Category: Mother Studies

Mapping Resilience: Stories of Young Motherhood Exhibition Opens April, 2026

Post author By MOM
Post date April 6, 2026

PLEASE JOIN US FOR AN OPENING RECEPTION AND A MEET & GREET

Join us for the Grand Opening Reception: Friday, April 10 | 7–9:30 PM I Hear from young moms and community stakeholders! Join us for libations and conversation.

Where: Gallery at the Museum of Motherhood 2606 Fairfield Ave S in The Factory Building 7 St Pete

Please join us at MoM with Healthy Start. This lovely mix and mingle will feature stories (and results from the researchers and the mothers themselves), with refreshments, presentations and conversation. This will be followed by Second Saturday Art Walk April 11 5-9PM on April 11th.

Objective Young moms in Hillsborough County were asked to draw journey maps and accompany them with photos (photovoice) to share their story and participate in a novel method that prioritized uninterrupted narratives/storytelling.

How: The exhibit includes the hand-drawn journey maps from ten moms and their accompanied photos, as well as an interactive audio portion where participants can scan QR codes and listen to some portions of their story.

Activities include: A table with “letters and advice for young moms” allowing visitors to write letters to young moms, which can then be distributed by Healthy Start/Healthy Families home visitors.

Curated by Mahir Rahman, NASM-CPT, AFAA-CGFI, graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Florida, and a research intern with Healthy Start Hillsborough, has been leading a journey mapping and photovoice project with young mothers in the Tampa Bay community and across our programs. University of South Florida Website

Come and enjoy an immersive, audio-visual exhibit amplifying the real stories of pregnant and parenting adolescents in our community. Through powerful visuals and firsthand voices, this experience brings their journeys, challenges, and resilience into focus.

Questions call: 877-711-MOMS (6667) Lv message. We will call you back!

Museum of Motherhood, St. Petersburg (2606 Fairfield Ave South, St. Petersburg, FL 33712)

Visit the exhibit now through the end of April.

A collage of various mothers and children, illustrating themes of young motherhood, with the title 'Mapping Resilience: In Our Own Words' prominently displayed.

SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OUR MOM CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS, ORGANIZERS and SPONSORS

Group of women celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Museum of Motherhood's Academic and Arts Conference, featuring Martha Joy Rose as the 2025 recipient of the Joy Award. — MoM Conference 2025- the ‘Joy Award’

Thank you all so very much for joining us for The Museum of Motherhood’s Annual International Academic & Arts Conference | Reproductive Identities & Resistance: Mothers and Others in Culture, Community & Collaboration. We couldn’t have done this without you!

A special thanks to our event sponsors, USF & St. Anthony’s Hospital BayCare Health System, and to our marketplace vendors: The Entourage Lab, PSI, and MoM bookstore. Thank you too, Dr. Aurelie Athan for your ongoing work. Congratulations on being awarded ‘The Joy Award’ 2026.

We look forward to sharing more of your work, distilling images and video – soon come. Until then, remember… MoM loves YOU!

LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER

This week I wrote about love. While museums are not generally in the business of ‘love’, the Museum of Motherhood is. While we are not always perfect, our aspirations are consistent. Our values are written into the fabric of the museum. We are women supporting women.

When I started the Museum of Motherhood in 2003 in Dobbs Ferry, New York I was a lupus survivor, recent kidney transplant recipient, mother of four children (under 12yrs), and newly divorced. My compassion for other people in my situation, was enormous.

Even more than that – I wanted to create CHANGE: social change, cultural change, and economic change. It was visceral for me because I was caught in the whirlpool of each of those problematic issues.

From women’s healthcare to the inherent creativity of M/otherhood– I initially vacillated between the work of Jane Adams (and Hull House), and resources for artists.

Many years later and many beautiful people down the road, MoM has morphed & changed, of course. Every Student, Intern, Volunteer, Friend, academic and community member who has invested time in MoM has helped to shape her.

No doubt she will continue to grow and change. Such is LIFE! However, we’re currently at a crossroads. While I continue to navigate major health issues, the team is continuing the awesome and important work of MoM. But we need help. We need people to take my place. All kinds of initiatives from a bonafide Executive Director in training to social media helpers to onsite docents. Some jobs pay. Some are volunteer. Either way, we hope you’ll consider getting involved!

I am confident that with LOVE as her core value, MoM will continue to succeed as a place of kindness, tolerance, and education in this world. ~ Martha Joy Rose

SUPPORT MOM – SO SHE CAN SUPPORT YOU

Promotional ticket for MoM's Escape Womb Experience at the Museum of Motherhood in St. Petersburg, FL, featuring booking information and a QR code. — MoM’s Escape Womb Experience Tickets

Tags anthropology, Healthy Start, Hillsborough County, young mothers

Activism Art Birth Blog breastfeeding Caregiving Conferences Digital Media Internships Education Escape Womb Experience Events Featured Featured Artists Feminism health History International Internships JourMS MOM Conference Mother Studies motherhood Opportunities Social Justice st petersburg The Factory, St Pete USF

March is Women’s Herstory Month! MoM Activates Community Through Arts, Advocacy, and Education!

Post author By MOM
Post date March 1, 2026

Museum of Motherhood Activates Community Through Arts, Advocacy, and Education This Spring – March is Women’s Herstory Month!

WOMEN’S HISTORY IS EVERYONE’S HISTORY

WOMEN SHAPE St PETE: Did you know, Sarah Williams is considered the ‘Mother of the City of St Pete’ after she persuaded Peter Demens to bring the Orange Belt Railroad to downtown St. Petersburg, instead of Gulfport. In 1887. Peter Demens, Russian railroad man, and John Williams worked together to bring the Orange Belt Railroad to what would become St. Petersburg, Florida. (named after Peter Demens’s hometown in Russia.) . Considered “Mother of the City,” Williams had two sons and even more husbands. (Founded 1888, incorporated 1892 (population approximately 300 people).

Women’s History Month is an essential acknowledgement that corrects an imbalance in how our national story has traditionally been told. For generations, the achievements of women—in science, politics, education, caregiving, civil rights, the arts, and industry—have been overlooked or minimized. Dedicating a month to women’s history ensures their contributions are recognized as central, not peripheral, to the American story.

A collage of historical photographs and graphics, including vintage images, a museum display titled 'Museum of Motherhood', and the seal of St. Petersburg, Florida. — Women’s History St Petersburg, Florida

We cannot change the future (for the better) without understanding our past. Women’s History Month encourages a more accurate and inclusive understanding of democracy itself—one that acknowledges both progress made and work still to be done in building a fair and equitable society.

