This exhibition marks the 125th anniversary of the National Association of Women Artists (N.A.W.A.), the oldest American women's art organization, established in 1889. N.A.W.A.'s original purpose was to help women artists counter the difficulties they faced in gaining recognition and equality in professional training, exhibition opportunities, and the marketplace. Past members included Pat Adams, Theresa Bernstein, Dorothy Dehner, Malvina Hoffman, Louise Nevelson, and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. Today, with over 850 members nationwide, N.A.W.A. continues its mission with exhibitions and educational programming.

This year’s 125th Annual Exhibition, a forum where members send in self-selected works, features the work of over 290 member artists in a wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, mixed media and computer/digital-based art. Over thirty awards determined by women professional in the visual arts will be presented, including the dispersal of approximately $10,000 in prizes.

N.A.W.A's documented exhibitions are archived within The Smithsonian Institution Archives; the Museum of Modern Art; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; the Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago; the Library of Congress; the National Museum of Women in the Arts; the Frick Art Reference Library; and the New York Public Library. For more information, visit: http://thenawa.org andwww.nawaonlinegallery.org.

A reception for the exhibition will be held on Thursday, October 9, 2014 from 6:30 – 8:30pm, with the awards ceremony to take place at7:15p.m.