Katy Hessel: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists

Join art historian and bestselling author Katy Hessel for a special family book talk celebrating the release of The Story of Art Without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists, introducing young readers to the groundbreaking women artists too often left out of history. Through interactive discussion, drawing, and visual storytelling, Hessel invites families to participate in expanding the story of art history and discover how art can always be relevant to them. Hessel will be joined on stage by illustrator Ping Zhu for an interactive live drawing demonstration to accompany the program. 
Copies of Hessel’s books, including The Story of Art Without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists, will be available for purchase in the Museum Shop. 
EVENT SCHEDULE 

• 11 AM – 12 PM | Talk and Visual Storytelling with Katy Hessel and Ping Zhu | Ring Auditorium 
• 12 PM | Book Signing with Katy Hessel and Ping Zhu | Lower Level Lobby 
• 10 AM – 2 PM | Art-making inspired by Joan Mitchell | Hirshhorn Art School 

ABOUT KATY HESSEL 
Katy Hessel is an art historian and the author of the international bestseller The Story of Art Without Men (Waterstones Book of the Year 2022); How To Live an Artful Life; and The Story of Art Without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists, her first children’s book. She runs @thegreatwomenartists on Instagram, hosts The Great Women Artists Podcast, and writes a column for The Guardian. A Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University and Trustee of Charleston, she has presented documentaries for the BBC and launched Museums Without Men, a growing audio series highlighting works by women artists in museum collections worldwide, including The Met and Hirshhorn Museum. https://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/
ABOUT PING ZHU 
Ping Zhu is an artist and illustrator based in NYC. Since graduating ArtCenter in Pasadena, CA, she has collaborated with clients big and small with a preference of painting in gouache on paper. Her work has been recognized by ADC Young Guns, American Illustration, and the Society of Illustrators, where she was Chair in 2022. Her first illustrated book, The Strange Birds of Flannery O’Connor (Enchanted Lion), written by Amy Alznauer, was a New York Times Best Children’s Book of 2020. The Story of Art Without Men (Norton Young Readers) and Animals of the Chinese Zodiac: Meet Your Match! (Phaidon) will be released October 2026. In her free time she enjoys trail running, a food focused party, and holding her dog Uma like a baby.