To that end, The Museum of Motherhood (MoM) maintains a robust calendar of exhibitions, public programs, conferences, and partnerships that continues to deepen our role as a vibrant, community-centered, educational and cultural institution. Together we explore m/otherhood as a social, cultural & artistic force. Learn more at MOMmuseum.org .

FILM FESTIVAL ROCKS EQUITY IN SARASOTA AND STREAMING

Graphic for the 27th International Film Festival titled 'REEL EQUALS', produced by 'Through Women's Eyes', taking place from March 5-10, 2026, in Sarasota, FL, with the tagline 'Advancing Gender Equality Through Film'. — Reel Equals – Through Her Eyes Film Festival

FILM FESTIVAL SARASOTA: March 5 – 10 with a Spotlight on Diverse Voices: Reel Equals International Film Festival Shines in Sarasota in a community collaboration with the Museum of Motherhood and the internationally recognized educational & arts conference with two decades of impact. In person and streaming: ThroughWomensEyes.org.

TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL ACADEMIC & ARTS CONFERENCE MoM & USF

An illustration featuring diverse women's faces, promoting the Museum of Motherhood's academic conference titled 'Reproductive Identities & Resistance,' scheduled for March 27-29, 2026. The event focuses on themes of motherhood, culture, community, and collaboration and will take place both in person and online via Zoom.

March 27-29The Annual International Academic and Arts MoM Conference 2026 in partnership at USF, St Pete features panels and presentations focused on reproductive identities, maternal experiences, and the intersections of motherhood with art, policy, healthcare, education, and social justice. Offered both in person and online, the conference is designed to be academically rigorous while remaining accessible to students, professionals, and community members alike. Open to the community with advance registration: JourMS.org

NEW ART EXHIBIT COMING. SAVE THE DATE

Promotional poster for the 'Mapping Resilience' exhibition at the Museum of Motherhood, featuring stories of young motherhood, running from April 6-26, with an opening party on April 10th. — Mapping Resilience with young mothers exhibit at the Museum of Motherhood

NEW EXHIBIT: Mapping Resilience- Stories of Young Motherhood

When: April 6 – 26, 2026

Where: Gallery at the Museum of Motherhood 2606 Fairfield Ave S in The Factory Building 7 St Pete

Official Opening Reception April 10^th 7-9:30PM (Stakeholder Day): Please join us at MoM with Healthy Start. This lovely mix and mingle will feature stories (and results from the researchers and the mothers themselves), with refreshments, presentations and conversation. This will be followed by Second Saturday Art Walk April 11 5-9PM on April 11th.

Curated by Mahir Rahman, NASM-CPT, AFAA-CGFI Graduate Student, Applied Anthropology University of South Florida Website

SUBMISSIONS FOR A ZINE AS PART OF MOM CONFERENCE

SHOUT OUT~!

Our friends at Sunday Assembly be eatin’ nearby on March 14th in Gulfport during the day. Second Saturday Art Walk in the evening at MoM and beyond.

Promotional poster for the Soul Food Festival, featuring colorful graphics of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and other dishes, with event details including date, time, and location at Trolley Market in Gulfport, Florida. — Sunday Assembly

Tags Bad mother myth busting, Mapping Resilience, MOM Academic Conference, Soul Festival, Sunday Assembly, Through Womens Eyes International Film Festival, Womens Herstory Month, womens history month, Young Motherhood

Activism AEHK Art Blog Education Escape Womb Experience Events Featured Featured Artists Feminism MaMaPaLooZa MOM Art Annex MOM Conference Mother Studies motherhood st petersburg

2026 Calendar & MoM Membership Cooperative

Post author By MOM
Post date January 14, 2026

A new year is unfolding at the Museum of Motherhood—and it’s already full of momentum. 🌱 From board leadership and strategy sessions to festivals, conferences, and community celebrations, 2026 is shaping up to be a year of action, reflection, and collective joy. Our latest blog lays out what’s ahead, why it matters, and how you can be part of it—from January goal-setting to a fall focus on maternal mental health. Take a look, mark your calendar, and step into the year with us.

2026 Scheduled Dates:

January 14th Board Meeting and Kick-off for 2026 New Year Goals & Implementation
January 20th Implementation of 6 month strategy
February 14th Localtopia
March – Women’s History Month
April – Q2 Board Meeting
March 26 Leadership workshop with dinner for all team
March 27-29 MoM Conference
May 3 is MaMaPaLooZa
June 2nd Board Building Party – Barbara & Mary B-Day
July – Pride & Q3 Board Meeting – vote in new members
August – Hang on in The Factory to continue the good work
September – Mini-Conference Maternal Mental Health

MoM Membership Cooperative

We are delighted to invite you to become part of something special at the Museum of Motherhood—our Cooperative Membership Store & Shared Creative Space.

This is more than a retail visibility opportunity. It’s a living, breathing community where artists, educators, healers, organizers, and makers gather to share their talents, connect with the public, and support one another in a values-driven, cooperative environment.

Welcome to MoM’s Cooperative Space

Bring your art, expertise, objects, ideas, and meetings into a shared home where creativity and care are centered. By joining, you’ll collaborate in a vibrant real-world space while engaging with MoM’s audiences during events like Second Saturday Art Walk, Sunday Assembly, and MaMaPaLooZa Festival—as your schedule allows as well as during weekly hours.

What Participation Looks Like

Join MoM with a $30 annual membership
Sign up for 3-hour (short) or 6-hour (long) shifts—or more—during a 40-hour week
(See Events & Calendar at MOMmuseum.org)
Greet visitors warmly and direct them to MoM’s signup portal
Share and sell your work, services, or expertise
You keep 100% of your sales
If selling work by others, simply direct buyers to the item’s QR payment code and log the sale in the receipt book

What MoM Provides

One six-foot table, chairs, easels, and working space
Storage under tables (bring a labeled tote if you’d like to leave items onsite)
The option to leave onsite:
- An 8 × 10 display with QR code
- A notebook or portfolio of your work
- Up to ¼ of a six-foot table of objects and one easel when you’re not present
  (Tables are shared among four cooperators)
Promotion of you and your work through MoM social media using graphics and info you provide

Why This Matters

By managing the space while you’re in it, you help keep MoM accessible, welcoming, and alive—while gaining visibility, community, and a meaningful place to share what you do best. If you believe in collaboration over competition, community over isolation, and creativity rooted in care—we would love to welcome you.

