and portraying that to the public, whether it’s by using fashion to create a statement or using a perspective to give a sense of presence. We’re now breaking through and becoming recognized for what we do. I want to be a part of this movement - a movement that has been building up momentum over a long period of time. I hope to show this with my painting of Wajeha al-Huwaider. She is a strong, determined and very brave lady who has faced threats in her battle to empower Saudi women.”
“I want to be a part of this movement a movement that has been building up momentum over a long period of time.” HOTEL ZENA
Washington, DC
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SUITABLE MATCH & COSMIC CHANGE Natasha Kumar - Manchester, United Kingdom This collection of hand drawn silk-screen prints are the first in a series of paintings and works on paper by British Indian artist Natasha Kumar. They are observations on the cultural roles available to women in India, and their individual and collective journey to empowerment.
In ‘Suitable Match’, she strides across pages of matrimonial adverts in search of an astrologically harmonious husband, the prize in a quest for a bride of the right caste and level of education. It’s her dharma, her duty, that she should be married. Educated, she keeps her identity among traditional household responsibilities and empowered her voice and independence. In ‘Cosmic Change’, Indian Woman is trying to find her place in the modern world set against a background of an Islamic, geometric pattern where spiritual tradition and the fast-paced movement forward through the circular cosmic order are in constant flux. Is the geometric design a deconstruction of the traditional social framework and Indian woman is walking into a newly selfdefined image, an image of a modern woman, educated and equal in her role to men? Or is the incomplete geometric design a negative deconstruction, a symbol of Indian woman failing to assert herself, caught in an eddy of time, and struggling to complete?
“They are observations on the cultural roles available to women in India, and their individual and collective journey to empowerment.” HOTEL ZENA
Washington, DC
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THE FEMINIST PHOTOS Liora K - Denver, CO Liora K has been exploring her world through photography since 2006. She is deeply curious about the shifting and nuanced relationship between stories, cameras, and photographers. Liora K studied Fine Art Photography where she focused largely on the principles of art-making and thoughtful critique. Intersectional feminist activism has always been a part of Liora’s photographic work and has been a guiding force in several internationally recognized and published projects such as The Feminist Photos, Attractive & Fat, and The Expose Project.
The Feminist Photos is a platform for the subjects’ own voices, amplifying their stories directly on their bodies, and contradicting traditional reductive photography and media practices by purposefully giving agency back to the subject to determine the story their body communicates. There are rarely opportunities where women are able to use their bodies to tell their own stories, especially if those women are queer or trans. Creating a venue for these stories in a society that devalues them gives viewers an opportunity to question generic social truisms and find themselves challenged or validated by what they find.
“There are rarely opportunities where women are able to use their bodies to tell their own stories.” HOTEL ZENA
Washington, DC
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WALL OF HONOR Andrea Sheehan x Julie Coyle Art Associates The more we researched the stories of individuals fighting for change in the world historically and currently, in the ongoing fight for gender equality and basic civil rights, the more stories we found. Their stories are both startling and inspiring, scattered across the globe and often forgotten or unheard of except in their local communities. These stories are representative fragments, for most stories and heroes have been forgotten. Our mission was to simply honor a small number of these men and women who have led the brutal fight for women’s rights; who have broken through the glass ceiling with some of their powerful norm-shattering accomplishments. Our goal was to symbolically celebrate their lives and achievement as
“I have encountered riotous mobs and have been hung in effigy, but my motto is: Men’s rights are nothing more. Women’s rights are nothing less.” - Susan B. Anthony
representative of all those people whose lives and struggle for female empowerment have been forgotten.
The list could have had a thousand names but our wall space could only We commissioned 221 individual charcoal sketched portraits from a group
hold so many images. It was a hard decision on who to edit and who to
of female artists in the San Francisco Bay area, working with our favorite
keep. Julie and her team assembled the final collage and mounted the film
collaborator Julie Coyle and her wonderful team. The list was created in
between panels of glass that is subtly lit from behind. The narrow corridor
collaboration with Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, Viceroy Hotels and Dawson
creating a space for quiet contemplation or simply passage. Shedding
Design Associates.
light on those faces that have made a significant difference in our lives.
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1. HORTENSIA B.114 BC_D.50 BC - Roman Empire 2. JOANNA OF FLANDERS B.1295_D.1374 - Brittany, France 3. JULIAN OF NORWICH B.1342_D.1416 - Norfolk, UK 4. CHRISTINE DE PIZAN B.1364_D.1430 - Venice, Italy 5. MARGERY KEMPE B.1373_D.1438 - Norfolk, UK
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6. TERESA DE CARTAGENA B.1425_D.Unknown - Burgos, Spain 7. HATSHEPSUT B.1508 BC_D.1458 BC - Ancient Egypt 8. CATHARINA VAN HEMESSEN B.1528_D.1588 - Antwerp, Belgium 9. SOFONISBA ANGUISSOLA B.1532_D.1625 - Cremona, Italy 10. LADY ANNE CLIFFORD B.1590_D.1676 - Skipton, UK 11. ANNE HUTCHINSON B.1591_D.1643 - Rhode Island, USA 12. ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI B.1593_D.1652 - Rome, Italy 13. MARGARET BRENT B.1601_D.1671 - Maryland, USA 14. ANNE BRADSTREET B.1612_D.1672 - North Andover, MA, USA 15. APHRA BEHN B.1640_D.1689 - Kent, UK 16. SOR JUANA INÉS DE LA CRUZ B.1648_D.1695 - Mexico 17. SOPHIA ELISABET BRENNER B.1659_D.1730 - Sweden
