Lourdes Bernard

The Women of April Catalog
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Artistic Discipline: Visual Arts
Category: Brooklyn Arts Fund
Grant Year: 2023
Location: Crown Heights
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The Women of April catalog includes research-based art by Lourdes Bernard to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the April 1965 revolution and US invasion of the Dominican Republic . The catalog includes all works on paper that were exhibited at the New York Studio School Gallery, NYC, in March-April 2022 along with accompanying essays about the project. The narrative images celebrate and highlight the role of “The Women of April,” untrained civilian resistance fighters who fought against the 42,000 US Marines ordered by LBJ to invade the small Caribbean nation in April 1965.The Women of April were attorneys, journalists, artists, teachers, academics, housewives, and students. Bernard excavates this hidden history through her work, re-imagining their stories and struggle for freedom. The art moves beyond the particular and engages contemporary questions about the impact of US foreign policy and imperialism, displacement and immigration, and the heroic power of the collective.