Welcome to MoM’s Cooperative Space. Please bring your art, talents, objects, and meetings. By agreeing to join this initiative you can expect:

Collaborate on a shared real estate for exhibiting and meeting clients and be part of our general audience on Second Saturday Art Walk, Sunday Assembly, MaMaPaLooZa Festival as per your availability with your great talents in exchange for a basic level MoM membership and an agreement to manage the space while you are in it.

How To Participate

Fill out online form online to participate in the Cooperative Membership Store [Click Link Left]

Contact Jamika Rollins regarding your participation: Scheduling@MOMmusem.org

877-711-MOMS (6667) (Lv a message and we will call/text you back)

2606 Fairfield Ave S St Petersburg FL Building 7

DOWNLOAD AGREEMENT PDF

A diverse group of people posing together in front of various informative and artistic wall displays, featuring the phrase 'TOGETHER WE RISE!' prominently at the top. — MoM Team with volunteers at the Museum of Motherhood

MoM Needs Volunteers and Docents

The Museum of Motherhood is more than a museum, it’s a gathering space, a conversation starter, and a love letter to motherhood in all its forms. We’re looking for a friendly, curious, people-loving human to help welcome our community into the space.

Volunteerism is the heartbeat of the Museum of Motherhood. 💛 Our work is powered by people who give their time, skills, care, and creativity to help preserve stories, spark dialogue, and build a more humane future for families. From greeting visitors and supporting events to research, archiving, and advocacy, volunteers make it possible for MoM to keep its doors open, its programs vibrant, and its mission alive. Simply put: we keep going because our community shows up.

What you’ll do:

Greet visitors with warmth and make them feel at home the moment they arrive
Move through the museum, offering gentle, engaging introductions to exhibits and artworks
Spark curiosity, conversation, and connection throughout the space
Support our Mom Shop by sharing the stories behind our merchandise and assisting with sales
Invite visitors to deepen their relationship with the museum through memberships and events
Educate clients about available programs and assist with application processes when necessary
Maintain accurate records of client interactions and service provision in accordance with privacy policies

You might be perfect for this role if you:

Love art, culture, storytelling, and community spaces
Enjoy talking with people and making them feel seen and welcomed
Are comfortable engaging visitors in a relaxed, authentic way
Believe in honoring motherhood, caregiving, and lived experience as powerful cultural forces
Bring positive energy and openness into shared spaces
Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail for record keeping and coordination tasks

This is a role for someone who loves people, ideas, and meaningful work and wants to be part of a mission-driven, creative environment.

If you are interested in being part of our team but are not in a financial situation where you can volunteer, then we have some funds available for onsite docents in-space to greet people during our regular shifts.

Volunteer (we’re grateful if you can) or $17/hour
Flexible, community-centered work
A chance to be part of something special

Job Type: Part-time.

Interested? We’d love to hear from you. CONTACT: Scheduling@MOMmuseum.org

Tags 2026 at the Museum of Motherhood, docents wanter, help wanted, localtopia, mamapalooza, maternal mental health, MOM conference, mom membership, mom membership cooperative store, museum helpers needed, The Factory st pete, Volunteers wanter, womens history month

Activism Art Birth Blog Caregiving Education Escape Womb Experience Featured Feminism Fundraiser gender health home International JourMS MaMaPaLooZa Media MOM Art Annex MOM Conference Mother Studies motherhood Opportunities Sociology Spiritual Motherhood st petersburg The Factory, St Pete

Meet the Future at MoM

Post author By MOM
Post date December 17, 2025

STAY IN THE LIGHT

You might not always feel like it, but the future is looking bright. “How so?” you might wonder? Well, the truth is that light is everywhere—even in the darkness. Now that the season of light is upon us, we are pleased to welcome new initiatives, new interns, new solvency strategies, and the same ole sense of love and compassion that MoM musters in every circumstance.

At the Museum of Motherhood, we do not measure brightness by ease or comfort. We measure it by resilience, by care, and by the quiet, radical persistence of families who keep showing up for one another—even when systems fall short. And there are real reasons to believe the future of health, wellness, and education for families in America is bending toward something more humane.

Across the country, we are seeing renewed attention to maternal mental health, long overlooked and underfunded, now finally entering public conversation, clinical practice, and community-based solutions. Peer support models, trauma-informed care, and culturally responsive services are gaining traction—not because they are trendy, but because families have demanded better. Knowledge is catching up to lived experience.

In education, learning is expanding beyond classrooms and credentials. Intergenerational education, museum-based learning, and community storytelling are increasingly recognized as legitimate, powerful ways people grow and heal. Families are reclaiming learning as something that happens through curiosity, creativity, and connection—not just compliance. Museums like MoM are uniquely positioned to hold this work: part classroom, part commons, part sanctuary.

Health and wellness, too, are being redefined. More families are questioning productivity-at-all-costs culture and returning to basics: rest, touch, creativity, food, movement, and meaning. Caregiving—once invisible—is becoming a subject of research, advocacy, and art. While this shift is far from complete, the cracks in the old model are letting light in.

At MoM, we see hope in the next generation. Our interns arrive not just with skills, but with clarity: they understand that care is infrastructure, that history shapes health, and that equity is not optional. They are asking better questions—and insisting on better answers.

We also see hope in sustainability: in new funding models, shared resources, and collaborative strategies that allow cultural institutions to survive without abandoning their values. Solvency, when grounded in ethics, becomes a form of care itself—ensuring that spaces for truth, tenderness, and transformation remain open.

The future will not be bright because it is easy. It will be bright because people continue to choose love, compassion, and responsibility for one another—especially in hard times. That is the work of m/otherhood. That is the work of this museum. And that is the light we are committed to tending, together.

YEAR END FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE

As our team celebrates the season of gratitude – I am thankful for a great year, awesome accomplishments, & for you!

MoM reaches people where they live, work and play through our family-friendly exhibits and education. We are Tampa Bay’s first and only women’s museum, devoted to the art, science and herstory of American women, mothers and families.

If you haven’t visited us yet, please do. We are virtual and in real time offering tours, exhibits, conversations, education, friendship, community, cultural connections and more since 2003~!

