8 ways to celebrate Women’s History Month in the Boston area
March is Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate, spotlight, and honor remarkable women who have contributed to history and whose impact is still felt today.
To commemorate the month, organizations in and around the Greater Boston area are hosting public programming ranging from art exhibits and hands-on creating to historic tours and celebratory brunches. Here are some highlights.
WOMEN’S ARTISTRY RECEPTION: CELEBRATING HER STORY
The City of Boston will celebrate women’s artistry through March by displaying work by local artists including Laura Christensen, Amanda Shea, DaNice D Marshall, and Gena Mavuli across City Hall. A March 7 evening reception will highlight these artists and their exhibits, and feature live music by DJ Juelz. March 7, 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Free. Boston City Hall, 1 City Hall Square. boston.gov
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY MARKET
Mark International Women’s Month by lifting up womenowned businesses at this Time Out Market vendor event. Shop smallbusiness craftsmanship and explore a range of products from candle and jewelry makers to woodworkers, metalsmiths, and bakers. Featuring a live DJ. March 10, noon-5 p.m. Free. Time Out Market, 401 Park Drive. timeoutmarket.com
INSPIRE INCLUSION
The Swampscott ReachArts Community Arts Center will host a weekend of public arts programming in honor of International Women’s Day (March 8) with two 90-minute workshop sessions on March 9: First up is potter Stephanie Moriarty at 1 p.m., followed by printmaker Sammia Atoui at 2:30 p.m. At 5 p.m. there is an opening reception for an art exhibition featuring work by North Shore artists around the theme of “Inclusion.” The collection, curated by Tereza Swanda, highlights issues ranging from gender and economic inequality to reproductive labor. The gallery opens to the public March 10 from noon to 3 p.m., starting with an hourlong gallery walk and talk with Swanda. March 9-10. 1 p.m.-7 p.m. on March 9; noon-3 p.m. on March 10. Free. ReachArts Community Arts Center, 89 Burrill St., Swampscott. reacharts.org
“BEYOND THE FRAMES” AT MECHANICS HALL
Three long-awaited commissioned portraits of 19th-century Black Americans who greatly contributed to abolition and women’s rights will be revealed at Mechanics Hall in Worcester March 14. The portraits depict Worcester business owners and abolitionists William Brown and Martha Tulip Lewis Brown; formerly enslaved abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth; and formerly enslaved civil rights leader, orator, and writer Frederick Douglass. The artists — Brenda Zlamany, Manu Saluja (left), and Imo Nse Imeh, respectively — will be in a conversation with audience members moderated by Juliet Feibel, executive director of ArtsWorcester. Attendees are invited to attend a gala event to participate in both a live auction benefiting Mechanics Hall’s educational and cultural programming and a silent auction of portraits by Worcester public high school students benefiting the Worcester Educational Development Foundation and the student artists. Registration for the artist talk is required and can be completed on the Mechanics Hall website. March 14, 5 p.m. artist talk is free. 6:15 p.m. gala tickets are $150. Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St., Worcester. mechanicshall.org
WOMEN TAKE THE REEL FILM FESTIVAL
This annual film festival celebrates female filmmakers and features themes of gender, sexuality, race, feminism, and class. Five films will be shown at various theaters across Boston and Cambridge accompanied by a Q&A session with either the film director, producer, or a faculty member from the film screening’s host institution. “Quiz Lady” plays March 7 from 7 p.m.-9:15 p.m. at Barnum Hall at Tufts University in Medford; “20,000 Species of Bees” screens March 8 from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. at MIT Bartos Theatre in Cambridge; “Twice Colonized” will screen March 15 from 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at MIT Bartos Theatre; “TikTok, Boom” will screen virtually March 20 from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. at Boston College; and “Atlantique” will screen virtually March 25 from 4 p.m.-7:15 p.m. at Lesley University. The programming is a collaborative effort among MIT’s Women’s and Gender Studies departments involved in the Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality. All screenings are free and open to the public.
March 7-25, various times. Free. Various theaters. wgs.mit.edu
WEST END WOMEN: A WALK THROUGH HISTORY
Join The West End Museum on a historic walking tour of landmarks central to the women of Boston’s West End. The tour traces the steps of intellectuals, abolitionists, suffragists, artists, authors, and athletes, and takes a look at the lives of women such as author and abolitionist Susan Paul, community activist and religious leader Eliza Ann Gardner, author Nancy Gardner Prince, librarian and activist Fanny Goldstein, and more. March 20, 5:30 p.m. and March 23, 1 p.m. $10 admission. The West End Museum, 150 Staniford St., Suite 7. thewestendmuseum.org
WOMEN VETERANS ROUNDTABLE
Join the City of Boston in honoring women veterans at a roundtable brunch event in Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall. Enjoy food, community, and listen to the panel of women veterans talk about their experiences. March 26, 6 p.m. Free. Faneuil Hall, fourth floor, 4 South Market. boston.gov
JANE KEDDY: WOMEN’S WORK
The exhibit “Jane Keddy: Women’s Work” will be on display at the Jamaica Plain Branch Library through May 1 as the latest installation of the library’s 2024 rotating art program. The featured works are composed of fabric panels that integrate vintage textiles, photographs, and stitching to depict women in diverse occupations representing the significance of women’s labor over the past 150 years. Keddy (above), from Gloucester, explores various mediums like ecoprinting, shibori, and textile collage. Through May 1. Free. Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library, 30 South St., Jamaica Plain. friendsjplibrary.org