The Rules, Responsibilities, Restraints: Women's Pursuit of Equity exhibition will be on display in the public Visitors Lobby of the UN headquarters in New York as a meaningful and instructive companion to the discussions of the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women scheduled for March 2025.

An exhibition of artworks by French painter Fleur Spolidor and American sculptor Sawyer Rose, Rules, Responsibilities, Restraints combines the powerful tools of visual arts and educational writing to spark public dialogue around gender equity and the empowerment of women.

The important work of the Commission on the Status of Women—“accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”—happens mainly behind closed doors. The Rules, Responsibilities, Restraints exhibition, though, will be displayed to the public, celebrating the inspiring efforts of the Commission while also empowering visitors to question the gender status quo for themselves.

To one degree or another, in most cultures around the world, women are trained to “stay small.” From girlhood, we are told not to take up too much space physically, emotionally, in our homes, and in our careers. This exhibition stands up against these systems of oppression by telling women’s stories (both historical and contemporary, and through an intersectional lens), raising awareness about social issues affecting women and girls worldwide, and honoring the power and the elegance of the feminine.