Martha JOY Rose, Founding Director

2025 MoM HIGHLIGHTS

Welcomed new board members: Amy Collins, Libby Hopkins, Meagan Welch, Regan Moss, and Tracie Williams to the MoM Executive Board.
Expanded our program team to include Jamika Rollins, Karimah Henry, Rachael Somerman, Dre Marie, LouAnne Hardtke, Amanda Bartles, Darlene Ceron, Lizzie Zacharis, and Susie Beltran.
Offered weekly free lactation consultations with Baby Café for breastfeeding support, advice, tools and conversation.
Partnered with Tampa Bay Period Pantry and Mutual Aid Choices Pantry to make products available to those seeking information, education, and free accessible items related to periods, birth control, and women’s health.
Produced Black Maternal Health mini-conference, addressing Black maternal health disparities and bringing together over 60 providers, birth workers, and funders to rally around community-led solutions.
Rocked out at Mamapalooza Family Festival with over 500 attendees and performances by local woman-founded and woman fronted bands.
Convened over 70 academics, artist, and students at the 20^th Anniversary Academic & Arts Conference, hosted at USF St. Pete.
Implemented two photography and sculptural exhibits by local artists and welcomed two international artists, Julienne Doko and Raisa Nosova, for performances and mural works. (Huge gratitude to both amazing women) as well as student exhibits about ‘Caring St Pete’.
Secured over $50,000 in NEW grant funding through Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, Foundation for Healthy St. Pete, and the City of St. Pete.
See more about our programs via our updated online calendar.

MoM is celebrating a highly successful 2025, and we are on track to reach an annual fundraising goal of $100,000. This fundraising goal not only supports the ongoing work of MoM but makes it possible for our team to secure a permanent home in Tampa Bay and bring on paid staff members to expand our footprint as the one and only international destination museum devoted to the art, science, and history of women, m/others & families.

I hope you will consider making a tax-deductible year-end gift. 100% of your gift supports the longevity of the first and only museum of motherhood in the world. Our year-end giving campaign builds on all the success of 2025, see our donations and progress in real-time here.

SUPPORT MOM – YEAR END TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION – CLICK HERE!

WAYS TO SUPPORT MoM

Make a tax-deductible donation online, via check, Donor Advised Fund, or wire transfer

Mailing Address: MoM Art Annex, 538 28th St. N. St. Petersburg, Florida 33713

Make checks payable to “Museum of Motherhood”

Email mary@mommuseum.org for DAF and wire transfer details

Forward this email to a family member or friend to make a donation to MoM

Pledge a corporate sponsorship for one of MoM’s events

Renew your membership to MoM

Secure an employer matching gift when donating to MoM

Host a fundraiser to benefit MoM

WELCOME Zixin Shang (Cassie)

This project focuses on the intersection of reproductive technology and cross-cultural perspectives, exploring how artificial intelligence is reshaping future experiences of “procreation” and “motherhood.”

As an artist and curator from East Asia now living in the United States, I aim to reflect on the different understandings of the female body and reproduction in Eastern and Western societies .And I will consider whether the intervention of AI technology may shift these cultural differences.

Through collaborations with artists of diverse nationalities, I will explore how humanity’s understanding of “motherhood” and “identity” evolves artistically when technology intervenes in the creation of life and the construction of identity. These artworks will employ varied materials and techniques to depict artists’ visions of future reproduction, presenting abstract perspectives on the possibilities of human evolution. They will amplify the reproductive relationship between motherhood and living organisms for the audience.

This project aims to connect individual memories with global shifts, inviting audiences to reconsider: In an era of rapid globalization and artificial intelligence advancement, are the identity and meaning of motherhood also undergoing transformation? How do people confront the long- standing biological relationships of life being overturned amidst the relentless march of evolutionary progress?

Tags Internships, Martha Joy Rose, Mother Studies, Mothers are making art, museum of motherhood, students, volunteers, Zixin Shang (Cassie)

Activism Art Blog Caregiving Classes Conferences Escape Womb Experience Events Featured Featured Artists Feminism health International MOM Art Annex MOM Conference Mother Studies motherhood Opportunities Queering Parenting Residency Social Justice st petersburg The Factory, St Pete USF

Mess House at MoM

Post author By MOM
Post date November 18, 2025

The Mess We Live In: What Clutter, Kids, and Culture Wars Reveal About Family Life

The notion of a “messy home” might conjure up images of toys strewn across the living room, dishes piling up in the sink, or laundry spilling out of baskets especially at times of duress. But the reality of mess is deeply tied to the internal worlds of families, to stress, identity, and even to the cultural divides that shape our society. At the Museum of Motherhood, exploring the messy intersections of parenting, culture, and mental health can be a powerful lens into what family life really feels like.

Mess Isn’t Just Physical — It’s Psychological, Social and Cultural

Evidence that women experience chronic stress not because the home is messy, but because society holds them responsible for preventing mess is a recognized truth.

Mess House – Courtesy Batya Weinbaum & Demeter Press
The Founder’s Bed – 2025
Tara Blackwell – MoM Residency 2019
Museum of Motherhood – NYC 2012
Martha Joy Rose – Grad School Mother Studies CUNY circa 2014
Debra Knox – TV Collage, CA circa 2008
Museum of Motherhood, NYC 2012
Spilt Milk – USF WGS Exhibit 2020
Emily at MoM, NYC 2013
Arlene’s Grocery, NYC 2008

Personal values — about lifestyle, morality, and behavior — can become battlegrounds for the debate about parenting styles and what constitutes a “good home”. This can be tricky territory. These debates can reflect broader cultural divides: who is responsible for domestic labor, how children should be raised, and what order or rituals define a “proper” family.

In a sense, the cluttered living room isn’t just a mess — it’s a battleground of values. Who gets to decide what “clean” means? Whose routines are prioritized? And how do power and labor dynamics play out in the seemingly mundane fights over tidying up?

Who cleans, who organizes, and who nags about mess often isn’t neutral territory. There’s emotional labor involved in maintaining a home, and that labor frequently falls disproportionately on women. For some, the answer is to simplify. For others the answer may lie in leaving the mess for another day.

What’s most important is feeling loved, safe and protected. Does your environment do that for you and how much control do ‘we’ actually have? What are the implications when we free ourselves from the mess or conversely embrace the mess?

At its heart, the reality of mess is a story about family, vulnerability, and power. Clutter isn’t just junk — it’s emotional freight, a signal of how we live, what we value, and how we struggle to balance the competing demands of parenting, culture, and self. In exploring mess through a psychological and cultural lens, the Museum of Motherhood can invite deeper conversations: not about being “better” mothers, but about being more honest, more human, and more connected to the complexities of our lived lives.

