History Fort Lauderdale to Present VISIONS OF WOMEN Exhibit in April

History Fort Lauderdale will present “Visions of Women,” its first ever fine art exhibition from the National League of American Pen Women Fort Lauderdale Branch (NLAPW). This new exhibition will feature art from NLAPW award-winning artists/members Claudia Hafner, Judy Nunno, Phoenix, Donna Sallee, and Tammy Seymour, from April 4 – 30. A meet and greet with the artists will take place on opening day, Thursday, April 4, from 6 – 8 p.m., at the New River Inn Museum of History building on History Fort Lauderdale's campus.

“We are delighted to showcase the National League of American Pen Women Fort Lauderdale Branch's creative contributions that empower and inspire,” said Patricia Zeiler, executive director of History Fort Lauderdale. “We are honored to have been chosen to present the phenomenal talents of these brilliant artists and this exhibition is a perfect complement to our in-house Women Trailblazers exhibit highlighting influential female role models in our community.”

“Visions of Women” will feature a collection of artworks joined by the theme of “empowering women” and the subjects and causes that inspire them to motivate others. According to Phoenix, president of NLAPW, the conceptual basis for this exhibition was the 100th anniversary of the formal adoption of the 19th Amendment into the U.S. Constitution. This landmark victory granted women the constitutional right to vote. For Pen Women this has extra significance. Its organization was founded in 1897 by Marian Longfellow Donoghue (niece of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) to empower professional women journalists who were discriminated against and excluded by major publications. The original intent of Pen Women founders to find “mutual aid, advice, future development” for professional women artists still resonates.

“Today, while our organization is primarily a community of visual professional artists, we believe in the power of art to illuminate the human experience, fire the imagination and nurture the soul,” said Tammy Seymour, NLAPW's art chair. “To that end, by exhibiting at History Fort Lauderdale, Pen Women can further showcase the talents of our members while inspiring and educating the community with the strength and creativity of accomplished local women artists.”

History Fort Lauderdale, proud steward of our community's past by making our heritage accessible and engaging to residents and visitors, hosts a variety of engaging multicultural experiences, year-round. It seeks to bring awareness to the community through both traveling exhibits and multiple permanent exhibits including “Women Trailblazers,” “Fort Lauderdale – the Early Years,” “The African American Experience,” “Fashion & Musical Theatre,” “From Dugouts to Dream Yachts: the story of boatbuilding along the New River,” Seminole Arts & Culture,” “New River Archaeology,”  “Viva Fort Lauderdale: Celebrating Hispanic Art & Culture,” and,  “Take PRIDE, a retrospective on LGBTQ life in South Florida.” The nonprofit museum also hosts an artists' collective collaborative space.

History Fort Lauderdale is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. with docent guided tours, daily, at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Group walking tours are available upon special request. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors and $7 for students (through age 22 with a valid student ID). Admission is free for members, military and children ages six and under. Tickets are available online at HistoryFortLauderdaleTickets.

For more information about History Fort Lauderdale, please call (954) 463-4431 or visit us online at historyfortlauderdale.org. Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/ftlhistory, on Instagram @ftlhistory and on Twitter @FTLHistory. Subscribe to us on YouTube at youtube.com/user/FTLhistory.

About History Fort Lauderdale

History Fort Lauderdale, celebrating 62 years of being the proud steward of our community's past by making our heritage accessible and engaging to residents and visitors, brings the stories of our diverse community to life through engaging educational experiences, innovative cultural exhibits, research and preservation of artifacts. Guests to Fort Lauderdale are invited to explore the city's rich past that is housed in historic buildings on a lushly landscaped campus - the History Museum of Fort Lauderdale situated in the 1905 New River Inn, the 1907 Pioneer House Museum, the 1899 Ivy Cromartie Schoolhouse Museum and the Hoch Research Library, South Florida's foremost history center housing print resources and newspapers from 1910 - present plus 400,000 archival photos, 2,500 maps and 5,000 architectural blueprints. History Fort Lauderdale is located at 231 SW Second Avenue in Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are available online at http://bit.ly/HistoryFortLauderdaleTickets. History Fort Lauderdale is a nonprofit agency supported by memberships, grants and charitable contributions.

About Fort Lauderdale Branch of the National League of American Pen Women (NLAPW)

For more than 65 years, the Fort Lauderdale Branch of the National League of American Pen Women (NLAPW) has been a prestigious nonprofit organization of professional women in the arts – published writers, authors, poets, musical composers and award-winning visual artists. Our visual artists work in a variety of media including acrylic, watercolor, oil, sculptor, porcelain and photography. Many of our artists teach in the South Florida area; many are award-winning artists nationally and internationally and collected worldwide. All are passionate about encouraging talented young women to pursue their college arts education degrees and raise funds each year to award three $1,250 Achievement Awards to deserving women art students at Broward College. At 125 years old, NLAPW is the oldest women's art organization in America. Its corporate headquarters is based in Washington, D.C. and over sees more than 80 branches. The league boasts membership of such prominent women as Eleanor Roosevelt, Erma Bombeck, Grandma Moses, Georgia O'Keefe as well as Pearl S. Buck and Maya Angelo. Vinnie Ream, the only woman to sculpt President Lincoln from life, was an early member of NLAPW. Her statue of Lincoln now stands in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. The national organization has over 1,600 members; The Fort Lauderdale Branch has over 50 members and affiliated friends. For more information, visit lauderdalepenwomen.wixsite.com/nlapw.

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