About us
We CREATE
The International Women Artists’ Salon is a global organization of female identifying artists from all disciplines. We create art and we also create opportunities for fellow creative women.
We COLLABORATE
We take inspiration from each other, learn from one another, and synergize our creative passions both locally and globally. We collaborate with communities around the world to raise up Humanity through The Arts.
We CONNECT
We build and grow connections within our community to create a thriving hub of creative women of all ages, stages of career, and cultures. The connections we forge with our partners, sponsors and friends fuel us.
Heidi
​ Russell
Meet the Founder:
Ms. Russell is a self-taught fine art photographer who specializes in capturing the intersection of elements and dimensions in our environs through full-frame, non-manipulated imagery - a visual archeologist. She is a native of Oxford, New York, and is currently based in New York City.
Since receiving her first camera at the age of 6, Russell has been impassioned by sharing her discoveries of daily life through photography. As a Rotary Youth Exchange Student to Denmark at the age of 18 she had her first opportunity to see another country and culture through the lens. She has been capturing the intricacies and the spirit of the cultural environs she explores worldwide ever since.
After graduating from Cornell University in 1988, she worked in the fields of advertising, business and human resource management, and fundraising, working at both Syracuse and Cornell Universities. She was a board member of the Community School of Music and Arts and the President of the Ithaca-Cayuga Rotary Club while living in Ithaca, New York.
In 2004, Russell changed her career path to follow her passions in photography and international cultural exchange. She studied at the Cornell University-in-Rome Program during summer 2004 and spent the fall semester with the Hellenic International Studies in the Arts, a small art school on the island of Paros in Greece.
After delving into being creative full-time in Europe, she moved to NYC in 2005 to continue to pursue her passions. Since 2005, her work has been in solo and group exhibitions internationally, including her first solo exhibition held in May 2007 at NY Studio Gallery in NYC. In 2006, she was chosen to participate in the Hungarian Multicultural Center’s Artist Residency in Budapest and was selected to exhibit work in the 8th International Festival of Artistic Photography held in Athens, Greece. Russell was invited in April 2007 to sit on the Board of Directors for Hungarian Multicultural Center. During the summer of 2009, she participated in a three-week certificate program held in Berlin through Transart Institute. Her entry into the NYC art world was as a volunteer for Cuchifritos, a community not-for-profit gallery project of Artists Alliance, Inc., located on the Lower East Side. Heidi supports community-building/support projects with her photography and time.
In addition to founding the cross-disciplinary, International Women Artists’ Salon in 2008, Ms. Russell is an independent curator, having curated with Fresh Fruit Festival, Manhattan Theater Source, EstroGenius Festival, and the e-zine NY Optimist.
Russell is also spreading the wings of her creative outreach by establishing an indie publishing company that combines her passions, with the mission to publish works that utilize Art as a bridge for Cultural Understanding.
Meet The Salon Team
We thank the Salonistas below who have contributed to creating and nurturing our various programs and series throughout our history.
Our team is always ebbing and flowing, so if you are interested in becoming a member of our core team, please let us know.
Amy Hughes
Born in Leicestershire, UK, Amy Hughes spent her years growing up between Cheshire, UK and Moscow, Russia. In July 2013 she received a degree in BA Hons Fine Art from Liverpool Hope University, UK. At her undergraduate show, she was awarded the 'purchase prize' by the Liverpool Women's Hospital, where a painting can be tound in private collection.
In 2016, she graduated from a two-year full-time MFA program at the New York Academy of Art. During her studies, she was awarded an Academy Merit Scholarship and HRH The Prince of Wales Scholarship IMFA
2016). Since graduating, Amy has continued to exhibit her work in both solo and group shows, working as an instructor of painting and as an Artist in Residence in the UK and New York. Most notably she has sold work at Sotheby's Auction House NY and has exhibited in the International Biennale Portrait Competition at Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art. Her work has been featured in several publications, including W Magazine, Southwest Art, Aesthetica Magazine, Cheshire Life, The Liverpool Echo and more.
Ana Moioli
Ana Moioli (Founding Artistic Director; actor) is a Brazilian actress and playwright in New York. Ana started acting at nine and later went to Russia, at the Moscow Art Theatre School. She is currently completing her BFA in Drama at NYU Tisch. Favorite theater credits include 'Harper Regan' (dir. Nina Fry), 'The Seagull' (dir. Vera Kharybinal, 'A Streetcar Named Desire' (dir. Pedro Granato) and 'Birds of a Feather' (dir. Lauren Grajewski) - for the latter, she got a Best Actress nomination at Between Us Productions' Take Ten Play Festival. She's also starred in short films, such as "Elsewhere' (dir. Guilherme Pedra), for which she received the Best Actress Award at the American Student Film Festival, as well as 'How to Water Roses' (dir. Mirella Cardoso) and 'Julieta' (dir. Vicente Gonzalez). She recently debuted as a filmmaker with the film Bridge.
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Barbara Kahn
Barbara Kahn is a playwright, director and actor with annual productions of her plays at Theater for the New City in New York City. She coaches actors and playwrights and offers fundraising for the arts seminars.
Dale Novella
Reared in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Dale Novella is a singer/songwriter, poet and educator who pertorms and produces events in the New York City area. A captivating performer, Novella has graced various stages in both the US and Europe including The Bitter End, The Bowery Poetry Club, and is a regular at Sofar Sounds. Novella uses her love of music to educate youth in social justice and lite skills.