About the Exhibit

Mess House: A New Photo Exhibition by Martha Joy Rose MA Mother Studies. This exhibit wishes to gratefully acknowledge The Factory LLC organization for the use of wall space in Building 7 to explore archived photos from her personal collection. Exploring the compelling idea of a ‘Mess House’ is a somewhat universal theme. As humans we seek to create order (oftentimes ineffectually), confront our wildness and occasionally find acceptance and peace within the chaos of daily life and family.

Batya Weinbaum received her doctorate in English at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She founded and edits the journal Femspec available at femspec.org. She was an artist in residence at the Art Annex of the Museum of Motherhood in St. Pete FL where she installed a mural of a fertility goddess, and she volunteers for the Museum in the winter. She is the mother of one and stays in Gulfport, FL several months in the winter where she shows her art.

From the Chapter Mess House, by Batya Weinbaum- Demeter Press 2025

When are we feral, self-expressive, and untamed to the degree that we throw out the baby with the bathwater so to speak in our revolt against traditional concepts of femininity and motherhood represented in conventional markers and paradigms of domestication—the swept, mopped floor, the uncluttered shining feng shui of spaces, the organized linen cabinets, the bare countertops in the spotless kitchens?

Those born into female bodies get the most pressure from society to meet unrealistic expectations of physical beauty. These unrealistic expectations of their bodies are parallel to the unrealistic expectations women are encouraged to have about their domestic space.[1]

Flo Kennedy noted, in her essay on “Institutionalized Oppression of the Female,” that “Women are dirt searchers; their greatest worth…” being “eradicating rings on collars and tables” (442). In doing so, and maintaining organization, they are keeping wildness at bay. (1. According to Women and Naturism: The Naturist Living Show (Mar 17 2010)

Resources:

Aviv, E., Waizman, Y., Kim, E., Liu, J., Rodsky, E., & Saxbe, D. (2024). Cognitive household labor: gender disparities and consequences for maternal mental health and wellbeing. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 28(1), 5–14.

This study empirically measures the “cognitive labor” (planning, delegating, anticipating) that mothers do, and finds that mothers bear significantly more cognitive labor than their partners (~72% of it) even after controlling for physical tasks.
Importantly, the authors show that this disproportionate cognitive labor is strongly associated with higher stress, burnout, depression, and worse overall mental health in women.
Relevance: This offers direct evidence for your claim: the stress comes not just from “doing the cleaning,” but from being responsible for organizing and thinking about the household — and society (or their partners) expects women to carry that burden.

Ciciolla, L., & Luthar, S. S. (2019). Invisible Household Labor and Ramifications for Adjustment: Mothers as Captains of Households. Sex Roles, 81(7–8), 467–486.

This paper examines how the “invisible labor” (mental, emotional) related to managing the household is disproportionately carried by mothers.
They find that mothers who feel solely responsible for organizing schedules, maintaining order, and keeping family routines report role overload, lower life satisfaction, and strain in their relationships.
Relevance: Demonstrates that the expectation that women “manage the mess” — not just physical cleanliness but mental oversight — has measurable negative effects on their wellbeing.

Systematic Review: Gendered Mental Labor

Review article: Gendered Mental Labor: A Systematic Literature Review on the Cognitive Dimension of Unpaid Work Within the Household and Childcare.
This review analyzed 31 peer-reviewed studies and found a consistent pattern: women perform a significantly larger share of mental labor (planning, scheduling, organizing) and this labor is associated with stress, lower life satisfaction, and negative career impacts.
Relevance: Supports the broader claim that this kind of labor is well-recognized in academic literature as gendered, burdensome, and harmful — not just “messy house, messy brain.”

Applied Research in Quality of Life:

Study: Is Paid Inflexible Work Better than Unpaid Housework for Women’s Mental Health? (2022)
The authors argue and provide evidence that unpaid housework (which includes domestic tasks and more than just physical chores) is negatively linked to women’s mental health, partly because these efforts are culturally undervalued and invisible.
Relevance: This supports the idea that society often fails to recognize or reward invisible domestic labor — reinforcing that the stress women feel is not just from physical mess but from societal expectations.

Offer, S. (via summary in Smithsonian article).

Relevance: Demonstrates that the stress is not about amount of time thinking about family, but about how that thinking is gendered and emotionally taxing for women.

According to research by Shira Offer (Bar-Ilan University) reported in the Smithsonian, women and men spend equal time thinking about family matters, but women report significantly more negative emotional effects (stress, depression) from that cognitive labor.

How Do You Identify? Passion, Protest, Reproductive Identity, Mess & More? Submit Your Ideas, project, paper, art, proposal, research now thru 12/1/25. Don’t Be Afraid – Put Your Ideas Into the World w/MoM at USF.

A colorful poster for the Museum of Motherhood's conference titled 'Reproductive Identities & Resistance', featuring a diverse group of illustrated women. Details include dates of March 27-29, 2026, and the conference's online and in-person participation options. — Annual Call for Papers MoM Conference 2026

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"Bad Mother" Myth Busting event poster featuring a soft watercolor background with red text outlining the theme, date, and invitation to the Museum of Motherhood's arts-based project. — Bad Mother Myth Busting Project

Holiday Giving- Merchandise That Moves You As A Thank You For Your Donation at MoM! Memberships, Guest Artists, Tee Shirts, Books & More: Visit Us at The Factory, St Pete 2606 Fairfield Ave. S St Pete

Support the Mural – Aging Women All Around the World Starts in St Pete!

Tags Batya Weinbaum, Demeter press, Gone Feral, Martha Joy Rose, Mess House, New Exhibit, Photography

Birth Caregiving Events Featured Fundraiser health MOM Conference Mother Studies motherhood Social Justice Sociology The Factory, St Pete

You Are Invited: Motherhood Matters: Black Maternal Health Lunch and Learn

Post author By MOM
Post date August 21, 2025

PURCHASE TICKETS

JOIN US ON SEPT 21st, 2025 10:30AM-1PM with the Museum of Motherhood at FloridaRAMA

Black Maternal Health Brunch & Learn, Mini-Conference

Logos of sponsors for the Black Maternal Health Brunch & Learn event, including Orlando Health, Bayfront Hospital, St. Anthony's Hospital, and FloridaRAMA. — Black Maternal Health Sponsorships at the Museum of Motherhood

Sponsored by FloridaRAMA

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States spends more per birth than any other similarly industrialized nation in the world, yet maternal morbidity and mortality rates in the US are far worse than in any other peer nation. US maternal death rates have risen substantially among all US women in recent years, but maternal death rates are the highest for Black women living in the Southern US.

