unomahaeif.org - History

History

Experiences in Femininity (EIF) is a student-led exhibition series founded and formerly directed by Kennedy Wallman. Since its inception in 2023, EIF has developed into a platform for intersectional exploration of femininity, engaging deeply with social, political, and emotional dimensions of the female experience.

The origins of EIF can be traced back to a spontaneous, one-night art show organized by Wallman and her roommate Clarissa Weitzel in their college dormitory. Intended primarily as a creative experiment, the informal exhibition featured their own artwork and drew an audience of approximately 20 attendees. Despite its modest scale, this early endeavor caught the attention of Professor Dave Helm, who recognized the curatorial potential in the project. Encouraged by Helm, Wallman was offered an exhibition space in the university library, marking the beginning of EIF in a more formal context.

Planning for the inaugural EIF exhibition coincided with the upcoming celebration of Women’s History Month. Wallman conceived the show as an inclusive exploration of femininity, emphasizing an intersectional approach that welcomed contributions from artists of all gender identities. Rejecting traditional restrictions based on gender, the open call encouraged submissions from individuals with diverse and personal relationships to the concept of femininity. This decision resulted in a rich collection of perspectives and works.

The 2023 exhibition was co-curated by Wallman and fellow student Miranda Knofczynski. Held in a nontraditional exhibition space, the show featured 23 works by 13 artists. Despite the unconventional setting, the exhibition garnered strong attendance and positive responses from both participants and viewers. Its success led Wallman to commit to establishing EIF as an annual event, reserving a larger gallery space two years in advance for a future iteration in 2025.

The 2024 edition of EIF marked a significant evolution in both tone and scope. Wallman was joined by co-curator Toni, another art student, who brought fresh perspective and energy to the project. Together, they expanded the exhibition's scale while shifting its thematic focus. In response to the prevailing political climate, the 2024 exhibition departed from a purely celebratory treatment of femininity, instead presenting emotionally resonant works that addressed the complexities of gendered experience. Featured works explored themes such as the politicization of the body, societal gender expectations, abortion rights, and anti-trans legislation. This iteration of EIF was recognized for its critical engagement with contemporary issues and marked a turning point in the exhibition’s history, affirming its role as both a curatorial and activist platform.

2025- Politics of the Body

Leadership

EDITORIAL TEAM

Director & Co-curator- KENNEDY WALLMAN

Collections Manager- JULIA MULLOY

Co-curator- TONI PARKER

Assistant Curator- GRACE SPAULDING

GRAPHIC DESIGN TEAM

Instructors ALLYSON GIBBS - CFAM & JOE PANKOWSKI - CFAM

Student Interns- KENLEY MONTAGNE &HELENE NGUYEN

UNO FACULTY ADVISORS

Director, School of the Arts- DR. AMY MORRIS - CFAM

Professors, Art and Art History- DR. ADRIAN DURAN - CFAM & DR. BRIDGET SANDHOFF - CFAM

Assistant Professor, Writer's Workshop- DR. TERESA CARMODY - CFAM

Acknowledgements

The EIF team would like to extend a very heartfelt thank you to the following...

Dr. Adrian Duran (CFAM), for your unwavering support and encouragement as our advisor and mentor. Your continuous belief in our team's abilities and your invaluable mentorship have been instrumental in our work. Without your support, this work would not have been possible.

To the EIF 2025 jury members (both artwork and written work):

Dr. Teresa Carmody (CFAM), Dr. Adrian Duran (CFAM), Dr. Bridget Sandhoff (CFAM), & Claire Staub (Criss Library). Thank you for your expertise, insightful feedback, and dedication, which have been instrumental in shaping EIF's mission, research, and academic growth.

A special thank you to Dr. Amy Morris, Dr. Mark Gilbert, Tammi Owens (MA), and all other members of the UNO College of Fine Arts & Media. The opportunity to engage in meaningful research with your backing has been an invaluable experience, and we appreciate your belief in the value of undergraduate scholarship.

To UNMC Printing and the UNO Graphic Design Team, for facilitating this publication. The time, effort, and resources you generously provided throughout the process allowed us to elevate the scope and quality of the work.

We would also like to thank the Fund for Undergraduate

Scholarly Experience (FUSE Grant), for your generous support. Your assistance provided the resources necessary to bring this project to fruition

Introduction

Put Food Out in the Same Place Every Day and Talk to the People Who Come

—Jenny Holzer Survival 1983-85

Experiences in Femininity is an act of community building, of mutual support, of collective celebration. It is legacy work, a gift from the present to the future, who will pass on ideas yet unimaginable. It is the brainchild of our students, who have returned with this gift through which they have become teachers

to us all.

It is a reminder to never wait for permission. If there is no precedent, set one. If there is no model, invent one. The absence of opportunity is an invitation to act, to form alliances and elevate others alongside oneself.

We must ensure that femininity not be seen as the opponent of masculinity. Rather, they are companions, compliments, and confidants. They are counterpoints, in the most musical of ways such that one without the other is incomplete, imbalanced, and unable to exist in harmony.

We have all had our experiences of femininity, within and beyond femininity. Femininity is pluralistic, never monolithic.

It is inclusive of all of its forms and manifestations. Femininity exists now as it never has before. What it becomes tomorrow becomes the foundation of days to come. Weaving together our diverse strands makes for a sturdier cloth, more complex and resilient, a tapestry that preserves and protects us all.

— Dr. Adrian Duran

Curatorial Statement

Since its launch in 2023, Experiences in Femininity has featured diverse work exploring the intersection of gender equity with race, socio-economic class, LGBTQ+ issues, and gender identity. As the exhibition has grown, the EIF team remains committed to our central mission: to support critical conversations around women's and gender issues with the broader Omaha community.

Most notably in this exhibition, the call and the initial purpose

of this exhibition was to celebrate femininity and its diverse expressions. However, to celebrate feels almost an antiquated term, unable to comprehensively suit the needs of the current political moment. What you may observe in these works is an act of artistic reckoning. Exploring complex themes through textiles, drawing, painting, and photography, this selection of artists has created socially conscious works addressing some of the most pressing issues of our time.

The body becomes a vehicle for expressing these complex experiences, as well as a subject. In this vein, many works are painful and grotesque, capturing the ways in which individuals must bend back and reposition themselves into a mold of appropriate and submissive natures. Some wrestle with the weight of womanhood as a system of constructs and societal definitions. Also, celebratory expressions of body positivity and awareness are addressed. The diversity in subject, scale, and medium add complexity while the technical and theoretical approaches elevate and situate the work in contemporary practice.

In this political moment these artists have successfully established a space in their work to address their thoughts and fears. Notably, the growing concerns over bodily freedom, untenable access to healthcare, and the unending litany of gender discrimination. The works on view go beyond the personal and into the political, touching on collective uncertainty to build community while fostering critical dialogue. Experiences in Femininity: Politics of the Body explores the myriad ways femininity may be defined, examined, rejected, reimagined, and transformed to reflect the artists' experiences.

At its core, art's greatest function is its ability to communicate between artist and viewer across time and space, inviting us to embrace our shared humanity.

—Toni Parker

Images 2025

Images 2024

Images 2023

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