Women-run spaces reached a zenith in the 1960s-70s with the international prominence of women’s rights in this period of second-wave feminism. Artist-run initiatives such as A.I.R. Gallery, Heresies Collective, and Women Artists in Revolution-WAR (both New York, NY) and Womanhouse (Los Angeles, CA) centered on elevating awareness of women artists in the same way that national organizations such as the National Organization for Women (NOW) sought to spotlight women’s rights in the United States. This talk will center on local and national levels of women’s networks and detail how women-run art spaces and initiatives plugged into that, including a look at some of the ways in which these efforts continue into the present day. Roughly 50 mins with Q&A.

Audra Verona Lambert is Curator at the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art at the University of Southern Indiana / Audra is based in New Harmony, IN.  She holds an M.A. in Art History and Visual Culture from Lindenwood University (2022) (St. Charles, MO) where her thesis, titled ‘Select Heresies Issues Published from 1977-79: Situating the Individual in Late Second-wave Feminism’ centered on second-wave feminist art collective ‘Heresies’. From 2020-22 she served as Director, Amos Eno Gallery: an artist-run gallery founded in 1974 in New York City. Her curatorial focus is on artist-run spaces, public art, and feminisms. She’s helmed exhibits including the current USI exhibit, “Look Both Ways: 50 Years at the NHGCA,” on view until 11/9, along with shows at the Yeshiva University Museum (2017), Fountain House Gallery (2015), Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (2013), and more. In Spring 2026, forthcoming exhibits will take place in Indianapolis, IN, and Tarrant County, TX. Lambert began her graduate studies at City College of NY-CUNY where she studied public art in Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey on a Connor Study Abroad Fellowship (2016-20.) She holds a B.A. in Art History and Asian Studies, minor in Business, from St. Peter’s University (2009) (Jersey City, NJ,) with a study abroad certificate from Kansai Gaidai University (2008) (Hirakata City, Japan.)