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18. MARY ASTELL B.1666_D.1731 - Newcastle upon Tyne, UK 19. HENRIETTA JOHNSTON B.1674_D.1729 - Charleston, NC, USA 20. LAURA BASSI B.1711_D.1778 - Bologna, Italy 21. LYDIA TAFT B.1712_D.1778 - Massachusetts Colony, British America 18
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22. ABIGAIL ADAMS B.1744_D.1818 - Weymouth, MA, USA 23. MARGARET CORBIN B.1751_D.1800 - Franklin County, PA, USA 24. MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT B.1759_D.1797 - Spitalfields, UK 25. MARY SOMMERVILLE B.1780_D.1872 - Jedburgh, Scotland 26. LUCRETIA MOTT B.1793_D.1880 - Nantucket, MA, USA
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27. SOJOURNER TRUTH B.1797_D.1883 - Rifton, NY, USA 28. HARRIOT KEZIA HUNT B.1805_D.1875 - Boston, MA, USA 29. ABIGAIL KELLEY FOSTER B.1811_D.1887 - Pelham, NY, USA 30. ADA LOVELACE B.1815_D.1852 - London, UK 31. ELIZABETH CADY STANTON B.1815_D.1902 - Johnstown, NY, USA
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32. LUCY STONE B.1818_D.1893 - West Brookfield, MA, USA 33. SUSAN B. ANTHONY B.1820_D.1906 - Adams, MA, USA 34. FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE B.1820_D.1910 - London, UK 35. FRANCES E.W. HARPER B.1825_D.1911 - Baltimore, MD, USA 36. LYDIA BECKER B.1827_D.1890 - Manchester, United Kingdom
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37. JOSEPHINE BUTLER B.1828_D.1906 - Northumberland, UK
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38. VICTORIA WOODHULL B.1838_D.1927 - Homer, OH, US 39. MILLICENT FAWCETT B.1847_D.1929 - Adams, MA, USA 40. KATE SHEPPARD B.1848_D.1934 - Liverpool, United Kingdom 41. STEFANIA WOLICKA B.1851_D.Unknown - Warsaw, Poland 42. EMMELINE PANKHURST B.1858_D.1928 - London, UK
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43. ETHEL SMYTH B.1858_D.1944 - Woking, United Kingdom 44. ANNA JULIA COOPER B.1858_D.1964 - Washington, DC, USA 45. CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT B.1859_D.1947 - Ripon, WI, USA 46. IDA B. WELLS
B.1862_D.1931 - Chicago, MS, USA
47. MARY CHURCH TERRELL B.1863_D.1954 - Memphis, TN, USA 48. ELOÍSA DÍAZ B.1866_D.1950 - Santiago, Chile 49. MARIE CURIE B.1867_D.1934 - Warsaw, Poland 50. LISA MEITNER B.1878_D.1968 - Vienna, Austria 51. LIN ZONGSU B.1878_D.1944 - Kunming, China 52. MARIE STOPES B.1880_D.1958 - Edinburgh, Scotland 53. ALICE MILLIAT B.1884_D.1957 - Nantes, France 54. ALICE PAUL B.1885_D.1977 - Moorestown, NJ, USA 55. MARÍA TERESA FERRARI B.1887_D.1956 - Buenos Aires, Argentina 56. MARIA BOCHKAREVA B.1889_D.1920 - Krasnoyarsk, Russia 57. AMELIA EARHART B.1897_D.1937 - Atchison, KS, USA
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58. BABARA MCCLINTOCK B.1902_D.1992 - Huntington, NY, USA 59. GERTRUDE EDERLE B.1905_D.2003 - Wyckoff, NJ, USA 60. ESTHER PETERSON B.1906_D.1997 - Washington, DC, USA 61. FRIDA KAHLO B.1907_D.1954 - Mexico City, Mexico 58
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62. SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR
B.1908_D.1986 - Paris, France
63. PAULI MURRAY B.1910_D.1985 - Baltimore, MD, USA 64. DOROTHY HEIGHT B.1912_D.2010 - Washington, DC, USA 65. ROSA PARKS B.1913_D.2005 - Detroit, MI, USA 66. JOAN CLARKE B.1917_D.1996 - Oxford, United Kingdom 63
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67. SARA CHRISTIAN B.1918_D.1980 - Dahlonega, GA, USA 68. ROSALIND FRANKLIN B.1920_D.1958 - London, UK 69. BETTY FRIEDAN B.1921_D.2006 - Washington, DC, USA 70. YURI KOCHIYAMA B.1921_D.2014 - Berkeley, CA, USA 71A. PATRIA MIRABAL B.1924_D.1960 - Salcedo, Dominican Republic
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71B. MINERVA MIRABAL B.1926_D.1960 - Salcedo, Dominican Republic 71C. MARIA MIRABAL B.1935_D.1960 - Salcedo, Dominican Republic 72. SHIRLEY CHISHOLM B.1924_D.2005 - New York, NY, USA
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73. ARGELIA LAYA B.1926_D.1997 - Río Chico, Venezuela 74. ALTHEA GIBSON B.1927_D.2003 - Clarendon County, SC, USA 75. DR VINA MAZUMDAR B.1927_D.2013 - New Delhi, India 76. AUDRE LORDE B.1934_D.1992 - Harlem, NY, USA 77. WILMA RUDOLPH B.1940_D.1994 - Brentwood, TN, USA
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78. SARA GÓMEZ B.1942_D.1974 - Havana, Cuba 79. JULIA PHILLIPS B.1944_D.2002 - West Hollywood, CA, USA 80. ANITA BORG B.1949_D.2003 - Chicago, IL, USA 81. SALLY RIDE B.1951_D.2012 - La Jolla, CA, USA 82. COMANDANTA RAMONA B.1959_D.2006 - Chiapas, Mexico 83. SHARMILA REGE B.1964_D.2013 - Pune, India 84. BERTA CÁCERES B.1971_D.2016 - La Esperanza, Honduras 85. THEODORA B.497_D.548 - Constantinople 86. CLEOPATRA B.69 BC_D.30 BC - Alexandria, Egypt 87. INDIRA JAISING B.1940 - Mumbai, India 88. LESLIE MARMON SILKO B.1948 - Albuquerque, NM, USA 89. ABENA BUSIA B.1953 - Accra, Ghana 90. AI-JEN POO B.1974 - Pittsburgh, PA, USA 91. AISHA FOFANA IBRAHIM B.Unknown - Sierra Leone 92. ALAA MURABIT B.1989 - Saskatoon, Canada
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93. ALMA GOMEZ B.Unknown - Chihuahua, Mexico 94. AMANDA NGUYEN B.1991 - California, USA 95. AMINA DOHERTY B.2000 - Antigua and Barbuda 96. ANNE-BIRGITTE ALBRECTSEN B.1967 - Vejle, Denmark 93
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97. ARANYA JOHAR B.1998 - Mumbai, India 98. AZZA SOLIMAN B.1968 - Egypt 99. BAHAREH HEDAYAT B.1981 - Tehran, Iran 100. BILLIE JEAN KING B.1943 - Long Beach, CA, USA 101. BINETA DIOP B.1950 - Gueoul, Senegal
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102. BRENDA CHILD B.Unknown - Northrop, MN, USA 103. CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE B.1977 - Enugu, Nigeria 104. CHRISTIANA THORPE B.1949 - Freetown, Sierra Leone 105. DANICA PATRICK B.1982 - Beloit, WI, USA 106. DAYSI FLORES B.Unknown - Tegucigalpa, Honduras
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107. DIANA NAMMI B.Unknown - Iran / United Kingdom 108. DOLORES HUERTA B.1930 - Dawson, NM, USA 109. DREW GILPIN FAUST B.1947 - New York, NY, USA 110. DWI RUBIYANTI KHOLIFAH B.Unknown - Indonesia 111.