The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health reports that in 2024, Florida’s rate of maternal death was more than 3 times higher for Black women (50.5 deaths per 100,000 live births) as compared to white women (14.5 mortality rate).

Maternal death rates, and associated racial disparities, are expected to worsen in the near future amidst proposed cuts to Medicaid that will drastically impact both maternal and infant healthcare. Nearly 40% of all births in Pinellas County were paid for by Medicaid last year. Black women and their babies will undoubtedly suffer the most from Medicaid cuts with both maternal and infant mortality rates expected to rise as a result of funding cuts to these programs.

The fate of Black women and their families does not have to be predetermined; the purpose of Black Maternal Health Brunch & Learn is to collaborate with local birth workers and healthcare professionals to understand the causes and correlates of challenges to Black women’s maternal health in order to implement changes in Pinellas county.

To improve Black maternal health, health care itself must make institutional and structural changes to transform the delivery and quality of care. Decision makers at all policy levels must establish comprehensive policy change to address the social drivers impacting health, such as the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that also affect a wide range of quality-of-life outcomes.

WE ARE HARD AT WORK SEARCHING OUT VIRTUAL OPTIONS FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT IN THE TAMPA BAY AREA. STAY TUNED. ALSO, YOU CAN MAKE JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIP DRIVE TO SUPPORT THE WORK.

LET US LIFT EACH OTHER UP – TOGETHER WE RISE

Even if you can’t join us in person, you can support the cause!

PURCHASE TICKETS

Presentation Panelists

Courtney West is a proud St. Petersburg native and the owner of 3 Gems Birth Services where everyone deserves care. Courtney is a full spectrum doula, doula educator, and a licensed practical nurse with a background in pediatric home health, and mental health nursing. Courtney has led several initiatives at MoM.

Shamella “Mel” Joy is a trauma-informed therapist, her background includes working with veterans and refugee families, providing her with extensive experience in helping clients process and heal from past traumas and PTSD. Mel’s passion lies in supporting new parents grappling with the challenges of postpartum life, as well as those facing the uncertainties of fertility struggles and perinatal loss.

Presentation Panelists

Tracie Williams is the proprietor of The Natal Network and the founder of Jehovah Rapha-Jireh Transformation Health Inc. She serves on the Health, Wellness and Education Committee at MoM. She established The Natal Network, a Tampa Bay-based maternal wellness doula service, to enhance maternal-fetal outcomes.

Tracy Cook-Person is a hoodoo practitioner, doula, folk Herbalist, educator, lecturer, professional storyteller and a published poet. She has been an Assistant Professor at LIU in the School of Education and Technology as well as an Instructor of Pedagogy and Clinical Practice for the TR@TC2 program in the Office of Teacher Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Black Maternal Health Facts
Black Maternal Health Facts
Black Maternal Health Facts
Black Maternal Health Facts
Black Maternal Health Facts
Black Maternal Health Orlando Health
Black Maternal Health Sponsor St Anthony’s Hospital

DRAFT! For Immediate Release: August 20, 2025

Brandy Gottlieb, Director of Communications and Marketing

Champions for Children

Bgottlieb@cfctb.org

(813) 673-4646 ext. 1114

Champions and Museum of Motherhood announce their partnership in support of moms

(Photo c/o Regina Roig-Romero)

Tampa Bay, FL – August 20, 2025– Champions for Children (CFC) and the Museum of

Motherhood (MoM) are pleased to announce their partnership in support of mothers seeking breastfeeding support.

Champions for Children’s abcProgram, licensed by Baby Café USA, will provide free lactation consultation and breastfeeding support services, beginning September 3, at the Museum of Motherhood, 538 28th St N, Saint Petersburg, FL 33713. MoM will serve as the program’s new Saint Petersburg location.

The abcProgram offers International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs), credentialed through the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE). IBLCE is the gold standard in clinical lactation care.

Families can access English and fully Spanish support services free of cost and without any eligibility requirements. While registration is encouraged, walk-ins are also welcome. Families should register at cfctb.org/abcprogram.

“We are grateful to the Museum of Motherhood for their partnership. Together, we look forward to providing compassionate, supportive expertise to families who need help to reach their breastfeeding goals with confidence.” says Regina Roig-Romero, program manager for Champions for Children’s ABC Program.

Of the partnership, Martha Joy Rose, MoM Founder and Executive Director says, “We are thrilled about this new partnership with Champions for Children. Their abcProgram speaks to the heart of what we do — working in community to foster compassionate, inclusive environments that uplift individual stories and celebrates women’s vital role in our cultural narrative. By partnering, we are fostering a stronger support system for mothers in the region.”

MoM has been serving the community through its programing, exhibits and collaborative platforms in Pinellas County since 2019 and is Tampa Bay’s first and only women’s museum.

CFC’s ABC program offers breastfeeding support at 10 community locations in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties. Hillsborough County services are made possible by the generous support of BayCare, REACHUP, Inc. and the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County. Pinellas County services are made possible by the generous support of BayCare.

For more information on CFC’s free breastfeeding support services, the abcProgram, Baby Café or free lactation consultation services, visit cfctb.org/abcprogram.

About Champions for Children:

CFC’s mission is to build stronger families with thriving children throughout the Tampa Bay area through child abuse prevention and family education programs.

CFC has served the Tampa Bay area since 1977 and envisions a world free from child abuse and neglect. The work follows a proactive, prevention-first model that is committed to building strong families as support for thriving children. Through nationally accredited programs, CFC provides parents and other supportive, caring adults with education, support, and resources. CFCTB is a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt organization, supported by the generosity of funding partners and private donors.

For more information about CFC, please visit cfctb.org or contact championsforchildren@cfctb.org.

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Tags Black Maternal Health, Courtney West, Education, florida, floridarama, health, maternal health, museum of motherhood, Shamella Joy, st petersburg, The Natal Network, Tracie Williams, tracy cook-person, Wellness, you are invited

Art Birth Blog breastfeeding Caregiving Classes Conferences Dads Education Escape Womb Experience Events Featured Fundraiser International MOM Conference Mother Studies motherhood Spiritual Motherhood st petersburg The Factory, St Pete

Best of Tampa Bay – MoM July/August Blog!

Post author By MOM
Post date August 6, 2025

Congratulations! After tallying all the nominations, we’re excited to let you know that MoM has officially advanced to the voting round for Best of the Bay 2025!

