May is Mothers’ Month– and here we are once more – celebrating the art, science, and herstory of American women and mothers with international collaborations. While MoM situates itself as a museum primarily focused on the last 250 years of North American women, m/others and families, our internships, conferences, and online exhibitions span the gamut from the UK to Canada, from Europe to Asia.
Here we go: LET THE MAY COUNTDOWN BEGIN!
ONE: May 1st was supposed to be the conclusion of our fundraising initiatives for fund our 2024-25 season, yet we persist. The Fundraiser continues to meet our 2024-25 Budget of $100K.
We thank the Rays and Rowdies for their recent sponsorship and we thank our new Founders Circle members: Liz Dimmitt, Aleks Miziolek, Betty Schaub and our assorted friends who have also contributed donations to this “We Build Tampa Bay” fundraiser.
In the meantime, our newest art exhibit, includes a collaborative work entitled ‘A Womb of Our Own – Seeing Red‘. This sculpture is currently onsite at MoM and will see its completion on Wednesday, May 8th with additional pieces contributed by Jessica Caldas. The sculpture assemblage includes the vision of MoM curator Martha Joy Rose and contributions by Leroy – the King of Art. Visit us Wednesday 6-7:30 PM to PLAY and CELEBRATE the fab new vision! But, first make your pledge to MoM by using this form or by donating directly to Join our Founders Circle.
We are also collaborating with The Saint Petersburg Month of Photography (SPMOP) for the exhibition MOTHER LENS: Four Visions of Motherhood: Mikaela Martin, Jena Love, Águeda Sanfiz, and Angelika Kollin, present their reflections on motherhood with very distinctive voices that range from the visual personal journal, the photojournalistic essay, conceptual photography, and fine art portraiture. [More]
SPMOP Exhibit
Jessica Caldas Sculpture Rendering
TWO: MaMaPaLooZa is May 4th 10-4PM at The Factory in St. Pete in partnership with Fairgrounds St. Pete. Come to 2606 Fairfield Ave. S. Enjoy the day! FREE for the family with lots of activities, music, and discounted tix to the Fairgrounds. Full description on our page here.
THREE: 3 months is all we have at our current location at The Factory. Yes, that’s correct.May, June, July and then we begin looking for our next location. What does that mean? MoM’s going to need to make plans for where we pop up next. Have ideas? Want to help us make something happen? Get in touch. We need your input now. Join Us.
Summer Hours at MoM
Beginning immediately, our hours at The Factory May –July will be 12-6 Thursday-Sunday. If you are visiting locally or from out of town, make sure to book your tour in advance. We have a small volunteer team and sometimes may not be onsite if you have not pre-booked, however we do our best and you can always reach out! Call ahead 877-711-MOMS (6667) or write: INFO@MOMmuseum.org
Other Activities and Friends
The Mysteries About Manifestation Revealed from our friend Brett Cotter
New Program – Align Your Actions with Your Destiny
There is something almost all other manifestation programs miss; how do you break free from the subconscious beliefs that manifests all the stress and lack in our lives? Mantras and affirmations will not stick if your deeper core beliefs are not in alignment.
In this 4-Week Program you will be guided through 4 essential steps to manifest the life you want.
You will be guided to:
1. Identify your deepest desire and purpose
2. Release the old fear and programming you have around living your destiny now
3. Embody the new beliefs that automatically manifest the life you want
4. Align your time with your soul’s priorities
Facilitator: Brett Cotter, Author, Retreat Leader, and Trauma Recovery Expert with 20-years experience consciously working with the laws of manifestation. He teaches with his wife at the Omega Institute, Kripalu, Himalayan Institute, Tibet House, and Sivananda Ashram on Paradise Island.
Price: Early bird special $99 ends May 3rd, after that $199
Sunday, May 197:00 PM – 8:30 PM Online Motherhood: The Forever Job(FREE)– An evening of new writing by author and artist Suzi Banks Baum, followed by a discussion about the importance of writing motherhood with Joy Rose, award-winning artist, activist, and founder of the Museum of Motherhood. Participate in an Open Mic event for IWWG members and guests. Register Online.
