Artist Judith Anthony Johnston

The 2022 Invitational opens at the Cathedral Cultural Center June 19th and runs through August 28th.

Choosing the Right Paper for Incredible Professional Portraits One of the most common questions I get from Marathon customers is which papers I recommend for portrait images or what are my personal favorites. Being a Fine Arts Degree

Happy 106th birthday to Cuban-American artist Carmen Herrera, who held her first solo show at a major New York City gallery at the age of 100! Although Herrera has been painting abstract, minimalist art since the 1940s, her boldly colored work was virtually unknown until recently. As a young artist trying to establish herself decades ago, she struggled to break into the male-dominated art world; at one point gallerist Rose Fried told her, “You can paint circles around my men artists, but I'm not going to show you because you are a woman.” Even facing such challenges, Herrera continued to paint and, at long last, she had a solo exhibition at the Lisson Gallery in 2016, followed by a solo show of her early work at the prestigious Whitney Museum later that year.

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1915, Herrera began painting seriously when she moved to Paris in 1948. When she returned to New York in 1954 -- and had her hopes dashed for showing in the galleries there -- she said it “felt like I had been slapped in the face.” But she kept painting daily, a habit she has continued to this day, and her talent was rediscovered in 1998 when she had a show at the Museo Del Barrio. In fact, Alex Logsdail, Lisson Gallery’s international director, says that “her practice continues to evolve, and in some ways, has gotten better at this stage in her life.” And Herrera can’t imagine ever giving up creating art: “It’s a passion,” she says. “Every morning, I get up, I have breakfast, I go to the table and I begin drawing.”

For a new art book about her work, we recommend "Carmen Herrera: Estructuras" at https://amzn.to/2SDzPnY

For two excellent books to introduce kids to a wide range of women in the arts, we recommend "Women Artists A to Z" for ages 6 to 10 (https://www.amightygirl.com/women-artists-a-to-z) and "Women in Art: 50 Fearless Creatives Who Inspired the World" for ages 9 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/women-in-art)

For books to help young children discover their own inner artist -- all for ages 4 to 8 -- we also recommend "The Dot" (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-dot), "Sky Color" (https://www.amightygirl.com/sky-color-book), "Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color" (https://www.amightygirl.com/swatch), and "Louise Loves Art" (https://www.amightygirl.com/louise-loves-art)

To inspire children and teens with the stories of artistic girls and women - both in real-life and fiction - visit our "Creative Arts" book section at http://amgrl.co/2ibkDIQ

And, if you'd like to encourage your own Mighty Girl's interest in the arts, check out our blog post "Growing Creativity: 60 Arts and Crafts Toys for Mighty Girls," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=10465

Laurence des Cars to Become First Woman to Direct Louvre She currently leads the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie.