The Afghan project

In 2019, Susan McCalmont met and mentored two Afghan women entrepreneurs visiting Oklahoma City on a study mission, sharing her vision for establishing a gallery in Oklahoma City. As the gallery began late in 2019 and was shuttered for a few months in 2020 due to COVID-19, conversations continued with one of the women, Hasina Aimaq, about the possibility of an exhibition featuring art and cultural works by women artisans living in Afghanistan.

In 2021, plans were being made with Hasina for the exhibition, and she sent a DHL box containing their work to the gallery. However, as the box traveled to Oklahoma City, the Taliban took over the country, and the collectives where the women entrepreneurs made their work were destroyed. Susan, along with several Oklahomans, played an instrumental role in assisting Hasina and her family escape Kabul and relocate to Toronto.

Today, Hasina is working with 1515 Lincoln Gallery to support thirteen women entrepreneurs still in Afghanistan who create arts and crafts. These women have sent handcrafted textiles, jewelry, and other artworks to 1515, where they are available for sale.

All proceeds from each sale, as well as from future orders, are donated to these women to support their entrepreneurial ventures and to provide education for their children.