Books
Matricentric feminism seeks to make motherhood the business of feminism by positioning mothers’ needs and concerns as the starting point for a theory and politic on and for the empowerment of women as mothers. Based on the conviction that mothering is a verb, it understands that becoming and being a mother is not limited to biological mothers or cisgender women but rather to anyone who does the work of mothering as a central part of their life. The Mother Wave, the first-ever book on the topic, compellingly explores how mothers need a matricentric mode of feminism organized from and for their particular identity and work as mothers, and because mothers remain disempowered despite sixty years of feminism. MoM Founder & Director, Martha Joy Rose has a chapter in this book. Order yours now.
CALL TO ACTION: Join Our Founder’s Circle- Building MoM in Florida. Calling one hundred friends to invest in the future of Tampa Bay!
MoM invites you to a celebration of the Museum of Motherhood in St. Pete 2024. As we acknowledge our enormous growth since moving to The Factory in September 2023 and now we invite YOU to join us as we bring this legacy project to its next phase of development.
The Museum of Motherhood (MoM) is an international museum and teaching facility located in St. Petersburg, FL, devoted to the art, science, and history of women, m/others and families inclusive of all reproductive identities. Through exhibitions and education, MoM tackles the ubiquitous nature of reproductive identity, birth, and parenting by examining the social, psychological, and economic realities embedded in these experiences and by turning the lens squarely on the people at the center of these endeavors.
In September of 2023, MoM moved to The Factory in St. Pete. Now situated in the arts district plans are underway for how to sustain and grow MoM in the community. With over 1,200 visitors a month, the museum aims to remain free and open to the public with plans underway for a new ‘experiential’ portion of the museum to be built in the fall. Founder Martha Joy Rose oversees operations with a volunteer staff located here in Pinellas County.
April 17 6-7:30 PM – What is Black Maternal Health Week? In celebration of Black Maternal Health Week Doula Courtney West, owner of 3 Gems Birth Services, partner, with MoM Empowerment Facilitator Sierra Clark to have an open discussion on how empowerment effects black maternal health. Many times we hear disturbing numbers of maternal mortality and morbidity in the Black community. We don’t always hear the ways to make change in this area. During this 90 minute conversation we will address some of the current concerns around birth in the US, talk about the practicalities of birth, and why awareness around black maternal health is essential. With empowerment, education, passion and love we can make the change. Online at IG and in-person at MoM. We’d love to see you in person. Register here. Register here or call 877-711-MOMS (6667) and leave a message
This year, with the help of WEDU PBS, ABC Action News, the Tampa Bay Times and several local sponsors and supporters, word has gotten out in great ways. But the project is still largely unfunded and the non-profit seeks support to meet its 100k budget for 2024-25.
A May Mamapalooza event kicks off mother’s month with family events on May 4th with collaborators Liz Dimmitt and The Fairgrounds St. Pete, followed by a fundraiser on May 8th. Undeterred by statistics that charitable giving to women and girls organizations represents less than 2% of all philanthropic activity in the U.S., that only 11% of U.S. History books are about women and only 11 % of museum collections contain art made by women, MoM remains committed to change by taking its rightful place in the museum world.
This call to action invites women and their friends to invest in the future of Tampa Bay by joining the Museum of Motherhood non-profit Founders Circle. MoM invites local leaders to take the next step forward with this first, local and herstoric legacy project. Read more about this event here.
UPCOMING EVENTS – Mark Your Calendars
MaMaPaLooZa 2024 in Tampa Bay
The Saint Petersburg Month of Photography in collaboration with the Museum of Motherhood presents the exhibition MOTHER LENS: Four Visions of Motherhood: Mikaela Martin, Jena Love, Águeda Sanfiz, and Angelika Kollin, present their reflections on motherhood with very distinctive voices that range from the visual personal journal, the photojournalistic essay, conceptual photography, and fine art portraiture.
Image: Angelika Kollin, titled: Ndahafa / South Africa / 2023
March at MoM is going to be AWESOME! We are looking forward to our Annual Academic & Arts Conference, BIPOC Allies and Birth Worker event, recap on our visit with Girls Rock St. Pete, gratitude to ABC News for the recent coverage and more at the Museum of Motherhood in March for Women’s Herstory Month!
Our conference kicks off at the end of the month, but first here’s what you can expect:
LINK TO SCHEDULE for the Conference info is ONLINE at MoM, Fri-Sat, March 22-24 in St. Pete.
