Mother Artists at Work Presents: Patterns

Opening Reception May 4th, 5-8 PM 

Tacocat Gallery

937 Burrell Ave.

Grandview Heights, Ohio 43212

For more information visit our Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1457841141120041/

MAW Supports the Columbus Public Schools Mannequin Project!

Thank you to MAW for generously supporting the Columbus Public Schools Mannequin Project! (CPSMP)

What IS CPSMP, you ask?

It is a project to raise funds for the purchase of wooden, hand-made artist mannequins which will eventually live in a few--yet to be determined--art classrooms within the Columbus Public School system... ... The mannequins will first be used in an installation for the Patterns exhibition at Tacocat Cooperative in May 2014.

After the exhibition, the mannequins will then be given to Columbus Public Schools. "It is about how one act, in this case putting the mannequins in the classroom, creates a positive ripple effect, a pattern of creativity, that extends beyond the act of giving and the object." 

Won't you support this project?
Columbus Public Schools Mannequin Project

Give a little MAW for the Holidays

Plush Sale to Support Columbus Arts Festival Artists!

We were super lucky this year to participate with the Independent Creatives section of the Columbus Arts Festival! Even with the storm, Mother Artists at Work was still able to reap a profit, 50% of which will be donated to artists who lost artwork, tents, and other valuables during the festival storm.

We received so much interest in purchasing the plushes created for the game, we've decided to sell several off in order to increase our contribution to the Artists Relief Fund. 100% of the sale goes to the fund. To purchase please contact mawcolumbus@gmail.com. Paypal accepted. Each plush is $20, plus $5 for shipping if applicable, free Columbus, OH pick up.

To view the plushes for sale, go to the set on flickr, or click on images below:

www.flickr.com

Coming to Concourse Gallery

Mother Artists at Work: Laboring

April 28-May 20, 2011

Opening Reception Friday, April 29th, 2-5:00pm

The Cultural Arts Division is pleased to present Mother Artists at Work: Laboring on display April 28-May 20 in the Concourse Gallery, Municipal Services Center 3600 Tremont Road. Mother Artists at Work explore, "laboring," a theme playing on the dual meaning of the process of becoming a mother as well as the toiling of an artist. Featuring works in 2-D & 3-D mixed media, painting, enameling, fiber and photography. The mission of MAW, a non-profit association of mothers working in the arts, is to support and promote artists who are mothers through networking, professional development, and exhibit opportunities, as they work to keep career and family in balance.

Join us April 29th at 2:24 pm, during the Mother Artists at Work: Laboring opening reception, for a screening of Who Does She Think She Is? Academy Award Winning film-maker Pamela Tanner Boll examines some of the most pressing issues of our time; parenting and work, partnering and independence, economics and art. This film follows five women who refuse to choose between working and mothering. A roundtable discussion following the film will feature artists from Mother Artists at Work: Laboring and the previous Concourse Gallery exhibit Image - Self: Women in Art, discussing issues covered in the film.

Hard Labor Show!

MAW is having our second show!

Hard Labor: Mother Artists at Work
Saturday, May 1, 6-9 p.m.
Sean Christopher Gallery, Columbus, Ohio

The show will be up during the month of May, and promises to be awesome! See you there!

Vision Board Workshop

We had an awesome time at the vision board workshop this morning. Here's Kate, laboring on her Rebirth board:





And Judy, likewise, working wonders with rubber cement:





And Melissa, tearing it up:



Here's my board. We're all supposed to blog about our boards, so I'm going to sneak mine in right now.



I knew I needed to vision prosperity, but didn't want it to be about money. There is nothing wrong with money, and I know this, but I wanted it to be about something more. The word "harvest" came up, and "gold," and I knew where it was headed. There's a lot of spinning straw into gold in there.

There are images of fiber work by Eva Hesse, and the cliff repellers, side by side. I need a little risk, and I love the repelling ropes and how they mirror the fiber art.

The knitter with the birds in her hair is about listening to the little birds of ideas, and the gourd bird houses are, I think, about giving those ideas a place to nest before I turn them into something tangible. All this comes from the tear at the top right -- which is not so much about crying (although that's fine,) but more about it being a flow from vision.

I had brought some images of garden design to use. I love the tidy, drawn little plans, and thought, "If I could only design my life that way, with an aerial view, wouldn't that be great?" But during the process, I realized that was exactly what I needed to let go; words like flow and organic and process (although I didn't use it) began to surface. I also needed to include the word "ready." I know in the past, things have started to happen, and I didn't feel ready. I want to feel ready -- ready to reap and receive -- and, as it says in the bottom right corner, "walk my path."

Upcoming Vision Board Workshop

On February 21, Mother Artists at Work (MAW) will be offering a Vision Board workshop. This event is free and available to members only.

The book we'll be using is The Vision Board Book: Your Guide to an Extraordinary Life by Joyce Schwartz. I am reading it now, and if you have a chance to get it from the library or purchase it between now and the workshop, I highly recommend it. It will only enhance your experience at the workshop, and empower you to continue using the vision board method in future.

Vision Boards can be focused on anything: your life, your family and home, your artwork. Even businesses and groups come together to create a vision board for their organization or event, to see what might come together as a whole. This is something MAW might like to do in future, but for the upcoming workshop, it will be based on personal dreams and revelations.

The Vision Board is different from visualization in that it is not about creating a vision of what you think you want to happen, although that can be useful, too. The Vision Board is a way to let your inner voice -- or a higher voice -- guide you through play. We will be looking through magazines and cutting out images that appeal to us, and using them on the board. It doesn't have to make sense, but the meaning might come together for you at the end.

Between now and the workshop, take some time to meditate and perhaps come up with one word to help guide you for your board. You might feel overwhelmed trying to come up with one word for your entire life, so feel free to narrow this vision board to be about a particular area. An example given in the book is the word "freedom," which a man spray painted on his dining room wall, and then began creating a vision board for his family right there on the wall. Their lives changed radically that year in the direction they desired. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

For the workshop, bring poster board or another board surface to work on, magazines (make sure they are a good mix, and not just the usual ones you read,) glue sticks or other glue, scissors, paints, pencils, glitter, clear acrylic gesso if you want a top coat, and any other supplies you enjoy using.

For more information on Vision Boards, check out these links:

Christine Kane: How to Make a Vision Board

SelfGrowth.com: How to Use a Vision Board to Activate the Law of Attraction

Thanks to My Artful Life on Flickr for the Vision Board image.

KidzArtz 2009: Registration is Open!

Who Do We Think We Are?!?

MAW attended the screening of Who Does She Think She Is?, part of the Columbus International Film + Video Festival. The film was well-rounded, documenting not only the struggles and sacrifices of women and mother artists, but also the difference that can be made with the support of family and community. Artist Janis Wunderlich and the filmmaker's sister (who lives in Columbus) were both on hand for a Q&A afterwards. I enjoyed how down-to-earth and open they were.

Sadly, the filmmaker, Pamela T. Boll, is now living the message of the film: the arts are male-dominated, and women are fighting all odds to succeed. She cannot find a distributor for the film, even though it is getting rave reviews. Evidently, "there is not enough interest in the subject matter."

So prove them all wrong! Go to the website, sign up, buy the DVD when it's released, host or attend a screening -- whatever you've got to do to support the film and get the message out!

During the Q&A, Melissa pointed out the film was started in 2005, the same year as our group! The phrase "birthing the art" was used many times during the film, and the name of our show in 2006 was "Birthing the Artist." We thought this was a cool coincidence.