It’s Good To Be Nasty

Artists unite to support women’s rights “Such a nasty woman.”

It was the muttered interjection heard ’round the world in the final presidential debate of the 2016 election. Although served up as an insult to morality and gender, the phrase became a rallying cry and has been at the front of protest movements for months. The Nasty Women artists of Northwest Arkansas, though, want to use the phrase as an inclusive tool.

“To me, a Nasty Woman is someone who’s unafraid to express themselves. They’re able to stand up for themselves and for those around them. Unafraid. Unabashed,” says Helen Maringer.

Maringer and fellow artist Samantha Sigmon are the co-organizers of the Nasty Women NWA event sweeping through Northwest Arkansas during the month of April. The exhibition is an extension of the global art movement that began in New York on inauguration day as a protest to the attacks on women’s rights. And while there will surely be some expressions of anger and resistance, the events coming to Northwest Arkansas are apolitical.

“What they were going for [in New York] was a pretty political stance — there was a lot of protest art,” Maringer says. “We didn’t really go that direction. We don’t have a thesis with the show; we’re not trying to make everyone think a certain thing. And when we put out the call for submissions, we asked for someone who identified as a Nasty Woman regardless of gender identity. It’s more as a show of solidarity between the Nasty Women in this community.”

After the original exhibition in New York, Nasty Women displays have been happening around the globe, raising awareness but also funds for organizations that support and protect women’s rights. The first exhibition raised more than $40,000 for Planned Parenthood while Nasty Women NWA will be giving to the Northwest Arkansas Center for Sexual Assault. The kick-off event on April 1 — which is also the first day of Sexual Assault Awareness Month — already raised several hundred dollars and set the tone for the rest of the events, Maringer reveals.

“I just want to open the floor for stories that Nasty Women can tell about their own experiences or the world. I know the phrase may turn some people away just because of the political connotations, but most of the work and events, they’re not protest rallies. It’s just Nasty Women making art and connecting with each other.

“I’m already seeing it happening with the artists I’ve been talking to,” she goes on. “Sometimes it’s hard to know where do we go from here. So I feel like this is going to be a nice outlet for that — taking small steps forward together.”

COURTESY IMAGE Artist Helen Maringer’s photographs were inspired by the work of Marilyn Minter, a “very quintessential Nasty Woman artist,” Maringer says.