The conference is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC VIA ZOOM & IN PERSON. If you are interested in attending via Zoom contact us: INFO@MOMmuseum.org / SATURDAY RESERVATIONS IN PERSON @ EVENTBRITE $25 includes lunch with some Friday and Sunday seats available in person as well. Read more about this year’s content below and we hope you’ll join us!
Join a half a dozen artists with a special exhibition at Heiress Gallery, Keynotes by Courtney Kessel and Andrea O’Reilly with a special crochet circle lead by Madison Hendry and international artists present from March 16- 31st. Press Release is here with more info coming….
MoM Conference 2024 Partners
Threads of Connection: Mother (and other) blame, shame and pain, with a focus on resistance and healing. Blame and shame can be self-imposed or projected by dominant social narratives that hyper-focus on the performative nature of m/otherhood as reinforced by unrealistic hegemonic constructions. This can be true for adult children reviewing familial relationships and the world writ large as well.
We encourage presenters to unpack the sociocultural domain of mother (and other) blame and the psychological, personal, professional, and media environment within which this topic is situated. Who is harmed by blame, and whom does it serve? How are oppressive systems reinforced or even sustained? How can we resist or dismantle these systems in large and small ways?
Threads of Connection Conference 2024
Kick Off to Conference With BIPOC Allies & Birth Workers
Welcome to **BIPOC & Allies Birth Worker Speed Dating**! Are you a birth worker looking to connect with others in the industry? Join us at The Factory St. Pete on **Thu Mar 21 2024** at **6:30 PM** for a fun and interactive speed dating event. This is a great opportunity to meet and network with BIPOC and allies in the birth work community. Whether you’re a doula, midwife, lactation consultant, or any other birth worker, this event is for you! Come ready to mingle, make new connections, and potentially find your next collaboration partner. Don’t miss out on this exciting event in **St. Petersburg, FL, USA**! Please get your free ticket here
Join MoM Empowerment facilitator and certified life coach, Sierra M. Clark on her journey to joy.
But, first-pay attention and HOLD THE DATE AEHK 7th Annual Studio Tour is coming March 16 & 17th! This is a wonderful opportunity to explore local artists studios “Where Art Lives” @historickenwood
We love our community collaborators. Thank you to Girls Rock St. Pete for visiting MoM and asking all the great questions as we celebrate Women’s Herstory Month together throughout March this year. We can’t wait for more music, more fun, and more connections!
Girls Rock St Pete
Flash Feminism –Do you know your ‘women’s herstory’?
https://mommuseum.org/her-story/In order to understand the profound impact women’s history has had on our policies, culture, and world, it is important to discern the multiple waves of feminism, the fight for the freedoms we enjoy today, and the manner in which women’s struggles for equality have been challenged, and continue to be challenged, even in contemporary society. Below is an overly simplified, yet effective overview of the four U.S. feminist waves, for students of all ages! Go to our herstory page to get an idea of where we’ve been and where we hope to go in the journey towards equality for all. [CLICK]
Please join us in thanking WEDU for an incredible portrayal of 20 years worth of labor on the MoM distilled into a 10 minute profile, airing tonight at 8:30PM EST on local/FL TV, by Producer Kristine Kelly, camera by James Borchuck and the entire production and staffing team at PBS on the creation of the Museum of Motherhood through a very personal lens.
MoM is a legacy project because of a deep need in our world and in our society, a vision that came through immense hardship, and a lot of grinding work, as well as some blissful and blessed support with volunteers and allies. Every single person who has put their energy behind this initiative can, and should, take pride in being part of something that in an amazing FIRST on this planet.
Each volunteer, visitor, student, board member, academic, artist, team member, donor, friend, and family member should consider this story of perseverance and triumph to be their own. We share it with you in every way.
New exhibits coming. Installation of Madison Hendry ‘The Womb’ Project is in progress.
Make it GREAT with us: This is OUR YEAR FOR UNMITIGATED SUCCESS. MoM is going to find the funding and partnerships it requires in 2024 to build our forever home – with your help, equity, and alliance! Together we rise!
Everyone has a #Mother, but #Motherhood encompasses much more than a traditional maternal role. We explore the art, science, and history of mothering in its myriad forms through the one-of-a-kind @MuseumOfMotherhood More episodes of Greater St. Petersburg are available on our website @ WEDU
In this special episode Josh Naaman of Naaman Creative interviews his grandmother, Nana, about her life, lessons on family, kindness, and peace, and discovers how these values helped shape Josh’s business model. This intimate conversation highlights the enduring impact of family bonds, emphasizes the joy of doing what you love, and explores timeless wisdom from a life well-lived. Join us in celebrating family, love, and the pursuit of happiness across generations. (Hear our MoM ad)
THANKS FOR BEING PART OF IT ALL!
We have a call out for VOLUNTEERS. Looking for onsite event volunteers for Second Saturday Art Walk, First Sunday Indie Flea, docents, and social media! Please give us a shout if you have a few hours a week or month to share and join our AMAZING team! Or, create your event, workshop, or gathering by getting in touch FORM. Also, INFO@MOMmuseum.org / 877-711-MOMS (6667)
Last year we saw so many changes. Some easy and some challenging. At the end of the year, like so many, we honor the year behind us and look forward to the year ahead!
In 2023, MoM hosted the Annual Academic Conference on Maternal Landscapes and welcomed travelers from around the world, finalizing production on the Journal of Mother Studies (JourMS) for online publication post-conference. We worked with artists in residence including and extended residency with Batya Weinbaum who created an onsite goddess mural at the MOM Art Annex. We purchased the Mother Tree by Helen Hiebert for our permanent collection with the support of you- the friends of MoM. As we made new friends in the community we worked with YesChefVillage hosting community dinners onsite, joined Localtopia for its huge local festival gathering, and conducted 178 MoM tours. Our internships were active with local Feminist Club high school students and another university graduate students completing final projects with MoM from different countries including Russia, Canada, England, and France. Finally, we enjoyed media attention from SpectrumBayNews9, the Tampa Bay Times (twice), and Authentic Florida. Finally, in September, we moved from our offices at the MOM Art Annex to The Factory in the arts district of St. Pete and opened our doors to the public. Our lease runs through July 2024. Can’t wait to see what’s next!
Our New Year 2024
January2024 last call to view Alexia Nye Jackson’s Mother: The Job exhibit through January 15th onsite at The Factory. Then, MoM welcomes the Womb Project ‘Time-based Sculpture and Documentation’ with yarn by Madison Hendry.
January 15th New Board Members announced.
February 18th Feminist Pizza Party: as part of Dining for the Arts with Historic Kenwood.
March is Women’s History Month!
March 16 & 17 – MOM Art Annex Studio Tour as part of the AEHK.
March 22-24 – Annual MoM Conference: Threads of Connection – Sorry/Not Sorry featuring keynote speaker Courtney Kessel with an interactive site-responsive installation of “Fabric of Life” and the art of the doula and Madison Hendry with group-led conversations circles at the Mother Tree with community crochet, panel discussions, conference presentations, and local health & wellness exhibitions.
May is Mothers Month! Saint Petersburg Month of Photography – SPMOP (Local Photography Exhibit) in partnership with local artists.
June- JulyGeography of a Woman featuring Interiors “we are all pink inside” by Christen Clifford and the Goddesses of Malta.
This schedule is sure to blossom. If you are interested in getting involved with MoM as a volunteer, partner, collaborator, local sponsor, or through workshop or other participation, or if you’d like to share your time or expertise, please contact us! To make a donation to MoM go to ourdonation page please.
Can you answer this question? How many people wept tears of gratitude on Saturday at the Museum of Motherhood, either because they felt ‘seen’, ‘heard’, or because they accessed the information they’d been seeking?
The answer is THREE, in addition to the other amazing people we had the pleasure of interacting with. We witnessed the overwhelmed military mom, a traveler from Dallas, and a son who recently lost his mother and was looking for connection. They all dabbed tears from their eyes. Since moving to The Factory in St Pete, we are greeting approximately 1,200 people a month with a mission of informing and inspiring lives while remaining free and open to the public. We are able to do this because of your generous donations.
The non-profit world is hard. It’s a fact that many museums struggle to maintain their collections, buildings and staff. MoM currently has over a dozen community volunteers, a devoted director, a strategic team for infrastructure building and fiscal growth, a commendable collection of mother-made art, and a mission of taking our rightful place in the museum world.