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ESTHER GATUMA B.Unknown - Kenya
112. FLAVIA AGNES B.1947 - Mumbai, India
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113. GALIA MOSS B.1974 - Mexico City, Mexico 114. GLORIA STEINEM B.1934 - Toledo, OH, USA 115. HABIBA MOHAMMED B.Unknown - Zaria, Nigeria 116. HADJA IDRISSA BAH B.1999 - Conakry, Guinea 117. HAUNANI KAY-TRASK B.1949 - Honolulu, Hawaii
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118. HILARY GBEDEMAH B.1953 -Nsawam, Ghana 119. HILARY SPENCER B.Unknown - London, United Kingdom 120. HORTENSE LOUGUÉ B.Unknown - Burkina Faso 121. DR. HUMAYRA ABEDIN B.1976 - Dhaka, Bangladesh 122. LEANA JIMENEZ B.Unknown - Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA 123. IROM CHANU SHARMILA B.1972 - Imphal, India 124. JACQUELINE MONTERO B.Unknown - Dominican Republic 125. JERIN ARIFA B.Unknown - Bangladesh and USA 126. JOSEPHINE KULEA B.1984 - Samburu County, Kenya 127. KATHERINE JOHNSON B.1918_D.2020 - Newport News, VA, USA
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128. KATHRYN BIGELOW B.1951 - San Carlos, CA, USA 129. KATRÍN JAKOBSDÓTTIR B.1976 - Reykjavík, Iceland
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130. KAVITA KRISHNAN B.1973 - Coonoor, India 131. LADONNA BRAVE BULL ALLARD B.Unknown - ND, USA 132. LAXMI AGARWAL B.1990 - New Delhi, India 133. LEANNE BETASAMOSAKE SIMPSON B.Unknown - Canada 130
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134. LEYMAH GBOWEE B.1972 - Monrovia, Liberia 135. LI TINGTING B.1989 - Beijing, China 136. LILLY LEDBETTER B.1938 - Jacksonville, AL, USA 137. LOUJAIN AL-HATHLOUL B.1989 - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 138. LÜ PIN B.1972 - Shandong, China
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139. MAAME AFON YELBERT-OBENG B.Unknown - Ghana 140. MALALA YOUSAFZAI B.1997 - Mingora, Pakistan 141. MANAL AL-SHARIF B.1979 - Mecca, Saudi Arabia 142. MARIAM JALABI B.Unknown -Syria 143. MARIAN BAIRD B.Unknown - Sydney, Australia
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144. MARIANA COSTA CHECA B.1986 - Lima Province, Peru 145. MARTA LEMPART B.1979 - Lwówek Śląski, Poland 146. MAY SABAI PHYU B.1976 - Burma 147. MELINDA GATES B.1964 - Dallas, TX, USA 148. MICHELLE OBAMA B.1964 - Chicago, IL, USA
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149. MIRIAM MIRANDA B.Unknown - Colón, Honduras 150. MU SOCHUA B.1954 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia 151. MUSIMBI KANYORO B.1953 - Migori, Kenya 152. NANCY PELOSI B.1940 - Baltimore, MD, USA 153. NAOMI WOLF B.1962 - San Francisco, CA, USA
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154. NIMCO ALI B.1983 - Somaliland, Somalia 155. OPRAH WINFREY B.1954 - Kosciusko, MS, USA 156. PATRICIA CAMPOS DOMÉNECH B.1977 - Onda, Spain 157. PAULINE TANGIORA B.Unknown - Aotearoa, New Zealand 158. PHUMZILE MLAMBO-NGCUKA B.1955 - South Africa 159. RADIA PERLMAN B.1951 - Portsmouth, VA, USA 160. RIGOBERTA MENCHÚ B.1959 - Laj Chimel, Guatemala 161. ROBERTA BONDAR B.1945 - Sault Ste, Canada 162. ROSA EMILIA SALAMANCA B.Unknown - Colombia 163. ROXANE GAY B.1974 - Omaha, NE, USA 164. RUTH BADER GINSBURG B.1933_D.2020- Brooklyn, NY, USA 165. SAMPAT PAL DEVI B.1960 - Uttar Pradesh, India 166. SARAH DEER B.1972 - Muscogee Nation, USA 167. SARAH HESTERMAN B.2001 - Costa Rica 168. SARAH TENOI B.Unknown - Ilkerin, Kenya
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169. SHAMILLAH WILSON B.Unknown - Cape Town, South Africa 170. SUNITHA KRISHNAN B.1972 - Bengaluru, India 171. SUZAN SHOWN HARJO B.1945 - El Reno, OK, USA 172. TARANA BURKE B.1973 - The Bronx, NY, USA 169
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173. VALENTINA TERESHKOVA B.1937 - Russia 174. WAJEHA AL-HUWAIDER B.1962 - Saudi Arabia 175. WANJERI NDERU B.1980 - Kenya 176. WEI TINGTING B.1989 - Hechi, China 177. WINNIE BYANYIMA B.1959 - Mbarara, Uganda
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178. WINONA LADUKE B.1959 - Los Angeles, CA, USA 179. WU RONGRONG B.1985 - Lüliang, China 180. YE HAIYAN B.1975 - Wuhan, China 181. ZAHRA’ LANGHI B.1975 - Libya 182. ZAINAB SALBI B.1969 - Baghdad, Iraq
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183. ZHENG CHURAN B.1989 - Guangzhou, China 184. ZHOU XIAOXUAN (XIANZI) B.1994 - Beijing, China 185. ZULIA MENA B.1965 - Quibdó, Colombia
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186. HELEN KELLER B.1880_D.1968 - Tuscumbia, AL, USA 187. MARGARET THATCHER B.1925_D.2013 - London, UK 188. ANGELA MERKEL B.1954 - Hamburg, Germany 189. GRETA THUNBERG B.2003 - Stockholm, Sweden 190. ANGELA DAVIS B.1944 - Birmingham, AL, USA
