Women's History Month: 11 women who inspire us

Women's History Month is a time to celebrate the countless contributions of women throughout history and their ongoing impact on society. Women have played a vital role in shaping our world, from groundbreaking scientists and artists to trailblazing politicians and activists.

This month provides an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of women from all walks of life. We honor their resilience, courage, and perseverance in facing discrimination and adversity.

This blog post will highlight some remarkable women who have left their mark on history and continue to inspire us today.

Hung Liu

Hung Liu was a Chinese-American artist who blended Western and Chinese art techniques in her emotionally charged paintings. Her "Chinese Railroad Workers" series brought visibility to marginalized individuals, and her work focused on memory, history, and identity. She received numerous awards and honors for her contributions to the art world before passing away in August 2021.

- Erin

Margaret Kilgallen

During her career she was influenced by the simplicity and beauty of handmade things. Some of which were hand-painted signs in the mission district to American and Indian folk art, and typography. Kilgallen had a love of “things that show the evidence of the human hand.” She also depicted woman who inspired her, as well as women doing common day activities.

- Andrea

Katherine Johnson

 

Katherine Johnson overcame barriers of gender and race, producing hand-written calculations that were critical for John Glenn’s successful orbital mission around the Earth in 1962. She went on to contribute valuable calculations for the Apollo 11 lunar landing in 1969. Katherine retired from NASA In 1986 after a 33-year career, and in 2015 at age 97 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama, the highest honor for American civilians. Her posthumous memoir My Remarkable Journey, coauthored with her children, was released in 2021.

- Ron

Michelle Yeoh

She recently won the Oscar for best actress in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Her long time acting career is really inspiring as she has become a huge icon in the Hollywood and entertainment industry. Her role in this movie was different than the typical “Asian” forward movies which shows the importance of representation on the big screen. She is paving the way for more Asian entertainers to speak their voice to be heard and shown.

- Kane

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Commonly referred to by her initials, AOC, is the youngest woman and youngest Latina to ever serve in the United States Congress. She is most well known for her progressive politics, community activism, and her wide-reaching social media presence.

- Olga

Cheryl Strayed

"A woman who is inspirational to me is Cheryl Strayed. She wrote the book WILD which is about her journey hiking the PCT (Pacific Coast Trail) from the US-Mexico border up to California. It's inspirational because she learns to survive in the wilderness alone while dealing with her life issues."

- Kane

Maya Angelou

"I would like to honor Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4th, 1928, was a poet, activist, author, and wore many more hats. Maya was the definition of greatness, overcoming adversity as a black American and a sexual assault survivor; she taught many through her art about staying in tune with themselves and looking inward for guidance. Maya's "Still I Rise" poem connects people worldwide to inner strength and perseverance."

-Deanna & Erin

marina abramovic

"Marina Abramović is a globally known Yugoslav-born performance artist who, for over the past forty years, Abramović has used her body as a tool to test both physical and emotional limits. At the same time that Abramović explores her own physical and psychological limitations, she also challenges passive viewership. Abramović's performances are characterized by endurance and pain, as well as by repetition, duration, and an emphasis on audience interaction."

-Ginevra

Patricia Urquiola

Patricia Urquiola is a Spanish-born, Milan-based architect and designer known for her innovative and playful designs. Her work spans furniture, lighting, hotels, and museums, and includes collaborations with major brands such as Kartell and Louis Vuitton. Urquiola has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Order of Isabella the Catholic from the King of Spain, and is widely recognized as one of the most influential designers of her generation.

- Ginevra

London Breed

"Mayor London Breed is the first African American woman to ever serve as the Mayor of San Francisco. Born in San Francisco, she dedicates herself to improving the City's housing, environment, public safety, transportation, and quality of life. There are numerous policies and initiatives for which Mayor Breed is a champion. Still, for me the programs that resonate most are those focused on public transportation, alternative transportation, and nightlife."