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Novella began The REC Lite (Royaltie Entertainment Company) in 2011 to produce and promote music that inspires and uplifts. The REC's flagship event is "The Poet WILL Be Televised" at Harlem's Silvana, a poetry jam session that fuses Dale's loves, soul music and gut wrenching poetry. You can find more information about The Poet WILL Be Televised! by visiting The REC Life's website, www.thereclife.org.
Keep up with Dale Novella by following her on Instagram, Facebook and at her website
Elena Grosso
Elena was born and raised in Italy where she obtained a formal degree in child psychology.
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There she was part of an independent theater company based in Venice. She then moved to NY 4 years ago and since where she attended the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute for the two years conservatory program and performed as Gus in Harold's Pinter "Dumb Waiter", an all women production of the play. Since then she's been working in films, theater and commercials.
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Two years ago she opened LIGHTOFFILM NYC production company with her partner Marco Vitale and is now involved in documentary, directing and producing.
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Her last work "The Future Is Female" is an award winning short doumentary about female empowerment.
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She is currently working on another documentary called "Ciano" wich is in post-porduction and is schedule to be realesed in 2019.
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Emily Cordes
Emily Cordes is an NYC-based actress, arts marketer/tundraiser, and theatre journalist. In art and lite, she seeks to create work that connects, provokes, and transcends. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Emily is a graduate of Smith College and Columbia University. As a performer, she has appeared in various theatre, film, and web productions throughout the tri-state area, and co-created work with such devised theatre groups as Tapestry Collective and The Laboratory of Soul, most recently receiving a Rising Sun Performance Company residency for her devised play "So Sad, So Sexy" about the fetishization of mentally ill women. She has held administrative roles with such performing arts organizations as The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, The Neo-Political Cowgirls, and The Bushwick Starr. Emily is a staff writer for the blog Theatre Is Easy, and has also written articles for Howlround, CultureBot, and The Theatre Times.
Amy Hughes
Born in Leicestershire, UK, Amy Hughes spent her years growing up between Cheshire, UK and Moscow, Russia. In July 2013 she received a degree in BA Hons Fine Art from Liverpool Hope University, UK. At her undergraduate show, she was awarded the 'purchase prize' by the Liverpool Women's Hospital, where a painting can be tound in private collection.
In 2016, she graduated from a two-year full-time MFA program at the New York Academy of Art. During her studies, she was awarded an Academy Merit Scholarship and HRH The Prince of Wales Scholarship IMFA
2016). Since graduating, Amy has continued to exhibit her work in both solo and group shows, working as an instructor of painting and as an Artist in Residence in the UK and New York. Most notably she has sold work at Sotheby's Auction House NY and has exhibited in the International Biennale Portrait Competition at Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art. Her work has been featured in several publications, including W Magazine, Southwest Art, Aesthetica Magazine, Cheshire Life, The Liverpool Echo and more.
Heidi Russell
Heidi Russell is a selt-taught tine art photographer since the age of six. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a BS in Business Administration. In 2004, Ms. Russell lett her career in Fundraising to make her passions of photography and the Arts, international cultural exchange, and connecting people is a part of her daily life and purpose. Ms. Russel's work has been in solo and group exhibitions internationally, and she has participated in several artist programs and residencies throughout Europe. Ms. Russell is also an independent curator and publisher. She is founder and director of the cross-disciplinary International Women Artists' Salon.
Ingrid Pierson
Ingrid Pierson is excited to be working with IWAS! Credits include: Theater at Monmouth, Out of the Box Theatre Company Mill Mountain Theatre, Metropolitan Playhouse, Theatreworks USA, Weathervane Repertory Theatre, Seven Angels Theatre, Roxy Regional Theatre, Surtlight Theatre, Allenberry Playhouse, Triad Stage, North Carolina Theatre. Education: UNC-
Greensboro.
Irene Turri
Irene Turri is a Brooklyn based writer, actress and producer. After growing up on stage in Italy, in 2012 she moved to the big apple. Since then, she has written and produced the play "Neighbors (An Anti-Romantic Comedy" with Francesco Meola, performing in Italy and New York; she has collaborated with several theatre companies performing at the Access Theatre, Theatre For The New City, the Secret Theatre and The Kraine and she has collaborated with InScena! Italian Theatre Festival and IWAS as a live and radio producer and host.This year she produced her first short movie "Homenaje A Mi Alma" a neo-noir love story directed by the visionary Dan de Jesus.
IWAS Mission
Our Vision
We want to build a global network of diverse individuals and entities willing to work together to increase visibility in the creative world for women artists of all disciplines, backgrounds, and stages of career.
Our Goal
We recognize that women interested in pursuing art-related careers often face severe institutional, societal, and economical inequalities. We work to bridge this gap through providing information, guidance, as well as opportunities for women artists to showcase their works and obtain greater recognition. We strive to not only build a thriving network among women artists, but also connect them with key players in all sectors related to the arts, such as curators, gallery owners, art directors and dealers. Through laying these groundworks, we hope to help women artists and the larger society to recognize art as a economically viable and sustainable career path.
Our Mantra
IWAS grounds its synergy in kindness, trust, fairness, inclusivity, respect, humor and nonrestrictive thinking.