Rude & Bold Women

“Herstory” of Rude and Bold Women

Rude and Bold Women was born in the summer of 1996, the brainchild of artist Susan Jablon. As volunteer curator of City Plaza Gallery in Binghamton, NY, it was Susan’s goal to showcase the work of emerging, cutting-edge artists. She put out a call to women artists within a 100-mile radius of Binghamton to participate in what she hoped would be the first annual “Rude and Bold Women Art Show.” The inaugural show featured visual as well as performance art and was wildly successful. However, certain works were deemed “controversial” by the incumbent administration, and Susan was “fired” from her position as volunteer coordinator of the gallery. Taken on by a group of local women who had attended the first show, the first annual reinstituted Rude and Bold Women Show opened at the Binghamton YWCA in September 2001. Visual and performance art were offered over four consecutive weekends. Once again, performances (including drama, dance, spoken word, and an all-woman karate demonstration) combined with edgy visual art (such as Susan Jablon’s show-stopping installation of breast castings of local women) wowed the public. Since its inception in 1996 and its reemergence in 2001, Rude and Bold Women has been held annually in Binghamton each fall. The 2006 Rude and Bold Women Visual and Performance Art Show will coincide with the First Friday Open Galley night, which regularly brings thousands of art lovers into downtown Binghamton. Rude and Bold continues to strive to present the most cutting edge work of local and regional woman artists.