I'm elated, over-the-moon, and bursting with excitement that today I helped Lauren Nye (of the Susquehanna Art Museum) install the show I've curated. Mythologies of Motherhood will be on view from this Wednesday through June 26th. That means it is open to the public for FOUR MONTHS, including 4 FREE Third in the Burgs, and one FREE workshop on visual journaling with a focus on motherhood taught by yours truly with a supporting role from the lovely Phoebe Heath of Anthracite Creative Works (see y'all, we weren't done collaborating yet - I declared that on the day she resigned from our dynamic duo at PHS!) Here's a sneak peek of the show when I left: I am so happy to personally know many of the women in this show and call them "friends." There is a wonderful mix of professional full-time artists, artist-teachers, and creative pursuers. It is especially an honor to have this show on display right now at the museum next to another artist-mother who's children are continuing to share her legacy and an amazing landscape painting show featuring the Wyeth's work alongside many other American painters (including the Hudson River School). I'm humbled to share the same walls.
So, for tonight, I cannot stop smiling.
0 Comments
The pitchAfter the last mom-themed art show, To Give Rise To in Lancaster City at the Community Room on King gallery space, I walked away with two thoughts: 1. this show (the work paired with the artist statements, plus the vulnerability of the artists in the show) really impacted people's lives in a way that NEEDS to continue in some form in this area (south-central PA), and 2. I am completely exhausted with the logistical work to make this show happen every year in the spring (read: during the school year and the art department's busy season). I decided to rest and not email every gallery in Lancaster again with pictures and beg for space to make our voices heard. Truth - I really did that after the first Motherhood Journey art show in 2019. While I waited, several people kept encouraging me with how the show impacted them and how the show was a form of ministry (and I know that's a heavy word with lots of connotations, so I use it cautiously, but I cannot deny where my heart is at with this show.) One day during the summer, I was casually scrolling through Facebook and I saw a friend of mine put out an update asking that if any artists wanted to collaborate with the Susquehanna Art Museum, to let her know. I did and found out that the museum would take care of a lot of the logistical work that I found exhausting to complete during the school year! (So that met one of my needs moving forward) AND the museum was interested in the show and could give me space to run a workshop that would allow mothers the opportunity to do some reflective art-making in conjunction with the show! (and that met the other need!) How AWEsome?! And so I began finding artists (which is easy because so many of them are my friends...is that cheating? Nah - I just run with a talented bunch of art-mamas. Here's the show synopsis: Mythologies of Motherhood chronicles personal stories of artists currently raising children. The artwork included draws attention to the disparities between the “ideals” of motherhood and the realities of actual family dynamics. This exhibition makes space for celebrating, commiserating, laughing, and reflecting upon our own development of personal mythologies in our motherhood experiences. Mythologies traditionally reference historical tales, but in a contemporary context that can be of a more personal nature. What myths of parenthood did you encounter or challenge with your own experience? The WorkMy two pieces for the show are a of a very new color palette for me. I think the spiciness of life has chipped away at my browns and golds I so often gravitate towards.
knew we were in trouble. So I made a U-turn right there on the highway and headed towards Great-Grandma's house. They lived on top of a hill. Luckily, she had one of Emerson's pull-ups but she didn't have any wipes. We made due. She made us some food and we waited to hear from daddy. Finally, we heard that daddy was able to get home, but he had bad news - our house was flooded and our roof leaked. We couldn't go back home, at least we couldn't stay there. So we packed up what we could and went to Grammy + Papa's house." The IronyOn day 34987598709879 of being quarantined since 2022 began...ok, so it was like day 30 or something like that, I realized that OF COURSE life and being a mom would collide hard with the show's finished work deadline and all of the other demands of being a teacher ending one semester and starting a new one (along with a baby shower for my SIL, more construction delays on our renovation project, a small-town art show in the middle of a snowstorm that I committed to months before). UGH. Yes, we were quarantined 3 times since the start of January - THREE TIMES! My son went to preschool/daycare for a total of 9.5 days from the start of 2022 until mid February. I think I took 16 sick days to not only have COVID but also to scramble to provide care for my quarantined kid. Somehow, a sleep deprived version of myself, surrounded in praying friends and curbside pick up, managed quite the feat and balancing act. But isn't that what the show is about? Messy life doesn't mean keeping regular studio hours for many of us, and that needs to be ok because regular studio hours don't make an artist (although, it would be lovely & helpful to have them!).
After an intense year of waiting and percolating in my own head with visuals and ideas about motherhood, To Give Rise To finally was born! The show opened on Friday, May 7th at the Community Room on King-the gallery’s very last show before the building owner converts all of the commercial space to residential units. It was also Lancaster’s first official in-person First Friday since the pandemic started. (So the show was very special to quite a few people for a lot of reasons.) Even though it rained, the gallery was packed with a steady flow of family, friends, and guests checking out the work of these artist moms. I was overwhelmed by the positive response we received from the community! The most common response was: “this is so thoughtful and so deep-these women are really insightful and talking about stuff that really needs to be talked about more!” It was also interesting to see how each work was uniquely able to connect with different people. Each person I spoke with picked a different work that really touched them. I’m so proud and thankful for the vulnerability and bravery in the moms that participated this year - your work impacted so many people! Between Friday night’s reception and Saturday’s Art Walk (complete with live artist demo from Jenna Minor Kline), the show raised $285 for the Milagro House! That’s way more than the 2 shows we did over nearly 2.5 months 2 years ago! Woo-hoo! I’m not sure what the next step is for this crazy idea/group show thing that I’ve been doing. One thing that kept coming up that evening and beyond was running a “class” of sorts that visually and creatively allows women to explore their own journeys as mothers. Right now, I’m resting and allowing that idea to simmer until it’s fully realized.
Links to participating artist's websites: Phoebe R Heath, Jenna Minor Kline, Leslie Gates, & Corianne Thompson It's set. It's scheduled. There's a *facebook invite.* But this year it's different. We're going to attempt this again, but on a smaller scale. COVID canceled a lot, including my momentum-slowly-building motherhood themed juried art show: To Give Rise To. But a year later, after one of the most mundane, but also extremely taxing and imbalanced years of my life, I have a lot more to say and more visual stories to pull from than I could ever have anticipated. For me, I know that I found so much joy in watching the seasons change and exploring nature more with my son. It was truly a gift that as a teaching mom I may never get to experience again - and boy, did I document it! I'm so excited to share some of my new work that has come out of this intense season and I know that I'm not the only artist-mom who feels this way. This year's show is a curation of artist moms who participated in the first two iterations of this show: Phoebe Heath, Jenna Minor Kline, Leslie Gates, Corianne Thompson, Elizabeth Lee, Erika Kim Milenkovic, Andrea Klein, Marie Sellenrick, and Nichole Madonna.
So, mask up, come out, and join us in the conversation! I am please to announce that the Motherhood Journey show will be continuing this year in May as part of the Lancaster Art Walk! The Community Room on King will be hosting and the show will be juried by Baltimore artist and Milked Magazine founder, Lee Nowell-Wilson! Once again, the show will benefit the Milagro House and feature a *surprise* collaboration.
I am super stoked about the positive feedback I received from the shows last year and loved seeing moms empowered with a public voice. If you or someone you know is interested in submitting work to the show, the call for work can be found by clicking the image above. Thanks for all of the support and passing along the info! |
Archives
March 2022
Categories
All
|