For Immediate Release:
September 27, 2022
Primary Media Contact:
Sally Voth
Public Relations Specialist
[email protected]
Phone: 540-868-7134

An Equal Rights Amendment-themed 28-poster art exhibit is on display through Oct. 3 in Wolk Hall on the Fauquier Campus. A reception, which will be attended by Sophia Pineda, one of several local artists whose work is featured in the Artists4ERA exhibit, is scheduled for 6 – 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29. Pineda will be there with her family, signing her posters.
Laurel Ridge’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Council is sponsoring the exhibit, which was displayed on the Middletown Campus Aug. 24 – Sept. 11.
“The DEI Council is committed to advocating for equality and inclusivity and is excited to host the Artists4ERA exhibit on the Fauquier Campus,” said Council Co-Chair Kayla Buckles, an academic advisor at the college. “Equality is a universal human right and fundamental to the mission of DEI.”
The project was created by VoteEquality and Artists4ERA to raise awareness of the effort to add gender equality to the U.S. Constitution through passage of the ERA. The art depicts diverse groups and communities, including LGBTQIA+, Black women, people of color and indigenous people.
The ERA was first put before Congress in 1923, three years after women received the right to vote, according to the National Archives. The proposed amendment would codify full equality for women, ending legal distinctions between men and women when it comes to divorce, property, jobs and more.
For more information about the exhibit, visit artists4ERA.org or voteequality.us.
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Founded in 1970, Laurel Ridge Community College is a multi-campus public institution of higher education. With four locations — Middletown, Warrenton, Luray-Page County and most recently, Vint Hill— the College serves eight localities in the Shenandoah Valley and northern Piedmont regions. The localities are the counties of Clarke, Fauquier, Frederick, Page, Rappahannock, Shenandoah and Warren and the city of Winchester. Laurel Ridge offers more than 75 associate degree and certificate programs in a wide variety of disciplines, in addition to providing access to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs offered on site by a four-year institution. Laurel Ridge also serves the business community by offering workforce preparation programs for employees and employers. Laurel Ridge serves more than 9,000 unduplicated credit students and more than 11,000 individuals in professional development and business and industry courses annually.
Laurel Ridge Community College (Laurel Ridge) is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Laurel Ridge Community College. Laurel Ridge Community College is an equal opportunity institution providing educational and employment opportunities, programs, services, and activities and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, disability, national origin, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or other non-merit factors. Laurel Ridge also prohibits sexual misconduct including sexual violence or harassment.
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.
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