For twenty years, on a shoestring budget, with an unrelenting commitment to thrive, founder Martha Joy Rose has championed the Museum of Motherhood, first through its New York non-profit status with the Motherhood Foundation Inc, to the MaMaPaLooZa Festival, to the streets of Seneca Falls, to Manhattan College, to the Department of Gender and Sexuality at USF in Tampa, to St Petersburg, Florida.
In 2019, the MOM Art Annex 501c3 was approved for Florida non-profit status. Then, the pandemic. MoM pivoted to mentor eighteen interns from around the world with a variety of projects and made its facility available to over a dozen artists in residence supporting mother made art, literature, and performance. Post-pandemic, from 2022-2023, we conducted over 178 in-home tours featuring the artifacts in our permanent collection, hosted healthy community suppers for families in need, and participated in Localtopia. We were able to purchase the Mother Tree for our permanent collection in 2023 and make the transition from the MOM Art Annex office to The Factory in the Arts District of St. Pete.
The Time For MoM’s Sustainability Is Now
We are poised for success. Our ducks are in a row, our noses are clean and our strategy for success is in place. All we need now are the partnerships, dollars, and donors to take this museum production to legacy status. Our goals are to continue to build out community partnerships. This year we added the Fairgrounds St Pete, Heiress Gallery, Girls Rock St Pete, and Naaman Creative to our team of community collaborators.
Our space at The Factory is staffed and ready to greet you. Exhibitions since our opening in September have included Amy Wolf’s wearable collection, and Alexia Nye Jackson’s Mother: The Job. Plans are underway for our annual spring MoM Conference, and future exhibits with Madison Hendry and Christen Clifford.
Please Donate Today
Our Go Fund Me has launched with a goal of raising $30K. (These dollars have already been matched for our 2023 budget). Now we need to raise the rest! We will be using this money to pay our rent, keep our lights and phone on, and to make our website ADA compliant.
Donations can be made by Check and addressed to 538 28th St. N. St Petersburg, FL 33713, through our Go Fund Me, or on our website. Your support is critical to our success. LINK TO OUR GO FUND ME IS HERE.
“There are only four kinds of people in the world—those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.” Rosalynn Carter.
What is a m/other, if not someone who sees to the wellbeing of her family whenever and if-ever possible? From birth on, the person who both gave us life and also the person who often sees to our care and upbringing are forever linked through body, mind, and psyche to the one’s whom they are connected.
Through our biologies, our relationships and our care-work, we are all connected in unfathomable ways
Our children’s cells live on in our brains. Whether we are caregiving forward towards our offspring or adopted children, or our neighborhood, or caring backward for a parent or grandparent , the circle of life involves constant attention to our collective well-being.
Research shows women who live near each other affect the other’s reproductive cycles. It is also scientifically proven that we share more than just our pregnant bodies with our offspring. “Women have microchimeric cells both from their mother, as well as from their own pregnancies” (Link). These remain in our bodies throughout our lives. We are indeed present in not only our physical reality but also our energetic one.
We honor the work of Rosalynn Carter and of all the mothers and others who have devoted large portions of their lives to caring for others: this can mean mental health care, infant care, healthcare, domestic care, professional care, partner care, community care, parent care and even environmental and pet care.
MoM needs your help as we nurture the nurturers and empower the future caregivers of the world
At the Museum of Motherhood we work everyday, round the clock to share the art, science and herstory of mothers. In September, we moved to a new 1,000 sq. ft venue in the arts district of St. Petersburg, Florida!
With over a dozen volunteers who reach thousands of individuals each month, we require the dollars to stay open, accessible, and free to the public.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Fundraiser Museum of Motherhood end of year 2023
Our ‘Mothers Give Everyday’ Campaign is a call to raise $30K:
Can you help us pay the rent and utilities in 2024 at our new venue?
Can you help us make our website ADA compliant.
Will you add a name to our Tribute page?
MAKE A LEGACY DONATION IN THE NAME OF SOMEONE YOU LOVE ON OUR TRIBUTE PAGE! Donate here [Link at bottom) or on our GoFundMe page!
Join this campaign in memory of your mother, grandmother, and those people you hold near & dear: the blended families, the non-traditional families and the individuals that have nurtured you. Or, honor a professional who has impacted your life by taking care of your reproductive health: the midwives, obstetricians, nurses, doulas, and pediatricians. The teachers, aunties, and other mothers who have and are impacting the future leaders of our world!