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191. JANE FONDA B.1937 - New York, NY, USA 192. QUEEN ELIZABETH II B.1926 - London, United Kingdom 193. QUEEN ELIZABETH I B.1533_D.1603 - London, UK 194. JACQUELINE BOUVIER KENNEDY B.1929_D.1994 - NY, USA 195. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT B.1884_D.1962 - New York, NY, USA 196. GLORIA JEAN WATKINS B.1952 - Hopkinsville, KY, USA 197. MADONNA B.1958 - Bay City, MI, USA 198. MARIELLE FRANCO B.1979 - D.2018 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 199. NADYA TOLOKONNIKOVA B.1989 - Norilsk, Russia 200. SAMAR BADAWI B.1981 - Saudi Arabia 201. JOAN BAEZ B.1941 - Staten Island, NY, USA 202. IBTISSAM LACHGAR B.1975 - Rabat, Morocco
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203. MIA HAMM B.1972 - Selma, AL, USA 204. GOLDA MEIR B.1898_D.1978 - Jerusalem, Israel 205. INDIRA GANDHI B.1917_D.1984 - Prayagraj, India 206. LAURA BUSH B.1946 - Midland, TX, USA 203
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207. ERIN BROCKOVICH B.1960 - Lawrence, KS 208. BARBRA BUSH B.1925_D.2018 - Manhattan, NY, USA 209. HILLARY CLINTON B.1947 - Chicago, IL, USA 210. JOHN STOLTENBERG B.1944 - California, USA 211. MICHAEL KAUFMAN B.1951 - Cleveland, OH, USA
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212. GARY BARKER B.Unknown - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 213. JUSTICE HARRY BLACKMUN B.1908_D.1999 - USA 214. GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN B.1829_D.1904 - Boston, MA, USA 215. PARKER PILLSBURY B.1809_D.1898 - Hamilton, MA, USA 216. FREDRIC DOUGLASS B.1818_D.1895 - Talbot County, MD, USA
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217. RALPH WALDO EMERSON B.1803_D.1882 - Boston, MA, USA 218. JOHN STUART MILL B.1806_D.1873 - London, UK 219. JERMEY BENTHAM B.1748_D.1832 - London, UK 220. LUCIUS VALERIUS B.Unknown_D.85 BC - Roman Republic 221. PLATO B.428/427 BC_D.348/347 BC - Ancient Greece
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THE FASHION STATEMENTS CHAPTER THREE
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JIGSAW Willie Cole - Mine Hill, NJ Willie Cole is a noted sculptor, printer and conceptual visual artist. According to Wikipedia, “Cole is best known for assembling and transforming ordinary domestic and used objects such as irons, ironing boards, high-heeled shoes, hair dryers, bicycle parts, wooden matches, lawn jockeys, and other discarded appliances and hardware, into imaginative and powerful works of art and installations.” Willie Cole’s eclectic work, often appropriating ideas and themes from African art and folk-art, has been the subject of several oneperson museum exhibitions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.
Cole’s creative process is inspired by nature. He explained: “I create the same way nature does; by replicating or multiplying a single cell (or object) until it becomes something new.” His use of found objects includes those that have had intimate or personal contact with humans. These personal objects he dubs “anxious objects”, as they are infused with memory, history, and pop culture references or mythology.
For Hotel Zena, Cole has created an interactive sculpture composed of ‘anxious objects’ in the form of upcycled high heels which are encapsulated within the glass box of the hotel’s reception desk.
“I create the same way nature does; by replicating or multiplying a single cell.” HOTEL ZENA
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FOOT FETISH Andrea Sheehan x John Curtis Designs We wanted to compliment Willie Coles Jigsaw sculpture and put a spot light on the love hate relationship that women often have with their shoes. DDA worked with John Curtis Designs to highlight famous quotes that speak to this ‘painfully’ complex relationship that only those who have worn high heels will endure.
“It is not so much about the shoes, but the person wearing them.” “I did everything he did but backwards and in high heels.” “Walking in high heels should be made an Olympic sport.” “It doesn’t matter how great your shoes are if you don’t accomplish anything in them.” “Shoes are just a pedestal. What interests me is the power of the woman who wears them.” HOTEL ZENA
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TALKING SEQUINS Andrea Sheehan x Julie Coyle Art Associates Women and fashion go hand in hand at Hotel Zena with playful installations that share a powerful story. What could be sexier than a sequined ‘gown’ layered in 12,000 protest buttons supporting the fight for Gender Equality and Women’s Rights? This was the inspiration behind the shimmering 20 foot long ‘gown’ mounted on the curving wall which serves as the backdrop to the hotel’s fun and stylish “Figleaf” (as in Adam and Eve) bar lounge. The display was created as a collaboration between the design team of Dawson Design Associates led by Andrea Sheehan, Julie Coyle Art Associates and Rose Brand. The complicated installation included hand-pinning every button onto the gown while on site and dealing with all the challenges of stacking and layering flat buttons on a curvilinear surface.
