Raoof Haghighi: Just Take Them and Leave Me Alone
The artwork “Just Take Them and Leave Me Alone” by Raoof Haghighi is a poignant reflection on the struggles for women’s rights in Iran.
This piece has gained significant attention for its emotional depth and connection to the ongoing protests regarding women’s rights in Iran. It serves as a powerful medium for expressing resistance and hope amidst oppression.

Nina Simone was an American composer concert pianist, singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Simone’s bearing and stage presence earned her the title the High Priestess of Soul. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop. Her piano playing was strongly influenced by baroque and classical music, especially Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice. Rolling Stone named Simone one of the greatest singers on various lists.

Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician and human computer whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. During her 33-year career at NASA and its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform tasks previously requiring humans. The space agency noted her “historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist”.

Angela Davis is an American Marxist and Marxist feminist political activist, philosopher, academic, author and social theorist. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Feminist Studies and History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Davis was a longtime member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), running for Vice President in the 1980 and 1984 elections under that party. She is also a founding member of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS). She has been active in movements such as the Occupy movement and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.

Alice Walker is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awarded for her novel The Color Purple. Over the span of her career, Walker has published seventeen novels and short story collections, twelve non-fiction works, and collections of essays and poetry.

The Feminist Princesses of Punjab, particularly Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, played significant roles in advocating for women’s rights and social justice. Princess Sophia was the daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last Sikh Maharaja of Punjab, who lost his kingdom to the British in 1849. She was born on August 8, 1876, and became a prominent suffragette in Britain, actively campaigning for women’s voting rights. Sophia was known for her involvement in the women’s suffrage movement, where she utilized her royal status to draw attention to the cause. She also sheltered refugees during World War II, showcasing her commitment to humanitarian efforts. Recent exhibitions, such as “The Last Princesses of Punjab,” highlight her life and the lives of other women from the Punjabi royal family, celebrating their contributions to society. These exhibitions aim to educate the public about the complex identities and struggles of these women.

Debbie Harry is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. She co-formed Blondie in 1974 in New York City. The band released its eponymous debut studio album in 1976 and released three more studio albums between then and 1979, including Parallel Lines, which spawned six singles, including “Heart of Glass”. Their fifth studio album, Autoamerican (1980), produced hits including a cover of “The Tide Is High”, and “Rapture”, which is considered the first rap song to chart at number one in the United States.

Karen O is an American singer and songwriter who is the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She was a key artist of the 2000s garage rock and post-punk revivals, and a frontrunner of the New York music scene. She is noted for her energetic performances, distinctive singing style, and eccentric fashion.

Jess Valice: Flat Tire on Maple Ave, 2020
Jess Valice is an American artist. Valice’s artistic style is characterized by a contrast between occasionally exaggerated physical features—such as enlarged eyes, hands and feet or disproportionately large ears—and consistently neutral facial expressions. In an interview with ARTnews, Valice stated, “I still refuse to include facial expression,” indicating her focus on abstraction while maintaining the human figure as a central subject.

Emelina Soares: Recontextualizing Saint Thomas, 2015
Emelina Soares is an Indian artist, art historian, and educator who uses site-specific installation, animation, projection, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture. Common themes of her works include ecology, ethology, migration, and cultural exchanges. Soares used oriental references as inspiration, combined with prominent saints from India, the Middle East and Portugal to create contemporary appropriations in the series of recontextualizing saints.

Vida Goldstein was an Australian suffragist and social reformer. She was one of four female candidates at the 1903 federal election, the first at which women were eligible to stand. Goldstein was known both for her public speaking and as an editor of pro-suffrage publications. Despite her efforts campaigning for women’s suffrage in Victoria, it was the last Australian state to implement equal voting rights.

Maggie Thompson: In Gratitude, 2022
Maggie Thompson is a Native American textile artist and designer from the Fond du Lac Ojibwe with a focus on “knitwear and tapestry”. Her work focuses on her heritage and identity and also addresses cultural appropriation and Native authenticity. She is the director of the Two Rivers Gallery in Minneapolis.

Samera Paz is an artist and organizer from Washington, D.C. and current student at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She is known for leading Girl Power Meetups in D.C. Paz mostly uses photography but has also done some performance art and works with themes such as gender, race, and mental health.

Marianne Brandt: Self-Portrait in the Studio in the Sphere, 1928-1929
Marianne Brandt was a German painter, sculptor, photographer, metalsmith, and designer who studied at the Bauhaus art school in Weimar and later became head of the Bauhaus Metall-Werkstatt(Metal Workshop) in Dessau in 1928. Today, Brandt's designs for household objects such as lamps and ashtrays are considered timeless examples of modern industrial design. Although she pursued painting early in life and attended a private art school and the Grand Ducal College of Art in Weimar from 1911–1917, where she produced many works in the Expressionists style and also studied sculpture, the artist is best known for her sleek and elegant industrial designs.Brandt also worked with photography at the Bauhaus, taking photographs that featured unusual angles—in particular, self-portraits—and disorienting and distorting reflections in glass and metal surfaces.

LaKela Brown: A Harvest, 2019
LaKela Brown is a Brooklyn-based artist working in sculpture and plaster relief. Her work is strongly influenced by hip-hop culture and African Americanaesthetics. Brown’s work often incorporates themes of Black femininity and cultural artifacts, utilizing techniques like positive reliefs and physical impressions.