After 20 years of creating conferences, working with students around the world, mentoring young women (and men), and creating a safe and then significant space for family members, we have landed:
HELLO ST PETERSBURG WE HAVE JOINED THE CITY OF MUSEUMS!
Make a tax deductible donation in any amount to the MOM Art Annex 591c3 for the Museum of Motherhood .
MoM loves you and values your participation.
Remember there is only one degree of separation between YOU and MOM.
Greetings Friends – MoM wants you to be part of this significant, empowering, and impactful outreach initiative. Help MoM build on our successes with you as our partner. Now is the time for our year-end membership and donation drive. Your memberships and donations are our main source of income, keeping us free and open to the public throughout the year. Because of you, we continue to reach people from around the world with this important project.
Significance: We are the first and only Museum of Motherhood in the world, elucidating the art, science, and herstory of women, mothers, and families inclusive of all reproductive identities.
Empowering: We connect with students, travelers, and families reminding them of our collective shared status, our origin stories, and the inherent creativity of the human experience for the empowerment of all.
Impactful: We are devoted to educating the world about the contributions and experience of m/others both historically and in contemporary culture. We intend to fill a longstanding void by focusing on the many roles of women and mothers through our exhibits, events, resource center, scholarship, and educational partnerships. We are taking our rightful place in the museum world.
WE NEED YOUR HELP MORE NOW THAN EVER
We are a grassroots non-profit that has been devoted to the art, science, and herstory of women, mother’s and families since 2003. We have exhibited in the City of Seneca Falls (where the Suffragettes marched for the vote) the UES of New York City, and in multiple universities.
Last year, founder Martha Joy Rose featured exhibits and invited visitors into her domain post-covid and conducted 178 home tours along with sponsoring the work of artists in residence, while hosting free healthful community suppers with YesChefVillage, and creating volunteer and mentorship opportunities with local high school students throughout the semester.
During this time, many of you joined our campaign to purchase the Mother Tree for our permanent collection. Because of you, we were successful. The Mother Tree will be on exhibit at MoM beginning December 2023.
Now, we need you again! Please help us sustain our MOMentum by securing our overhead expenses from January through July 2024. Our rent total is $24 K. Help us keep the doors open, the lights on, and meaningful engagement opportunities happening. These operational expenses must be met in order to continue our work. We believe that together we can do it!
MoM opened its doors at the Factory St. Pete in the warehouse arts district this September. We currently serve 1,200 visitors each month, maintaining our mission of being free and open to the public for those most in need of support, information, conversation, and inspiration.
MULTIPLE WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Donation: Make a donation to MoM in any amount. No amount too small. DONATE
Membership:Join MoM with a membership. Multiple levels of participation are available. JOIN
Membership/Partnership: New Member Sign Up at the FairgroundsSt. Pete use code: MOM23 for free game add on at Fairgrounds St. Pete, as well as a free Activity Map at MoM. Or sign for a new MoM Membership for for add on experience at Fairgrounds! Sign up here with membership at MoM and/or follow links to Fairgrounds St. PeteMemberships.
Conference: Participate in our Annual Academic and Arts Conference. Call for participation is here. Early Bird Conference participation is: $150. SUBMIT
Shop: Go to our store to see new products! Order something online or come by our museum store in person. SHOP
Buy and Activity Map and Tour MoM: $11.50 PURCHASE
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE – STAY BLESSED – WE ARE GRATEFUL TO YOU THIS SEASON!