Julie Coyle noted, “Layered like sequins on a pretty dress, tens of thousands of protest buttons send the message that we are angry. Now is the time to show it. We hope that the statement made by massive amounts of protest buttons inspires a call to action as a reminder NOT to put up with what we are fed. Rise up, people. As we installed the buttons, people were visibly
“We hope that the statement made by massive amounts of protest buttons inspires a call to action as a reminder NOT to put up with what we are fed. Rise up, people.”
moved and every single person, male and female, admired the piece and
- Julie Coyle
the messaging it sends”.
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NEITHER JUST, NOR FREE Ann Lewis - Detroit, MI Ann Lewis is best known for her politically charged and often uncommissioned takeovers of public space. As a multidisciplinary activist artist using painting, installation, and participatory performance, she explores themes related to American identity, power structures, and justice. Ann’s work often incorporates repetition through graphic elements, and a limited color palette while conveying messages around intersectional social justice issues such as gentrification, women’s rights, and police brutality. Her work has been acquired by the New York Historical Society Museum and the US Library of Congress.
Lewis said: “I am interested in the power dynamics of society and the intended or unintended consequences when shifts in power go unchecked.” Through her art and her advocacy she aims to transform corrupt and patriarchal social structures, as well as racial and class inequities. Ann’s work for Hotel Zena honors Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman in Congress and only the second woman to run for President. The medium used are folding chairs. Chisholm is famous for saying: “If they don’t give
“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”
you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”
- Shirley Chisholm
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MACE Brian Mock - Aloha, OR Brian grew up near Portland, Oregon. In the late 1990s, he began sculpting with recycled metal and ignited his creative passion. His self-taught welding skills have since evolved with an artistry and craftsmanship characteristic of his work.”Giving old, everyday objects a new life as one sculpture is an artistically demanding, yet gratifying, process. My work is designed to emphasize resourcefulness and encourage viewer engagement. Audience reactions fuel my creativity and help me bring my visions to life.”
The Mace of the United States House of Representatives (also called “The Mace of the Republic”) is a ceremonial mace, as in war club, and one of oldest symbols of the United States government. It symbolizes the governmental authority of the United States, and more specifically, the legislative authority of the House of Representatives. At Hotel Zena, the club stands in front of a tribute to the indominable Shirley Chisholm. We reimagined the Mace, for we thought it should be a bit more powerful, more clearly a battle mace to underscore Chisholm’s spirit and the importance of victory.
“..the ‘Mace’ symbolizes the legislative authority of the House of Representatives.” HOTEL ZENA
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PHOTOBOOTH Andrea Sheehan x Julie Coyle Art Associates Hotel Zena was designed to be both playfully interactive and fun as it celebrates both the power and accomplishments of women.
DDA went to its favorite collaborator Julie Coyle who worked with her team to create a photobooth ‘in the round’ that allows our guests to send home photos of ‘their march’ on Washington regardless of the date. Julie and her team had fun adding their own messaging to the protest signs and created their own to share with hotel guests and their friends. Look at the faces and see if you can spot the celebrities.
“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.” - Ansel Adams
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LIGHTZILLA WALL LightZilla Known for constructing the world’s largest light wall, LightZilla custom fabricated a light wall at Hotel Zena for the pleasure of our guests. The Zena light wall offers a personal and engaging way for our guests to celebrate their own originality while having fun; to be part of the hotel’s interactive experience and to share their own visual messages. There is always space for creativity at Hotel Zena.
“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” - Gloria Steinem
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WORKING IT OUT Andrea Sheehan x JCAA x Lite Brite Neon Being “fit” can be the key factor to survival in many areas of the world. According to the World Health Organization, 35% of women will experience physical or sexual violence in their lives. Knowing the best ways to fend off attackers just makes common sense. Though self defense is no gimmick, it doesn’t mean it cannot be fun, RIGHT??!! The Studio of JCAA once again came through with our self defense back light panels to ‘shed some light’ on the subject of proper self-defense tactics.
Then Light Brite Neon made the goal all about the target.
Wake up, Kick Ass, Be Nice …or maybe not? Hotel Zena wants to make your morning workout something to smile about and at the same time remind us all of the importance of staying fit and enjoying the moment.
“When they go low, we go high.” - Michelle Obama
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POWER OF THE PURSE Michele Pred - Oakland, CA Michele Pred is a Swedish American conceptual artist whose skills include sculpture, assemblage and performance. Her work uncovers the cultural and political meaning behind everyday objects with a concentration on feminist themes such as equal pay, reproductive rights and personal security. In December 2017, Pred organized “Parade Against Patriarchy” in Miami during the Art Basel event. In November 2018, Pred lead “We Vote” -- an art and social justice parade in New York City to coincide with the midterm elections.
Pred chose purses as her canvas as a way to marry the powerful, politicallycharged language of today’s resistance with representations of women’s modern economic power and the possibilities for change that come with it. She said, “For me, the use of purses from the mid-twentieth century also calls back to that critical era in the women’s movement and reminds us how much power we have to effect meaningful change.”
Her work is a call to action encouraging both women and men to show up at the polls and vote.
“For me, the use of purses from the mid-twentieth century calls back to that critical era in the women’s movement and reminds us how much power we have to effect meaningful change.” HOTEL ZENA
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THE SEWING CIRCLE CHAPTER FOUR
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THE SEWING CIRCLE Women have gathered together in women’s circles throughout human history.
