eAlert: 3/19 – Women’s Art at JA Mtg.

An alert from the US Section of the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

Women’s History Month in our 110th year

Join the Jane Addams Branch on Wednesday, March 19 showcasing two long-time WILPF US feminist artists

March 19, 2025

5 pm PDT / 6 pm MDT / 7 pm CDT/ 8 pm EDT

Now is the time for their herstories.

Now is the time to put art into action once again!

On Wednesday, March 19, the Jane Addams Branch honors the ‘hands-on and roll-up-your-sleeves’ work of art which Addams thought essential in the creating an ethical democracy that sustains freedom and justice. See below for more information on our two featured speakers, dedicated exemplars of art in action. You can act too!.

Join together to support your sisters in solidarity and see you at the Jane Addams Branch meeting. Following our guest speakers’ presentations, we’ll have a short time for Q&A.

Zoom in using this link and hear more about what is happening in WILPF US! Tell us what YOU think!

We’ll then welcome announcements – from Board members, Issue Committee Chairs, Branch leaders and everyone else. If you have any question about anything WILPF, this is your chance to ask it!

These monthly third-Wednesday meetings are at

5 pm PT / 6 pm MT / 7 pm CT/ 8 pm ET.

We welcome all WILPF members and all those interested in WILPF principles to these meetings.

Our monthly gatherings help us, as WILPF members, connect and collaborate across the country. These JA Br. events feature guest speakers, special announcements from WILPF US leaders (Board members, International Reps, issue committee and ad hoc committee chairs, and branch chairs), and comments and discussion by and with all attendees. Join us each month!

More about This Month’s Featured Speakers and Their Presentations

Gertrude "Trudy/Myrrh" Reagan

Gertrude “Trudy/Myrrh” Reagan’s presentation is based on her talk “Through Recent History with Myrrh.” It’s a historical journey with humor and biting critiques of the U.S. government that could have been etched at this very moment. She is a curious artist who immerses herself in art and science using her boisterous world of peace activism that seems timeless.

She reflected on own efforts few years ago:

I straddle two worlds. My scientific family and studies have given me a close-up view of the scientific endeavor. Its work, driven by curiosity and belief in logical methods, and conducted with an obedience to truthfulness, have inspired me to incorporate science ideas and images into my art since 1967. My other world is that of a practicing Quaker. Through my engagement with Quaker service work and through a stunning experience of the Inner Light that I had half a lifetime ago, I am moving toward an amplified view of how to be in the world.

You can see the varied aspects of her work here.

Deborah Vanko

Deborah Vanko’s quote above is from Ms. Magazine (November 2, 2024), which presented her current collection . The article by Roxanne Szal, was entitled: “We Heart: Feminist Art on Display in Texas Declares, ‘Be Afraid We Are Coming For You’.” That’s taken from Vanko’s poem “Woman Chant”, which declares:

You like us beautiful

You like us quiet

We are not here to serve you

You can’t control us

You can’t stop us.

That poem frames her words of resistance. Vanko’s day job is as a psychotherapist, yet her dedication to the practice of political activism and art overflows with vibrancy of purpose, even in the utensils, bits, and pieces of thrown away objects. She hangs items up or on to bits of women’s anatomy – with a certain daring.

View her work here.

Join us at the JAB each month on the third Wednesday!

For more information, please contact JABrCon@WILPFUS.org .

Dianne Blais, WILPF US Jane Addams Branch Convener

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Women's International League for Peace and Freedom/US Section

PO Box 13075 | Des Moines, IA 50310 | 617-266-0999 | www.wilpfus.org

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