About the Event

Join us for a special virtual event in which curator, art historian, and podcast host Jennifer Dasal discusses her new book, The Club: Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris (Bloomsbury, 2025).

Belle Époque Paris, a period of peace, prosperity, and cultural vibrancy, was the epicenter of modernity and a haven for artists and intellectuals from around the world. Opened in 1893, The American Girls’ Club in Paris harbored a generation of independent, talented, and driven American women. These women forged connections with influential figures such as writer and art collector Gertrude Stein, political activist Emmeline Pankhurst, and artist Auguste Rodin. Hear the never-before-told story of the club, the philanthropists who created it, and the artists it housed. These women’s lives revealed the power of the club itself, and the way that having a safe home for single women of ambition allowed them to grow as teachers, artists, suffragists, and people.

About the Author

Jennifer Dasal is an art historian, entertainer, and lecturer. She is the author of the nonfiction books ArtCurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History (Penguin, 2020) and The Club: Where American Women Arts Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris (Bloomsbury, 2025. She is also the host of the internationally acclaimed podcast ArtCurious and a popular guest speaker who leads international tours focused on artists including Vermeer, Van Gogh, Kahlo, and O’Keeffe. Dasal previously served as curator of modern and contemporary art at the North Carolina Museum of Art for nearly 15 years.

Dasal earned her M.A. in art history from the University of Notre Dame and pursued doctoral studies at Penn State University. She lives in North Carolina, where she can be found devouring books about the Beatles and planning her next global adventure.