Last year, over 5 million impressions on the voting website alone for Best of TB. Won’t you join us in making m/otherhood more visible? See a few of our current stats: From Google 30k have viewed our photos, 25k in grant funds released to the Museum of Motherhood for work in the Health, Education and Wellness arena, 5 new Executive Board Members join MoM for a total of 9 Board Members, and four high school interns celebrate paid work with us this summer with extensive programming each month.

Remember: Voting is from July 17th through August 20th! Vote as many times as you can!

VOTE HERE LINK

Upcoming Events

MoM has a full roster of events and a new easily navigable calendar that includes art, health, wellness and education. Also, make sure to register to join us at our upcoming brunch and mini-conference in collaboration with FloridaRAMA. EVENTS PAGE IS HERE.

Lunch and Learn with MoM. The purpose of this mini-conference is to collaborate with local birth workers and healthcare professionals to understand the causes and correlates of challenges to Black women’s maternal health in order to implement changes in Pinellas county. This Museum of Motherhood event is sponsored by FloridaRAMA, organized by Jill M. Wood and the Health, Wellness, and Education Committee. This lunch and learn session will educate attendees about Black maternal health from a holistic perspective using the expertise of these presenters. REGISTER:

Jill M. Wood, PhD, Conference Chair is a Teaching Professor in the department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Penn State where she teaches courses on reproductive justice, girls and women’s health, women’s sexuality, and relationship & sexual violence prevention. As a researcher, Professor Wood has published journal articles and book chapters on the role of alcohol use in sexual behaviors with high HIV risk, menstruation and menopause, & pregnancy and childbirth. The mama of three teenagers, Jill regularly volunteers her time to talk with community students, parents, teachers and staff about relationship and sexual violence prevention, consent education, and healthy relationships. Jill was instrumental in assisting with guidance and advice for MoM’s Escape Womb Experience. She is also the academic coordinator and chair of the brunch and mini-conference Sept 21, 2025.

Courtney West a proud St. Petersburg native and the owner of 3 Gems Birth Services where everyone deserves care. Courtney is a full spectrum doula, doula educator, and a licensed practical nurse with a background in pediatric home health, and mental health nursing.

Shamella “Mel” Joy is a trauma-informed therapist, her background includes working with veterans and refugee families, providing her with extensive experience in helping clients process and heal from past traumas and PTSD. Mel integrate Mindfulness, Holistic Psychotherapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in her work with individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, identity and self-esteem challenges, ADD/ADHD, and childhood trauma. Mel’s passion lies in supporting new parents grappling with the challenges of postpartum life, as well as those facing the uncertainties of fertility struggles and perinatal loss.

Tracie Williams is the proprietor of The Natal Network and the founder of Jehovah Rapha-Jireh Transformation Health Inc. She serves on the Health, Wellness and Education Committee at MOM. The Natal Network, a Tampa Bay-based maternal wellness doula service, was established to enhance maternal-fetal outcomes.

About Museum of Motherhood (MoM)

Museum of Motherhood believes a more comprehensive understanding of pregnancy, birth and the value of caregiving-work will lead to healthier and happier homes, more productive workplaces, and better social policies. Our Black Maternal Health conference will specifically uplift the expertise and insight of Black practitioners working directly with the South St. Pete community. http://www.mommuseum.org LINK to tix

Meet Our Board

Left to right: Regan Moss, Courtney Kessle, Libby Hopkins, Deanna Barcelona, Tracie Williams, Barbara Lynch, Amy Collins, Anna Leiggi, Meagan Welch

MoM is so pleased to welcome five NEW Executive Board Members to our team. See bios and read more on our team page.

New Exhibit

Four young women standing together with smiles, wearing casual attire, in a bright setting. The text 'Caring - St Pete' is prominently displayed in the background. — Caring St Pete Exhibit

Caring St. Pete: 6-Week Summer Intern Project Plan For High School Interns and Community members at the Museum of Motherhood

Project Overview: Explore and interpret the value of caregiving—both unpaid and paid (carework)—through research, storytelling, art, and community engagement. The final product will be a curated exhibit at the Museum of Motherhood. See exhibit page.

Sarah Nellis Residency Museum of Motherhood

MoM Residency August

Sarah Nellis is a multidisciplinary, British artist, working freely across 2D, 3D and time-based media. She reflects on life’s cycles: birth, grief and personal transformation, questioning ideas of permanence and exploring the in-between spaces of change. She seeks to reassert maternal narratives often marginalized in cultural and political discourse.

AMPLIFY

Invitation to the 2nd Annual Women's Empowerment Summit, featuring event details and a colorful design.

MoM Directory

Motherhood & Matrescence is a resource for mothers. Supporting mums to feel more confident. Education services as well as a masterclass is for mothers of all ages and stages. Mothers of tinies, toddlers, tweens and teens. LINK

Activism Art Birth Blog Caregiving Education Events Featured Featured Artists gender health Living Board Announcements Media Mother Studies motherhood Social Justice Sociology st petersburg The Factory, St Pete

Community Foundation Tampa Bay Awards Grant to MoM

Post author By MOM
Post date June 9, 2025

We are thrilled to share HUGE NEWS: Community Foundation Tampa Bay awards the Museum of Motherhood a 25k grant to continue work in the area of Health, Wellness and Education.

We are incredibly humbled and grateful for this recognition. Our team has been relentless in our volunteerism and hard work facilitating free and open spaces for individuals and families from all walks of life, including those at risk and in-need as well as people seeking connection to resources and inspiration.

This grant will help us move forward and keep the lights on at MoM.

We have so many people to thank including our grant writer Samantha Church (SDC Strategies) whose time with us is made possible through a grant with Hypatia Collaborative. Team-wise we owe gratitude to our fierce fundraiser Mary Havlock and our committed Board of Directors as well as our Health, Wellness and Education team championed by Sierra Clark (Community Empowerment Facilitator) and associates Amanda Bartles (Lactation Loop), Courtney West (3 Gems Doula Services), Sara Hunter (Birth Photographer), Jill M. Wood (Penn State), as well as our We Build Tampa Bay partnerships for special events. Please watch our Team page as we welcome new members for workshops including Unlimited Pediatrics, Embracing Joy Perinatal Wellness, The Natal Network, and Keesha Brundridge; This is Me – Whole Girl Summer Camp, to name a few. Press Release to come. (Special thanks to Jesse English for beautiful music during our Board Building Event!, Mother Kombucha for beverages and 15th St Farm for cake!))

