Throughout the world, social media and news headlines tell us that even today as women, only based on our gender, we are limited by some mindset, decreed or unspoken rule made by society. Limits that are often perpetuated even by other women. We are often not allowed to listen to our own voice, our intuition, or make our own decisions. History and current events remind us that those that are seen as outside the norm were and are silenced, cast out, thrown in prison, killed, or marked in a way that defines us in one offensive word. We must hide our beliefs, intuitions, talents, and ideas, that may be viewed outside the realm of “normal” as to not be a threat.

These 8 women exhibition, by the National League of American Pen Women/ Coral Gables branch, is conceived to bring honor and attention to those women who dared to be outsiders. They are and were groundbreakers, kept in the shadows by society. The aim is to increase the viewer’s awareness of how women are conceptualized, villainized and depicted, in hope of change for the wellbeing of all, both men and women.

In the Midst, was conceived to give each artist the freedom to interpret the concept in her own artistic voice. It is as diverse as we are as women.