A $24 million mansion in Rancho Santa Fe became a gallery for one night as ArtLeadHER, the nonprofit founded to push the art world toward making room for women, celebrated its tenth anniversary with a party and exhibition called Through Her. Roughly 100 guests turned out on Oct. 29 for cocktails, a DJ, and new work from three women artists, marking a decade since the organization's 2016 founding.
The event was hosted at the Rancho Santa Fe home by Dubreville Atelier and presented with Soho House San Diego, according to San Diego Magazine. The evening featured paintings from Los Angeles-based artists Cortney Herron and Rugiyatou Ylva Jallow alongside a new body of ceramic work from ArtLeadHER founder Mashonda Tifrere herself. Jallow, the magazine reported, is soon to become a San Diegan.
From Visibility to Viable Careers
Tifrere, who has curated more than 40 exhibitions and worked with over 250 women worldwide since launching ArtLeadHER, according to The Art Newspaper, framed the anniversary as a shift in what the organization delivers. She said the group's work has grown from giving women artists a place to be seen to helping them build lasting careers. The Art Newspaper also notes Tifrere has been based in San Diego since 2020.
That evolution shows up in the artists ArtLeadHER has backed. Herron, a former graphic designer, started painting full time after being laid off, and the magazine's account credits the organization with helping build her confidence. Herron said ArtLeadHER's support makes artists feel seen and believed in, per the same report. Jallow, a Swedish-Gambian painter who has shown with ArtLeadHER in both group and solo exhibitions, described Tifrere as the most supportive person in her life, and the piece notes ArtLeadHER has helped both artists connect with new collectors.
A Nonprofit With Expanding Reach
ArtLeadHER's own site describes its mission as providing women and teenage girls with visual arts education, professional development, brand exposure, and exhibition opportunities, according to ArtLeadHER. The organization's history includes a sibling platform, Art Genesis — though the timing is murky: ArtLeadHER's site says both were founded together in 2016, while a biography from the Mandeville Art Gallery at UC San Diego states Tifrere launched Art Genesis in 2021.
Tifrere's San Diego-area projects have ranged well beyond gallery walls. The same San Diego Magazine report on a past local exhibit, titled “Somewhere in Between” at Quint Gallery, notes the show ran from July 26 to August 16. Tifrere also developed an audio tour of UC San Diego's Stuart Collection, guiding listeners through 22 site-specific artworks on campus with what the outlet described as a meditative wellness component.
Next Up: A Street Art Icon at MCASD
Looking ahead, Tifrere is curating a solo exhibition by street artist Swoon at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, with the show set to open in February 2027, per San Diego Magazine's reporting. Tifrere said ArtLeadHER's next decade begins now and that she looks forward to supporting more people, with plans to expand the organization's education programs and global platform.
The anniversary celebration lands amid a broader shift in how the art market treats women artists. Women represented 50% of artists at primary-market galleries and 45% across all dealers in 2025, up from 41% in 2024 and 35% in 2018, according to the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report. Still, the same report found women accounted for just 35% of artists and 27% of sales at galleries with revenues above $10 million, compared with 55% of artists and 43% of sales at dealers with turnover below $250,000 — a gap that underscores why organizations like ArtLeadHER continue pushing for traction higher up the market.
ArtLeadHER's track record stretches back to its earliest public moments, including the 2018 debut of its “Senses and Perception” show at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City on International Sculpture Day, according to Essence. A decade later, the organization's reach has moved from a New Jersey arts center to a Rancho Santa Fe estate, with Tifrere framing the anniversary less as a finish line than a starting point for what comes next.
