The National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) opened up for Signature membership applications in May with a deadline of September 15, 2025. I had already become an Associate member since anyone can join as an Associate. To become a Signature member you must be juried in.
Yikes.
I was going to wait till March of 2026 to try. However, at about 6:00 p.m. on September 15, I went to the computer and in the span of two and a half hours completed my application for Signature membership.
I collected five of what I hoped were my best paintings from the A Thousand Words art exhibition that Rhian Swain and I had shown at the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History. I double and triple checked everything to make sure it was done correctly, sweated over my artist statement, and held my breath as I hit submit and paid the $25 application fee. I had been rejected in March and truly expected to be rejected again as the art I wanted to make had not been completed.
Imagine my surprise on September 23 when I received an email with the subject line of “Welcome to NAWA!”
I literally dropped my phone, grabbed it up, ran up the stairs, and could barely talk when, with tears flowing, I walked up to my husband and handed him the phone. He cried too because he knew how much this means to me.
I cannot count all of the wonderful and magical things that have happened to me since I began this art journey in 2018. Back then I could only dream of getting my work into my first group show. I did. Back then I wanted a solo art show. I was given my first in 2020, which led to two more in 2023. Back then I wanted to paint but was so afraid to try, so I stuck with my pencils for three years before I picked up a brush and taught myself acrylics. Back then I wanted to make a piece of public art. I was one of three chosen to paint a piano for the Jessye Norman School of the Arts.
In 2023 I tried oils for the first time and I’ve never looked back.
Earning a NAWA Signature membership is the pinnacle of my art career and I am so excited to see what happens next. I’ve got new energy and new inspiration for a brand new body of work that I will begin working on soon.
My gratitude is beyond words.
Hard work and belief in oneself does indeed result in dreams coming true. Never doubt this when you are working toward achieving a goal of your own. If you do the work, the dream will manifest.
So keep at it. I have faith in you.