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Women's History Month 2019 at Whittemore Library

In honor of Women's History Month was asked the staff what woman they admired.

Yayoi Kusama: Artist

¨(Born 1929) Guided by her unique vision and unparalleled creativity,  critically acclaimed artist Yayoi Kusama has been breaking new ground for more than six decades. In 1993, she became the first woman to represent Japan at the Venice Biennale, and in 2016, Time magazine named her one of the world’s most influential people. Living in New York from 1958 to 1973, Kusama moved in avant-garde circles with such figures as Andy Warhol and Allan Kaprow while honing her signature dot and net motifs, developing soft sculpture, creating installation-based works, and staging Happenings (performance-based events).Since her return to Japan in the 1970s, Kusama's work has continued to appeal to the imagination and the senses, including dizzying walk-in installations, public sculptures, and the "Dots Obsessions" paintings.  Kusama states:¨“Our earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos. Polka dots are a way to infinity.”

Elizabeth Warren

Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-MA (b.1949) s a noted progressive leader, for her work, which has been focused on Consumer Protection, economic opportunity and the social safety net.  She also championed the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was established in 2010 under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  As interim director, Warren structured and staffed the bureau tasked with protecting people from consumer and financial fraud.  Upon taking office on January 2013, she became the first woman to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate. 

Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto: Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico

Cruz is affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party, served as a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013 and has been mayor since 2013. Cruz is expected to run for governor in the 2020 elections. Cruz gained national prominence due to her impassioned appeals on television for help after Hurricane Maria and the fact that President Trump engaged directly with her in a Twitter duel. As a result, she was nominated as a candidate for Time's Person of the Year. 
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