PHOTO BY GABRIELA HERRING

Whimsical, serious, gracious and angry. “Flight of Empowerment,” Songbird Artistry’s most recent art exhibit, embodies the multitudinous spheres of female existence.

As owner Debbie Jacknin says, “It’s [about] fighting the power and celebrating the strength and journey of women.

“Maybe, it’s because I can tell their stories and have a platform where people will hear [them],” Jacknin says. Perhaps it’s that “people are more willing to listen now.”

The Lawrencville spot is a combined gift shop, gallery and learning space, and is owned and run by Jacknin and her two daughters, Jennifer and Jacklyn Orefice — the women-owned aspect of their business gives a personal emphasis to the gallery’s latest exhibit.

For “Flight of Empowerment,” 12 female artists were invited to translate the show’s theme into art. The subject matter covers stories of immigration, single-parent households, transitioning and identifying as a woman and raising children with disabilities. The artists represent an array of backgrounds, ensuring a multidimensional representation of female experience.

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HERRING

Ally Bartoszewicz’s piece, “Tall Poppy Celebration,” is a reinterpretation of the idea of “tall poppy syndrome.” The concept suggests that individuals, particularly women, who achieve great success are often cut down. Bartoszewicz’s work — acrylic on canvas featuring thin-stemmed poppies intertwining against a pink-and-purple-streaked sky — reverses this assumption, presenting the opportunity for mutual growth through supporting one another.

The potential to uplift is “nothing short of a miraculous force,” says Bartoszewicz.

Considering the abstract curation of the exhibit, Jacknin was elated to discover how so many distinct works, created entirely separate from one another, fit together to create a cohesive exhibit. Works by both Bartoszewicz and Maria DeSimone Prascak incorporated poppies — a serendipitous amalgamation that allowed a visual thematic marker to emerge.

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HERRING

“What’s really fun is these were my first two to come in and I kept thinking, ‘Boy, they belong together, but they didn’t look good next to each other,’” Jacknin says. The arrival of Kyrie Allshouse’s “Life in Flight,” featuring a white bird and a black bird flying between orange and purple flowers, placed between the poppy-forward pieces, “tied it all together.”

Jacknin herself also has a piece displayed as part of the exhibit — the mosaic artwork is the first work she completed on her own following the death of her husband in 2017; it’s titled, “She Persists: Power of Knowledge.” The piece, set in a hillside meadow depicted with translucent shards of glass, juxtaposes where women have come from and where they have yet to go. Its impressionist style is a nod to the social constraints put onto women during the time of the style’s peak popularity.

“She’s attempting to bust the glass ceiling,” says Jacknin. “The clear glass is shattering — it’s coming up under the young girl who’s reading and it’s kind of encouraging younger women to educate themselves and continue where women before her have come from.”

Though exhibits at Songbird Artistry typically run for about six weeks, “Flight of Empowerment” will be available for viewing — with many pieces available for purchase — through the holiday season. A closing date has not been set.