A Queens-based women’s organization is calling on students to honor Women’s History Month through art.
For the next two weeks, the Center for the Women of New York (CWNY) wants children and teens to make signs and posters based on those seen at modern-day women’s marches, like the 2020 NYC Women’s March in Manhattan.
On Jan. 18, CWNY members participated at the march, hosted by the Women’s March Alliance. The fourth annual event was one of several nationwide and highlighted issues like reproductive rights, pay equity, climate change, LGBTQ rights and immigration reform.
The contest is open to students in grades 5 through 12 in all of the five boroughs. Entries must be an original creation, either hand-drawn or painted on 8.5 x 11 paper.
Once complete, students must take a photo of their posters and submit digital files in .jpg form to cwnywalk@gmail.com with the subject line “poster contest.” Students should include their full name, grade, school name, school address and school telephone number in the email body.
Submissions are due by Monday, Feb. 24, by 8 p.m. Contest winners will receive a certificate in honor of the late CWNY founder, Ann Juliano Jawin. The women’s rights activist died at the end of December just weeks after fulfilling her goal of opening a Fort Totten women’s center.
According to the Women’s History Month website, Congress passed a public law in 1981 requesting that the president declare the week of March 7, 1982, as Women’s History Week. After being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, now known as the National Women’s History Alliance, Congress passed a public law declaring March 1987 Women’s History Month.
Since 1995, U.S. Presidents have issued annual proclamations declaring March as Women’s History Month.
To learn more, visit CWNY.org or the CWNY Facebook page.