The ‘Sewing Circle Collection’ is Hotel Zena’s way of honoring these
In early societies these circles were tied to the moon and the female menstrual
amazing women. Globally searching out artists incorporating traditional
cycle, with meetings often held in red tents or ‘Moon Lodges’. It was a safe
sewing skills in compelling new ways, as they share their own stories and
and sacred gathering for women to support each other, share stories, lend
message. Placing them in quiet and private alcoves on each guestroom
warnings, teach lessons and even honor the Pagan Earth Goddesses of fertility.
floor as a reminder of the significance and contribution these women have quietly made as they silently impacted our lives.
The first nationwide female organization in America was founded in 1781 by Esther de Berdt Reed, who was to become President of the Philadelphia Ladies Association. Their mission was to raise enough funds to purchase fabric to sew thousands of shirts for Colonial troops fighting in America’s Revolutionary War. They were often disparaged, sometimes referred to as “General Washington’s Sewing Circle.” Elizabeth Coleman and Sarah Ernst organized African American women into the ‘Anti-Slavery Sewing Circle’ in Cincinnati, Ohio during the Civil War. They sewed clothing for runaway slaves.
Sewing Circles are still critically important today in many parts of the world, as eloquently described by the brave ‘Saheli Women’ helping women to survive in the slums of India. Though sewing circles in the West have lost popularity as women’s rights have improved, the popularity of Women’s Circles themselves remain and can be found in most cities.
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HER FLAG Marilyn Artus - Tulsa, OK Marilyn Artus has been a curator, commercial artist, burlesque promoter, event planner and female artist mentor. She has created shows that explore the suffragist era in the U.S., paid tribute to an assortment of women in American history and most recently been using the American flag as a vehicle for feminist exploration. She graduated with a B.F.A from the University of Oklahoma and then rolled into a commercial art career for 16 years. In 2003, she co-founded The Girlie Show, a two-day art festival in Oklahoma City whose mission is to promote, celebrate, encourage and showcase female talent. In 2009, she began a full-time career as a fiber artist. She said this about herself and her art: “Being female is my greatest curiosity. It is a never ending resource of joy and heartache that inspires me. My passion is working with materials that are unexpected as a vehicle for fiber-making to explore this curiosity.” The year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Marilyn is marking the occasion by collaborating with a woman artist in each of the 36 states that ratified the amendment. Together they are participating in a project Artus calls, “Her Flag.” Two of the flags completed as part of the project are on display at Hotel Zena. Both were crafted using mixed media, including 100 year old postcards.
“I like to use numbers in my work to highlight how women are measured in ways in which men just aren’t.” HOTEL ZENA
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WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING Amber Robles-Gordon - Washington, D.C. Amber Robles-Gordon is a visual artist of Puerto Rican and Afro-Caribbean descent and a long-time resident of Washington, D.C.. “As a woman, a mother and creator of art, I believe creating and using one’s imagination is an inherent gift.” Robles-Gordon has been an art teacher, an exhibiting artist and an art exhibition coordinator, coordinating experiences. She completed her Master of Fine Arts at Howard University, Washington, D.C. in November 2011.
Roble-Gordon chooses to work with fabrics and textiles partly as a rebellion against the traditionally paternalistic norms that exist within the art industry. Historically, working with fabric and textile has been considered “women’s craft” reflecting broader gender-based social roles and divisions of labor. As a consequence, work with fabric and textiles has been devalued. The title of her creation: ‘With Every Fiber of My Being’ is a reflection of herself. “I create with every fiber of my being because I have to - it brings me joy.”
“I have a very strong connection to working with fabric and textiles. I consider fabric to be a metaphysical second skin.” HOTEL ZENA
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ANOTHER F WORD Kristina Penhoet - Washington, D.C. Penhoet began working with fiber and textiles as a small child. She learned to crochet and sew during her summer visits to her grandmother’s farm on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest. She continued to crochet and sew while earning a degree in biology. After graduation, Kristina decided to go to Art School and enrolled at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles where she concentrated on sculpture and environmental design, and where she also began to work in film production and stage design. Inspired by production design work and a continued interest in form and space, she decided to pursue a graduate degree in architecture. After 10 years working as an architect, she began focusing once again on art and rediscovered fiber as a medium to create abstract sculptural forms.
In an era when women can “have it all” (if not always at the same time), there is still one thing that only they can do…produce off-spring. In Kristina’s piece, this fecundity is represented through the careful entanglement of layers of natural fibers spun using traditional and modern felt-making techniques employed by generations of women to shelter and clothe their families. The forms express an essential cycle of life, inviting the viewer to contemplate the maternal experience with its joys, frustrations, and responsibilities.
“In an era when women can ‘have it all’ (if not always at the same time), there is still one thing only they can do…produce offspring.” HOTEL ZENA
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FAITH, GRACE & HARMONY Gina Morton - London, United Kingdom London-based interdisciplinary artist Gina Morton creates work in varying mediums. Her current focus is on textile-based abstract embroidery through which she explores the relationship between art and craft, and how historically gender can impact this classification. Often working with brightly colored yarns, thread and wool, Morton applies the traditionally male pursuit of abstraction to the traditionally female pursuit of embroidery. The result subverts the common assumptions associated with these two art forms and unites them creating a vibrant new aesthetic. Morton has participated in exhibitions across the UK, and taken commissions for various projects from various business and non-profits, including Liberty Human Rights Organizations 80th anniversary.
Morton’s artwork often expresses a critical view of societal and cultural attitudes that have a negative impact on women. Her creation for Hotel Zena, ‘Faith, Grace and Harmony’, was named and inspired after three pioneering women in their fields: Faith Ringgold, Grace Hopper and Harmony Hammond. By creating this work using a medium based in female collaboration, friendship and networks of support, Morton hopes to ignite conversation and raise awareness of the brilliant women who came before, and who helped construct the foundations which have enabled later generations to succeed.