-Ron

Julia Morgan

Julia Morgan was an American architect and engineer known for her work on the Hearst Castle in California. She was the first woman to graduate from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris with a degree in architecture and designed over 700 buildings during her career. Morgan faced discrimination as a woman in a male-dominated profession but became a pioneer for women in architecture.

- Shawn

MSA tradition for Holiday Cards

At MSA we have a long tradition of designing our Holiday Cards, to send warm wishes to our clients and collaborators.

Here a collection of the last years Holiday Cards and stay tuned about this year’s one!

Holiday card 2010

Holiday Card - 2011

Holiday Card - 2012

Holiday Card - 2013

Holiday Card - 2014

Holiday Card - 2015

Holiday Card - 2016

Holiday Card - 2017

Holiday Card - 2018

Holiday Card - 2019

Holiday Card - 2020

Holiday Card - 2021

… and stay tuned for this year Holiday Card!

Our 8 favourite art pieces

Art, in all its manifestations, is the highest human expression of creativity and imagination, and it is the only moment that allows people to externalize their inner selves.

To appreciate art, we rarely need much. It is enough to be curious, ask questions, and look at the works, including their shapes, colors, matter, actions, and meanings. It is also essential to leave open space for negative or ecstatic emotions. We must also not expect that all works would speak to us in the same way: some artists will inevitably be more in communication with our way of thinking and looking at the world, and it is to them, through the works, that we must ask the right questions about the interpretation we give of things.

MSA is sharing a few pieces of inspirational art.

Cakes by Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne Thiebaud is a local artist from Northern California. He primarily paints food like cakes and desserts and is famous for his vertical San Francisco landscapes. I fell in love with his art when I saw the exhibit of his paintings up close. The way he mixes thousands of tiny colors of paint into one specific area to create the layers and an illusion of one color was fascinating and showed me how dedicated he was to his work.

Day and Night by M.C. Escher

This artwork combines mathematical symmetry and artistry into one transforming piece. I appreciate the concept of gradation, not only in color but in shapes and forms. The placing of every line, object, and texture so carefully tells a story between night and day scenes.

The door by Matthew Vinci

I enjoy the simplicity of the piece. It’s clean. I can look at it from various angles as it casts a different shape and tone.

Three Dancing Figures (1989) by Keith Haring

Dance, movement, and bold color are components of artwork I adore. This piece exemplifies these and combines it with my love of San Francisco by first being located at the intersection of 3rd & Howard St downtown and now relocated to the front of the DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park. I was first introduced to Keith Haring when visiting NYC as a college student and going to my first dance “supper club,” named The Palladium. He had created the main dance floor backdrop, which was an extraordinary composition of dynamic vibrancy. As time went on, I realized his being a pioneer of street art when it was still considered graffiti and his AIDs activism when that crisis was killing thousands amidst a silent administration. Keith Haring himself died of AIDs in 1990, at age 31.

Saint Francis of Assisi in His TombFrancisco de Zurbarán

The large painting by Francisco de Zurbarán at the Milwaukee Art Museum offers a haunting quality, a play of light and shadow with monochrome colors. This painting always draws me back to see it when I visit the museum designed by Santiago Calatrava in the city where I grew up.

Water Lilies by Claude Monet

While in middle school, Monet was the first artist from which I learned. I was fascinated by the idea that you could portray an image through hints of color rather than through exact precise lines.

no name by Lauren napolitano

Lauren Napolitano does everything freehand and starts with drawing and painting/murals. This piece in particular (no title) is her experimentation with her designs in metal sculpture. It has organic and geometric shapes and is simple yet bold. The matt grey metal also makes for a striking graphic element, with other shadow play from lighting.

Wheatfield With Crows by Vincent Van Gogh

One of my favorite artists is Vincent Van Gogh. While I love all of his work, Wheatfield With Crows is the best. The intense colors, short brushstrokes, and simple landscape scenes create a vibrancy that I could gaze at this painting for hours.

5 inspiring Black architects and designers

Black Americans have always faced enormous social and economic barriers, and the architects who've helped build the country were no different. Nevertheless, there are several Black architects who have managed, designed, and constructed some of today's most admired structures.

