Hello friends-
Happy July! I am sharing some wonderful news.
The Museum Of Motherhood is moving to The Factory in the warehouse district this August in St. Petersburg, Florida. From that new location we plan on executing quarterly exhibits. The first, which runs August 28-Oct., is titled ‘Motherhood On Motion’ curated by Liliana Beltran in collaboration with me, Martha Joy Rose.
Additionally we anticipate sharing aspects of our herstorical exhibitions permanently throughout the year, along with a compelling ‘Futurisms’ exhibit, interactive opportunities, and we will have a vibrant store onsite.
We are looking to work with partners who wish to create events within the space and are as excited by this new location as we are. Internships and residencies at the MOM Art Annex are ongoing.
On a personal note, as the museum founder and as a kidney transplant survivor, I have recently and unexpectedly come up against a physical impediment, which has been most inconvenient. I have been hospitalized with a bronchial infection- no doubt exacerbated by the Canadian fires and am currently in recovery which is why communication has been slow. It has been a long time since I have been brought this low by a physical limitation, and while I feel confident about moving forward, I anticipate another few weeks of recovery.
Lilliana, Beltran, curator, and I have been able to collaborate in terms of written curatorial statements and organizing art exhibitions, work that was begun over a month ago. I was able to ask a local artist to put signage up at the new location so second Saturday visitors this month would see our new spot (Thank you Paul Leroy), which is all good.
Because of this most recent development in my health, I am reaffirming the need once again for activate our Living Board. The Living Board is not a governing board but rather intended to keep MoM’s initiatives active and ongoing in the community even in the event of my unavailability. It is crushingly clear to me over the past several weeks the manner in which the blog has not gotten written, the newsletter has not gone out, the physical space which needs attending to has not been attended to, that every endeavor requires a team beyond the team, which means backup. The community-needs of MoM require local hands-on coordination. My ability to navigate on the phone amidst coughing fits has been impossible. To that end, I will re-initiate this community aspect when I return in August.
As we rapidly move towards our ‘soft opening’ date of August 28th, which is also the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights March on Washington – MoM will work with The Factory Team to fashion a press release and make plans for the ‘official’ opening of Sept. 9th, Second Saturday Art Walk.
Artwork will begin going up during the first two weeks of August. For those of you who wish to help, volunteering time, posting social media, and circulating news of our new space – we appreciate all the help we can get. We aim to create a generous, supportive, and creative space. AEHK are invited to share their work- we can produce gift cards for the store for example- with any themes relating to embodiment, motherhood in motion, or procreative or feminist endeavors. People who are looking to get involved can write with their ideas, proposals, or just sign up for potential volunteer hours, etc., using this online form: https://mommuseum.org/volunteer-mom/
In the spirit of progress and purpose, we now also put ourselves in in the capable hands of our strategic advisors who have been diligently working towards crafting a compelling narrative for potential funders and donors and to Connie B for her work on Salesforce & Quickbooks bringing us ever closer to fiscal well being, accountability, and preparation for MoM’s next great leap forward. We enthusiastically thank everyone who has been part of MoM over the course of the past year or so.
We are grateful to Maggie Duffy & Leonora Anton of the Tampa Bay Times, our St Pete High School volunteers & local teachers, Jeff Herman and Creative Grape, Gloria, Munoz, and Tombolo Books, SpaceCraft, Marcile Powers, Maureen McDole of Keep St Pete Lit, Yes Chef Village, our mothers groups, Batya Weinbaum for her onsite mural work, social media manager Margot Pomeroy, Empowerment Coordinator Sierra Clark, Hannah Brockbank, Larry & Cathy Dillahunty Law, Paul LeRoy, Dwayne Shepard, Nick Ribera, Jim Woodfield, Liam and Kristen Lansing, Olga Bof and Localtopia, Historic Kenwood, Neighborhood Association, and Artist Enclave of Historic Kenwood, all those who donated towards the purchase of the Mother Tree, and everyone who toured MoM or took an interest in our initiatives as well as our new partners at The Factory!
Can’t wait to be with you again soon,
