Wayne County Arts Alliance announces new exhibit

The Wayne County Arts Alliance invites the public to attend the opening reception of its new gallery exhibition “The WCAA Dinner Party: Setting the Table for Women” on Saturday, March 1 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the WCAA Gallery at 959 Main Street, Honesdale.

“The WCAA Dinner Party: Setting the Table for Women,” opens the 2025 WCAA Gallery’s 2025 season and will run from March 1 through March 29. The show riffs on “The Dinner Party,” a permanent installation at the Brooklyn Museum of Art by American multi-media artist Judy Chicago. Chicago’s “The Dinner Party,” created between 1975 and 1979, imagines a banquet for 39 historic and mythological women, each celebrated with a unique place setting.

For “The WCAA Dinner Party,” art teachers from Wayne County’s three school districts and the Cooperage Pop-Up Club asked students, “If you could have dinner with any woman, historical or contemporary, who would she be?”

Students’ answers included Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Clara Barton, Helen Keller, Greta Thunberg, Amelia Earhart, Michelle Obama, Aphrodite, and their own mothers and grandmothers.

The young artists then were assigned to make two or three-dimensional works celebrating their choices.

“Challenged to explore the impact of women — both past and present — these young artists have truly embraced the task, creating powerful works that reflect their personal inspirations and the strength of those who have shaped our world,” said Kathy Higgins, Art Department chair at Honesdale High School. The WCAA show “offer(s) Wayne Highlands students a unique opportunity to connect with the community through their creativity.”

“The WCAA Dinner Party” is sponsored by the WCAA with support from area restaurant and business owners, who have made monetary contributions and will offer discounts during March and April in honor of “Women’s History” and community art. Funds raised will go to the art departments of the participating school districts.

Area businesses and restaurants who are sponsoring this exhibition include: A.M. Skier Insurance Agency, Dave’s Super Duper Supermarket, Dunkin’, Elegante Restaurante and Pizzeria, Green House, Half Baked Sandwich Joint, Here & Now Brewing Company, Hotel Wayne, JoRob’s Naturals, Laurel’s Hometown Café, Moka Origins, Native Food and Drink, Nature’s Grace Heath Food and Deli, Paulie’s Hot Dogs, Scarfalloto’s Towne House Diner and Restaurant, Tablespoons Kitchen, The Inn at Woodloch Resort, The Mustard Seed Café, The Red Schoolhouse, The Settler’s Inn, Tick Tocks on Terrace, Two Guys From Italy, Weis Market, Wood Winery.

For information about this and other WCAA projects, go to waynecountyartsalliance.org.