JOURNAL OF MOTHER STUDIES, CFP MoM CONFERENCE ’24, PODCASTS
The Journal of Mother Studies is now up online at JourMS.org. This 8th edition of the Journal elaborates on Maternal Landscapes from a variety of perspectives including the creative and the clinical. LINK TO JOURMS
Threads of Connection–Sorry/Not Sorry: Confronting mother (and other) blame–healing & resistance in contemporary culture and beyond
St. Petersburg, Florida & Online * March 22-24, 2024 * CFP – Deadline, Dec. 15th. Calling all scholars, artists, and community members for presentations and papers on the subject of mother (and other) blame, shame and pain, with a focus on resistance and healing. This international call for papers invites artists, sociologists, maternal psychologists, philosophers, anthropologists, women’s sexuality and gender professors, masculinity studies experts, birth-workers, doctors, researchers, students, and lay-people to share their work. SUBMIT
Podcasts are up with MoM Talks with My Sister. Seven episodes are posted now on a wide variety of topics. This internship project with Bethanie Dell (and her sister) have proved to be much more exciting than we ever could have anticipated! PODCAST PAGE
Stylin’ with Thee Heiress: 4th Tuesday of each month (starting Nov 28th). Help with your child’s hair. Are you able to manage your natural curls? We are here to help. Open to the community with expert guidance. All materials are provided. $30 requested donation but no one turned away for lack of funds. Register in advance please so we know how many hair kits to bring. Call 877-711-MOMS (6667) or write: INFO@MOMmuseum.org. Registration: using this link!
Herstory/History on a cushion: Last Saturday of each month, Join Donika Vlada for history/herstory on a cushion at MoM. Sessions are 2-3:30 with stories, games, art-making, and discovery. Hands on activities offer fun and learning for ages 5 +. Pre-register by filling out our online form, emailing: INFO@MOMmuseum.org or by calling 877-711-MOMS (6667). Donations welcome. Parents can hang out in a chill environment or poke around The Factory.
GO TO OUR EVENTS PAGE TO SEE UPCOMING HAPPENINGS AT MOM
We are pleased to announce our second quarterly exhibit at our new space in The Factory, featuring Mother: the Job by Alexia Nye Jackson.
From the artist: We at Mother: the Job knows that Mothers are the mighty engine behind the human workforce that fuels the economy, as well as the nucleus of our society’s integrity. We embrace mothers in the workplace and mothers at home, advocating change in social policy and in the corporate culture so that mothers and their families can thrive. MTJ shows the undeniable social and economic value of the care giving work and labor of mothers. We know that by raising her child from infancy to adulthood, and that child’s productivity in the marketplace and in society thereafter, she is a producer of “human capital” and of the good citizen as well.
Mother: The Job – Building Human Capital, Building Human Beings is a multi-media exhibit, quite likely the first of its kind that includes a short black and white film of mother’s hands at task. Black and white photos of the sixteen main jobs mothers perform, writings by mothers and children, and other integrated art forms. These combine to portray the day-to-day life of a mother and her intricate relationship with her child. By recognizing the passion, intelligence and intuition that goes into Mothering, the world’s most important job, we exalt nurturing and care giving to an art form. That art form gives way to a final understanding of the highly evolved skill set needed to ultimately raise a child to maturity – physically, mentally and emotionally- prepared to enter into society as a productive worker and citizen. The absurd question, “What did you do all day?” becomes the mascot question for today’s revolution – the unfinished business of balancing the playing field for all “working” mothers and the economics of doing it.
The driving force behind the artifacts is in the form of quotations. Each piece is assigned a quote borrowed from the top scholars in economics, child development and related fields, as well as Mothers and recognized personalities. Within this format the viewer quickly comes to realize that the powerful and intense job known simply as “mother” is consistently devalued in both the economic and social arenas, and that the call for a shift in our thinking and in our actions is urgent work.
MoM is thrilled to bring this exhibit to our new location at The Factory – here in St. Petersburg, FL. Join us on IG Thursday Nov. 2nd for an interview with the artist 5PM (EST) as part of our ‘Women in the Arts’ series.
Call for Community Action: What care-work looks like for you? Who does what for whom? Sometimes it takes multiple family members to provide for a loved one. MoM invites you to share your pictures either on our IG, FB or email us: INFO@MOMmuseum.org and we’ll share your experiences as part of this show. We’d love to feature your art: photos, sketches and stories as part of this ongoing exhibit. We can’t wait to hear from you!
MoM will be closed through Tuesday October 31 while we prep for this show.
Threads of Connection–Sorry/Not Sorry: Confronting mother (and other) blame–healing & resistance in contemporary culture and beyond
St. Petersburg, Florida & Online
March 22-24, 2024
CFP – Deadline, Dec. 15, 2023
The Museum of Motherhood is calling all scholars, artists, and community members for presentations and papers on the subject of mother (and other) blame, shame and pain, with a focus on resistance and healing. This international call for papers invites artists, sociologists, maternal psychologists, philosophers, anthropologists, women’s sexuality and gender professors, masculinity studies experts, birth-workers, doctors, researchers, students, and lay-people to share their work. Read full CFP and Submit!
