The self-told narratives of five women artists (ages 30 – 80), each of whom has a passion for art-making inseparable from her devotion to New York. Swoon, the youngest, exhibits cut-outs directly on city walls and subways, and exudes idealism and energy while carrying a two by four the way some women would carry a briefcase. Cairo-born Ghada Amer mixes media--embroidering with painting--to confront sexual taboos that cross cultural boundaries. After experiencing the New York Dolls in San Francisco, Kiki Smith realized she needed New York’s energy to create her wildly influential paintings and sculptures; Marina Abramovic, originally of Belgrade, is a performance art pioneer who often uses her own body as a canvas. And Nancy Spero returned from Paris with artist-husband Leon Golub in 1964, to meld art and activism during the Vietnam War and become, in her own words, "a woman warrior."