Norma Merrick Sklarek (1926-2012)


As a Black female, Sklarek became a well-respected project director and educator within the white male-dominated field of architecture.

  • Fun Fact: Sklarek has been called "The Rosa Parks of Architecture"

  • Quote: "In architecture, I had absolutely no role model. I'm happy today to be a role model for others that follow."


 

Paul Revere Williams (1894-1980)


The first African American member of the esteemed American Institute of Architecture (AIA) in 1923. Paul had the unusual ability to draw sketches upside down. He developed this talent because, as a Black man, many clients were uncomfortable sitting next to him, so he drew their renderings from across his desk. Paul often donated his time and expertise to projects he believed advanced the welfare of young people, African Americans in Southern California, and greater society. Paul was posthumously awarded the AIA Gold Medal — their highest honor.

 

Julian Abele (1881-1950)

Julian became the first Black student admitted to the Department of Architecture at the Ivy League school the University of Pennsylvania.

In addition to the chapel, Abele designed Duke's library, football stadium, gym, medical school, religious school, hospital, and faculty houses, but had never set foot in it due to the Jim Crow laws of the segregated South.

 

Sean Canty 

Sean Canty is an American designer and architecture critic and an assistant professor of architecture a the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is the founder of Studio Sean Canty, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Selected as a finalist for the 2016 MoMA PS1 Young Architects competition, he exhibited his work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

 

Ishka Designs

Ishka Designs is a Brooklyn-based interior design firm specializing in vacation properties, restaurants, and residences across the globe. Founded by Anisha Clarke and Niya Bascom, the design firm creates sophisticated minimalist interiors including hotels in Jamaica and F&B projects across the US. Clarke brings with her a strong nature-inspired aesthetic with efficiency playing a major role in her design process, heavily influenced by a waste-not upbringing by her Guyanese mother. Bascom, on the other hand, has a background in the film industry as well as photography experience, having spent 15 years shooting celebrities, products, and interiors, which has honed his eye for design and cemented his keen sense for style. 

Laughing together over our favorite jokes

Laughter is scientifically proven good for health, both mentally and physically. Indeed, there appears to be a close link between the vibrations in the body that laughing causes and the natural frequency of the human body's cells. 

So, we have compiled a collection of jokes. Everyone knows at least one joke, but which ones are the funniest? We've rounded up a few that are sure to make you smile and entertain your friends.

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If you want to know how the week is going, I just took the pillowcase out of the dryer, put it over my head thinking it was a t-shirt to wear to bed, spent 15 seconds inside it searching for the neck hole, and then mumbled “what is this, pants?”

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A little boy walks into a barbershop. The barber whispers to his customer, “This is the worlds dumbest kid. Watch and I’ll prove it to you.”
The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then asks the boy, “Hey kid, which do you want?”
The boy takes the quarters then leaves.
“What did I tell you?” said the barber. “The kid never learns!”
Later the customer sees the boy eating an ice cream and says, “Hey, little boy, why do you always take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?”
The boy licked his cone and answered, “Because the day I take the dollar, the game is over.”

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Guy walks into a bar….

He says, “ouch”

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Which day do eggs hate? Fry-day.

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What did the father buffalo say to his son when he left for school? Bison.

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Why was the piano on the porch? Because it forgot its keys.

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If you burry someone in the wrong place, you’ve made a grave mistake.

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My doctor told me to cut down on my sodium. But I always take her advice with a grain of salt.

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Want to hear a construction joke? I’m still working on it.

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What kind of shoes do spies wear? Sneakers

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I’m considering getting a job cleaning mirrors. It’s something I can see myself doing.

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Dame Edna had Zsa Zsa Gabor on as a guest.

Zsa Zsa said “Dahlink, not many people know this about me but, I am an excellent housekeeper.”

Dame Edna was amazed (and so was the audience).

Then Zsa Zsa said “Oh yes! After every one of my divorces, I keep the house!”