“Women supporting and working together for a better, more equal society for all, to me, has never been more relevant.” HOTEL ZENA
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COURAGE CALLS TO COURAGE Kathy Taylor - London, United Kingdom As a teenager Kathy Taylor was passionate about the environment and loved art. After graduating with a degree in Environmental Science, she worked as a biologist for the next 20 years. Taylor became an environmental activist in the 1970s inspired by Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s landmark book which expresses concern for the future of the planet and calls on humans to act responsibly as stewards of the earth. Taylor’s passion for the environment did not prevent her from pursuing her artistic interests. In her 50s, this environmental activist changed her career. She studied garden design, started a business and earned a B.F.A. at Central Saint Martins in London. She is currently an artist, climate activist, and devoted feminist.
Taylor’s diptych for Hotel Zena centers on Rachel Carson and Greta Thunberg, two renowned environmental activists and whistle-blowers who expose environmental abuse to science-based facts and reason. Both have fought relentlessly to defend the planet in the face of intense vocal and legal opposition from private, corporate and even government interests. Carson’s magical ability to communicate the complexities and wonders of science through her writings helped spark the world-wide environmental movement. Greta Thunberg is another portrait in courage. The teenager has twice been nominated for the
“Together and united, we are unstoppable.” - Greta Thunberg
Nobel Peace Prize for her work as an international environmental activist.
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ELBOW GREASE & MANCHES RETURNEES Elisabeth LeCourt - London, United Kingdom Elisabeth LeCourt has received international attention for her famous map dresses, her ‘Les Robes Geographic’. She works with both antique and modern maps to craft her distinctive dress installations, while exploring themes of vulnerability and sensitivity. In 2004 she received the BIDA for Best Newcomer. In 2015 she was invited to participate in the Cheongju International Craft Biennale at the National Museum of Modern Art in Cheongju, South Korea. Her work has also been exhibited in London, Rotterdam, Paris, Amsterdam and Turin and has been featured in publications worldwide including Marie Claire and Maison, Vogue Italy, Elle Decoration, Grazia, The Times and Living. LeCourt was born in Oloron Sainte-Marie, France and currently resides and works in London.
With this artwork, LeCourt wanted to show how the limits imposed on women by society meant that historically, women have used every medium at their disposal to fight for their rights and express themselves as individuals, including fashion and the written word. ‘Elbow Grease & Manches Returnees’ (manchee returnee is French for ‘Sleeves Up’) combines both. The garment was fabricated from feminist literature empowering women and local to Washington, D.C.
“From the Suffragettes to #MeToo, women on both side of the Atlantic have risen in unison, and this fantasy dress is a tribute to their fearlessness and talent.” HOTEL ZENA
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UNRAVEL Rania Hassan - Washington, D.C. Rania Hassan creates installations that combine knitting with painting to weave sculptural stories about our connections to time, place, and circumstance. Her artwork is included in the permanent collections of the National Institutes of Health, Amazon Web Services, and the District of Columbia’s Art Bank Collection. Previous solo exhibitions include The Front, Gormley Gallery, and Artisphere. In 2009 she received a Craft Award of Excellence from the James Renwick Alliance and has been awarded multiple grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
The five main themes Hassan explores involve
time, memory, identity,
synchronicity, and community. Her chosen surface is wood, which she stitches with the most delicate hand knit copper, stainless steel, silk, linen, and bamboo threads. The series displayed at Hotel Zena started because of her fascination with knitting, her love for painting, and her interest and involvement in the community of fiber artists working around the world. In reference to her creation ‘Unravel’ she said, “I think about how it links me to my mother, her mother, and all the generations of women who came before them—with the thread representing our lives, and all the different interpretations and paths we may follow. Through a single thread, we are all connected.”
“It links me to my mother, her mother, and all the generations of women who came before them... Through a single thread, we are all connected.” HOTEL ZENA
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NOT BAD Margaret Timbrell - San Fransisco, CA Margaret Timbrell is a conceptual needlework artist with a multi-disciplinary degree from New York University. Her work is inspired by various influences such as technology, parenthood, perseverance and failure that alter language and engagement. She is a Brazilian- American and lives with her family in San Francisco. Timbrell has exhibited at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Eleanor Harwood Gallery, and various galleries around the U.S. She has participated in various Artist in Residences programs, including one at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles.
Timbrell’s piece, ‘Not Bad’, is a nod to traditional craft and female imagery, but it is also inspired by sardonic happy/sad combos as found in the music of the 1980s British group the Smiths. The work is all happy imagery, paired with sometimes brutal feedback comments. Timbrell sourced partially needle-pointed canvas and then stitched in petit point the feedback she had received about her artwork. “Not Bad” also touches on the female experience where it is culturally acceptable for strangers to comment upon a woman’s appearance. This juxtaposing of traditional needlepoint themes with the sometimes unkind and often unsolicited feedback of her art, contrasts traditional pretty and light-hearted needlework with gently negative words.
“This pairing of traditional flower theme, with the sometimes unkind and often unsolicited feedback contrasts the pretty and light-hearted needlework with the harshness of words.” HOTEL ZENA
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THE CHILD WHO HELD BACK THE SEA Deanna Tyson - Cambridge, United Kingdom Deanna Tyson’s keynote work is inspired by the Japanese kimono. Her discipline involves exploring complex sociopolitical themes through the ubiquitous medium of textiles, often drawing parallels between sociopolitical themes and fairy tales. Deanna has a joint degree in Fine Art and English Literature awarded by The University of Newcastle upon Tyne. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, has curated many exhibitions, and teaches from her own studio in Cambridge.
‘The Child Who Held Back the Sea’ is a tribute to the teenage environmental activist, Greta Thunberg. It draws parallels between Greta’s attempts to hold back the forces of climate change against a sea of climate change deniers, and the hero of ‘The Silver Shoes’ by Hans Brinkner, who selflessly holds back the forces of the North Sea by plugging a breach in a dyke wall with his finger -- saving his country from deadly floods. Tyson borrows the menacing metaphor of Katsushika Hokusai’s famous woodblock print, ‘The Wave’ to symbolize the power and fury of climate change. The wave is composed of chemically dyed denim jeans, it’s crest polluted by plastic waste. The choice of fabric is mainly symbolic: man-made plastics and carbon-guzzling denim jeans versus natural cork and village-woven silk.