Joy Rose, Founder of The Museum of Motherhood and former Rock & Roller, To Appear on The Naaman Creative Show on November 15! The Naaman Creative Show is a podcast produced by local marketing agency, Naaman Creative, where they interview brilliant minds, explore fascinating journeys, innovative ideas, and impressive accomplishments from the captivating worlds of business, art, music, science, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Listen: https://www.naamancreativeshow.com/
New Member Sign Up at the FairgroundsSt. Pete use code: MOM23 for free game add on at FairgroundsSt. Pete and free Activity Map at MoM. Or sign up here for a new MoM membership for the same perks! Sign up for MoM Membership hereand/or follow the link to Fairgrounds St. PeteMemberships. Your pick! We all benefit.
Threads of Connection–Sorry/Not Sorry: Confronting mother (and other) blame–healing & resistance in contemporary culture and beyond
St. Petersburg, Florida & Online
March 22-24, 2024
CFP – Deadline, Dec. 15, 2023
The Museum of Motherhood is calling all scholars, artists, and community members for presentations and papers on the subject of mother (and other) blame, shame and pain, with a focus on resistance and healing.
Blame and shame can be self-imposed or projected by dominant social narratives that hyper-focus on the performative nature of motherhood as reinforced by unrealistic hegemonic constructions. This can be true for adult children reviewing familial relationships as well.
This international call for papers invites artists, sociologists, maternal psychologists, philosophers, anthropologists, women’s sexuality and gender professors, masculinity studies experts, birth-workers, doctors, researchers, students, and lay-people to share their work.
We encourage presenters to unpack the sociocultural domain of mother (and other) blame and the psychological, personal, professional, and media environment within which this topic is situated. Who is harmed by blame, and whom does it serve? How are oppressive systems reinforced or even sustained? How can we resist or dismantle these systems in large and small ways? What forms of resistance, peace-making, and healing can help improve our relationships?
The conference will serve as a site of resistance and empowerment as we deconstruct, reframe, and affirm the complex landscape of care-work and the ongoing labor within family systems everywhere. We recognize the scale, variance, and duration of these passionate debates and hope to this conference will contribute to the body of knowledge on this subject.
Last year’s Annual Academic (and Arts) MoM Conference yielded a marvelous distillation of journal entries on the subject of Reproductive Landscapes, and more. The Journal is now posted online with videos coming soon. MoM’s mission is to serve at the intersection of the arts, scholarship, and the general public, reaching as many women, mothers, academics, and life-long students as possible. We hope you enjoy this year’s edition.
— BIO: Hello! I’m Lera, a high school graduate from Rostov-on-Don, Russia. I aim to further my studies in college with a minor in Women’s Studies. My heart is set on social justice, art history, creative practice, Ed-Tech, and women’s rights. I am a designer and an artist, and my passion lies in the social application of my skill set. Last year, I began my internship at Borderless, an international Ed-Tech company that democratizes study abroad. I also co-founded She Exhibits, a non-profit gallery that counters gender-based discrimination in art. Additionally, I designed a social zine for an organization protecting women in the North Caucasus. Through these roles, I’ve learned a lot about the challenges women face daily. I’m particularly concerned about how women’s rights are being eroded in contexts of wars, authoritarian regimes, and government policies, such as those in Russia that affect reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights. Now, joining MoM as a Graphics & Research Intern, I’m thrilled to deepen my understanding of sociology, women’s rights, and motherhood through working in the vast specter of projects. During my journey at MoM, I’m eager not only to contribute to the women’s rights movement with my expanding skill set but also to further the conversation on motherhood as a daughter of a single mother!
— PASSIONS FOR MOM: I am eager to spend a fruitful year with MoM, engaging with a broad range of projects, intertwining research and art! My contributions to MoM will include graphic content creation, and enhancement of the visuals of different initiatives. I’m also looking forward to conducting research endeavors and taking on creative projects to serve MoM’s community!
AEHK 7th Annual Studio Tour is coming March 16 & 17th! This is a wonderful opportunity to explore local artists studios “Where Art Lives” 
