The Joy Report – HERE IS THE LATEST TEAM NEWS!
June is PRIDE Month. This Saturday, June 1st, a new exhibit titled ‘Geography of a (Wo)man‘ onsite at MoM, incorporating images from NYC artist Christen Clifford and her body of work titled Interiors; ‘We Are All Pink Inside‘ and Molly Duff-Clarke’s “Mr. Dicki” sculpture. This will be on view along with the “Womb of Our Own; Seeing Red thru August. *Thanks to St. Pete Month of Photography on the ‘Mother Lens’ Exhibit through the month of May – we loved having you!
Christen Clifford is a feminist performance artist, mother, curator and writer whose work has been seen at The Lewyn Allyn Museum of Art, The Newark Museum of Art, The New Museum, Project for Empty Space, Eva Presenhuber, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, PS122/solonova, The Culture Project, AUNTSisDance, Postmasters Gallery, Panoply Performance Lab, Grace Exhibition Space, ArtShareLA, Vox Populii as well as London, Budapest, and Slovenia (and more). Residencies include The Museum of Motherhood, Some Serious Business, and the Ragdale Foundation. She co-chaired (with Jasmine Wahi) Rape, Representation and Radicality for The Feminist Art Project, teaches at The New School and curates Experiments and Disorders at Dixon Place. She at work on her first film. Her limited edition risograph artbook BabyLove was acquired by the Thomas J Watson Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her studio is Project for Empty Space in Newark. She lives in Queens and online @cd_clifford
Molly A. Duff-Clarke is a ceramic artist living and working out of St. Petersburg Florida. Using clay, Molly constructs figures that challenge the viewer’s notion of body and humor. Through the introduction of materials, such as yarn, flocking, and velvet, Molly creates soft textures that oppose the hard nature of fired clay. Molly’s studio practice is a dance between her fine-tuned craft in ceramics, and the discovery of new processes and materials. This balance between old and new, seasoned knowledge and discovery, is what keeps Molly active in her studio. Molly received her MFA from the University of South Florida in 2023, where she was the recipient of the MFA Excellence Award. She received her MA from Maharishi University and has a BFA in printmaking and ceramics from Kendall College of Art and Design. We are pleased to include her piece Lil’ Dicki in our summer exhibit: Ceramic underglaze, yarn, steel56″ x 20″ x 17″ Website
About Embodiment: The Museum of Motherhood presents exhibits that contain depictions of human anatomy. This is done for the specific reason that we are of human born and that our bodies are the vehicles and vessels for human life as well as the fact that we are an embodied species. Body parts depicted at MoM through exhibitions, display models, art, film, books, and clay may include naked breasts, bellies, wombs, embryos, penises, and other reproductive anatomy. These are not intended to be gratuitously sexual in nature but rather educational, inspirational and provocative; specifically in the manner in which art may cause us to reflect and ponder at any arts-based or science-based museum. This disclaimer is in direct response to Florida’s Obscenity Laws. The Museum of Motherhood has no intention of harming or exposing museum workers or attendees to anything other than museum-quality information and art. Everyone enters MoM in full knowledge about the nature of our purpose which is to elucidate the art, science, and herstory of women, mothers and families inclusive of all reproductive identities.
MoM at The Factory: Perhaps you’ve heard? After much back and forth, The Factory building was SOLD last week. The good news: we will stay in our current location through August and then we will move to Building 7 & 8 in Gallery Row near Drew Marc, The Florida Wildlife Corridor, and The Factory Artists in September. We will keep you posted on progress, but in the meantime, our new space will be reconfigured for new presentations of MoM – to see our original exhibits- make sure to book your tour in June, July or August of this year! New digs/ new exhibits. Don’t miss this current incarnation! Read more about the sale here: St Pete Rising ….
We Build Tampa Bay Fundraiser: Studies show that giving to women and girls organizations represent 1.8 percent of charitable giving in the USA of the 8.8 billion dollar pie. Our ‘We Build Tampa Bay” fundraising initiative is ongoing. Our fundraiser yielded $4 k of the entire 100k goal for 2024-2025 with donations by Liz Dimmitt, Deborah & Hugh Gelch, Aleks Miziolek & Betty Schaub who now comprise the first wave of our founders circle. This is 4% of our goal – so we are doing well statistically speaking. We will re-configure this page a bit and continue to actively promote.
MoM All Over: Museum founder and director, Martha Joy Rose spoke about MoM at the Tampa Bay International Ladies lunch in May and this week an invitation arrived to speak at the St Pete Women’s Club in the fall. An Eckerd College music class toured MoM and Joy shared a chapter from her edited collection Music of Motherhood from Demeter Press (2018). Joy also spoke at NERD Night about new definitions of m/otherhood and is presenting at the IAMAS Conference at Boston U June 22 & 23. Her presentation “The Last American Housewife” will be published in the forthcoming book Mother Waves by Demeter Press. Pre-order here.
TEAM
We Thank Our Volunteers: MoM runs on volunteer power. Each of the humans represented in the photo here (and more) are integral to making our operations go around on a daily basis. Our team keeps growing. Are you interested in getting involved with this legacy -defining project? Sign Up here to get involved and tell us about yourself.
Internships: In June and over the summer, we welcome two high school interns, Whetley and Xi who will be onsite managing the space and working on two projects: archiving our current exhibition and social media. We are excited to welcome them to our team!
EVENTS
XY Unboxed: a workshop, a seminar with open dialogue featuring shared experiences, and offering genuine connection, next weekend’s gathering is aimed at fostering interconnectedness. A transformative event dedicated to unraveling the complexities of masculinity and nurturing the original man. In today’s gender-evolving world, men, especially minority men, face unique challenges that require our attention and support. By addressing these challenges head-on, we can foster a more diverse and equitable society where all individuals can thrive. LINK TO REGISTER