“Deanna employs both painting and sewing techniques, drawing with her sewing machine and layering fabrics as a painter layers paints.” HOTEL ZENA
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BORDADOS Ana Teresa Barboza - Lima, Peru AnaTeresa Barboza lives and works in Lima, Peru.The internationally acclaimed artist has had her work exhibited in Lima, Peru; Mar del Plata, Argentina; La Paz, Bolivia; New York, Houston, Miami, Barcelona, Madrid, Geneva, Paris and Taipei. She participated in the Australian Tapestry Workshop Artist-inResidence program (2019); the Fubon artist residency program in Taipei (2017); Utopiana in Geneva (2015); and the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris (2014). She was rewarded the MAC National Award for Art and Innovation (2010); First Prize at the Second National Painting Contest organized by the Central Bank of Reserve Peru; and the Ninth Visual Arts Contest “Passport for an artist” organized by the Embassy of France (2006).
Barboza works with textiles and mixed media to produce intricately embroidered and woven works of art. Working with her hands gives her the possibility to transform different materials and reflect on the process of “doing.” In her work she intertwines photography from her own personal portfolio, including several that are autobiographical. She continuously explores and takes inspiration from her surrounding environment. She strives to understand the things that happen in her environment - taking them from the personal to the collective.
“Working with her hands gives her the possibility to transform different materials and reflect on the process of ‘doing’.” HOTEL ZENA
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SAHELI WOMEN Saheli Women - Rajasthan, India Saheli Women is a nonprofit clothing manufacturer and ethical fashion social enterprise located in rural Rajasthan, India and centered in the village of Bhikamkor. Saheli Women employs twenty-eight women, providing them with fair wages, health insurance coverage, and a safe work environment free from gender, religious and caste discrimination. “Saheli” is the Hindi word for “female friend,” and the name reflects the organization’s mission, which is to empower women through the development of their economic selfsufficiency. Saheli Women was founded by Madhu Vaishnav, the Founder and Director of the Institute for Philanthropy and Humanitarian Development, a non-profit working with grassroots development in rural villages. One day she came to the realization that because every woman in the village of Bhikamkor owned a sewing machine as part of their marriage dowry, she could set up a skills-training course where the women could be trained to collaborate in the production of sellable fashion. The process of moving the women from their home environments to a cooperative working environment proved challenging, for the move represented a difficult cultural shift. The women’s success has meant that some of the women are earning higher salaries than their husbands.
A continuing challenge to grassroots development in India is how to alter cultural norms, especially those that belittle and even endanger women, while maintaining traditional family values. Saheli Women has earned recognition for its work, which represent a creative blend of local craft and alluring fashion. For Hotel Zena, Saheli Women has created a traditional Rajasthani Jacket which celebrates the village women’s skillsets and talents. The portrait of each women has been delicately embroidered into a garment; their portraits complimented by colorful, traditional Rajasthan embellished patterns.
“Earning an income is female empowerment.” - Kamla, Saheli Women HOTEL ZENA
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A DEVICE YOU LONG TO UNRAVEL Esther Miles - Kent, United Kingdom Miles graduated from Goldsmiths College, University of London, in 2007. She went on to study design focusing on knitwear at the London College of Fashion. After graduating, she worked in illustration and design. Miles believes that experience has contributed to her success as an artist for it cemented her graphically clean style. She has been a freelance artist working internationally. In her spare time Esther teaches classes on art and textiles and she also volunteers as an art therapist with women and children suffering from mental health issues.
Esther’s work is made up of multiple modules that are cut and woven together to create intricate three–dimensional pieces. Textile practices are referenced throughout her body of work. As a feminist artist she is concerned with the tension between fine and applied art. She notes that women artists of the British Arts and Craft Movement were the starting point for the triptych she created for Hotel Zena. She added that the deep and vibrant colors used by painter and poet Kate Bunce (1856 – 1927) has informed the palate and textural quality of the painting, and that the stained glass of artist Mary Lowndes (1857-1929) of the Artists Suffrage League has inspired the linear quality, title and empowering message of the piece.
While Esther considers her work to be thought-provoking, it is important to her that her paintings are tactile and inviting. HOTEL ZENA
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INDEX: Alexandr Sutula Amber Robles-Gordon Ana Teresa Barboza Andreas Lie Ania Hobson Ann Lewis Axiom Brian Mock Chanel Compton DAC Art Consulting Deanna Tyson Dominique Fierro Elisabeth LeCourt Esther Miles Gina Morton Hatty Butler Heather Lynn
33 118 134 33 70 98 32 24, 100 52 33 132 68 126 140 122 54 40
John Curtis Designs 94 Julie Coyle / Studio JCAA 30, 32, 50, 76, 96, 102, 106 Kathy Taylor Kevin Barry Fine Arts Kristina Penhoet Lightlite LightZilla
124 34 120 18 104
Liora K Lite Brite Neon Louisa Powell Magdalena Russocka Maggie O’Neill Marcelina Amelia Marilyn Artus Margaret Timbrell Michele Pred Michelle Shiyu Chen MISS CHELOVE Natasha Kumar Nguyen Khuyen Peggy Kane Pınar Baklan Önal Rachel Herbert Rania Hassan Red Swan Rose Jaffe Saheli Women Sandra-Mack Valencia Shaun Gagg Shawn Man Roland Steven Kenny Toby Short Willie Cole Yngrid Chacon Zolo Tarevs
74 106 60 33 66 64 114 130 108 62 12, 14 72 56 33 38 14 128 28 22, 44 136 33 20 42 33 26 92 58 34
Thanks to all the players that made this project come to life and the artists who shared their messages. A special thanks to Jason Bowens for sharing so many amazing Washington D.C. artists and to Julie Coyle for her outstanding contribution and collaboration. To Pebblebrook and the creative team of DDA, well done!
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THE ZENA COLLECTION 2020