Scenes From Our Board Building Event and Barbara Birthday Party

Board Building Party at MoM

Graphic featuring the Health, Wellness & Education Committee of the Museum of Motherhood, with a pink heart and butterfly design, promoting empowerment for mothers and others to access community tools. — Health Wellness and Education at the Museum of Motherhood

We Are Pleased To Announce New Programming at MoM

Health, Wellness and Education Committee — Health, Wellness, Education Committee MoM 2025

The Fourth Trimester: with Rachael Somerman, Founder of Unlimited Pediatric and a Child Development Therapist. This Monthly Group is for pregnant people and those post-natal moms looking for support during this time of vulnerability, recovery and rapid growth. Rachael will be onsite at MoM to answer your questions and to support your physical and emotional journey. Bring you bellies! Bring your babies! Adoptive moms welcome too! We will make sure you have a safe and inclusive space to share your questions, concerns, milestones and emotional & developmental needs. Free with a suggested donation of annual MoM Membership in the Mothers Club $30.

Thursday 6/26 & 7/24 10-11:30 AM. SIGN UP HERE or CALL 877-711-MOMS (6667)

Embracing Joy – Perinatal Wellness and Maternal Mental Health with Shamella (Mel) Joy. Mel is a licensed therapist and certified perinatal mental health specialist. Her personal and professional experiences have shown her there is a dire need for humans to come together and relearn what it means when we say “it takes a village” to bear and raise a child. Mel wants to be a part of your support system to ensure confidence in yourself, remove the guilt and actually enjoy the experience of parenting. She is excited to embark on this journey with you, and hopes the connections we forge will be helpful as they are informative, empowering, and a catalyst for positive change. Mel will meet bi-weekly alternating a week at MoM followed by a virtual meet up. Dates TBA. Free with a suggested donation of annual MoM Membership in the Mothers Club $30. SIGN UP HERE or CALL 877-711-MOMS (6667)

The Natal Network – Loss, Grief and Resiliency – Knowledge is Power: The Natal Network launched in 2024 by Tracie Williams who is a Licensed Practical Nurse as well as certified doula with sixteen years of healthcare experience. Tracie has rendered care to different age groups from birth to geriatrics. With a strong background in direct care and management she decided to navigate her critical thinking skills towards helping others have healthier outcomes with growing their families.

Outside of professional passions she has had her own journey with motherhood which has anchored her in compassion for families. Her first pregnancy resulted in preterm delivery at 19 weeks. Williams’ gave birth to a daughter she would never have the oppourtunity to raise. Babies are not viable outside of the womb until around 24 weeks. Thankfully motherhood became sweeter and she was able to have her rainbow baby in 2012 along with another addition in 2023. Tracie will be creating content for MoM through our social media connections that aim to elucidate the joys and pain of m/otherhood, backed by science and herstory. In-person and virtual groups begin taking place monthly in June. ree with a suggested donation of annual MoM Membership in the Mothers Club $30. SIGN UP HERE or CALL 877-711-MOMS (6667)

This is Me – Whole Girl Summer Camp; A Body Education Program for Learning, Growing, and Thriving From the Inside Out.

This camp balances empowerment with body-knowledge, appealing to 12–16-year-old girls by emphasizing confidence, familiarity, and control over their own health.Each day has a theme, a mix of interactive activities, reflection, and safe space discussions. It blends science, self-awareness, and practical tools with creative, age-appropriate learning. Limited to 12 per session. Led by Keesha Brundridge – Science Teacher middle school & the MoM Team. Sessions are:

July 14-18th -1 week 12-2:30

August 4-8th -1 week 12-2:30

$125 for the week

SIGN UP HERE or CALL 877-711-MOMS (6667)

Become a Mentor at MoM — Mentorships at MoM

SUMMER CAMP FOR GIRLS

Activism Art Birth Blog Education Events Feminism Fundraiser home Living Board Announcements Mother Studies motherhood st petersburg The Factory, St Pete

Board Building at MoM as we Party with a Purpose and Celebrate our Team

Post author By MOM
Post date May 27, 2025

WHAT? Maybe you haven’t heard of the Museum of Motherhood (yet).

HECK YEAH! Maybe you are curious about what a Museum of Motherhood is all about? What! A women’s museum, right here in Tampa Bay!

IMPRESSIVE: With a team of over 20 volunteers, a kick-butt team of fundraisers, grant writers, and board members – MoM is ready to GROW again.

JOIN US: How better to celebrate than to honor our incredible team: It’s Barbara’s birthday. Barbara Lynch #AmbassadorBarb is our Executive Board Secretary. She is a dynamo and we wanna acknowledge her in all her glorious ambition for MoM’s growth here locally. Oh, and PS – It’s Mary Havlock’s birthday too – so it’s gonna be a special, amazing opportunity to get to know us better.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 3rd 6-7:30PM at the Museum with light fare and sparkling kombucha by Mother Kombucha. RSVP directly to Founding Director Joy’s cell phone: 207-504-3001.

MoM Is Board Building

Dear Board Candidate & Future MoM Collaborator,

We are thrilled that you are considering a volunteer leadership role with the Museum of Motherhood (MoM)! We are Florida’s first and only women’s museum. Inside this packet you will find out about our history and mission, the precedence for this project, and our current strategic priorities.

Please take time to explore our website (mommuseum.org) for additional details about our current events and programming. If you feel inspired by our mission and would like to get more involved, the next step for board membership is an interview with a current board member. Please reach out to info@mommuseum.org to request an interview, and one of our team members will connect you directly with a board member to conduct the initial interview.

If you would like to meet our team to get to know us better, we warmly invite you to join us on Tuesday, June 3rd, from 6:30-8:30pm at MoM for a “meet the board” private event. This event will celebrate our current board, and specifically honor our Board Secretary, Barbara Lynch. Barb’s birthday falls on June 3rd, and she has graciously dedicated her party to supporting the growth of our board.

On behalf of the entire team, we thank you for your time and consideration! Volunteer leadership has brought MoM into its most dynamic and successful year to-date. We are eager to continue with this momentum and achieve our vision for uplifting m/others with an international destination museum.

Welcome New Team Member: Health, Wellness and Education Committee

Tracie Williams is the proprietor of The Natal Network and the founder of Jehovah Rapha- Jireh Transformation Health Inc. Both organizations are dedicated to advancing women’s health and wellness. The Natal Network, a Tampa Bay-based doula service, was established to enhance maternal-fetal outcomes. Additionally, the company has implemented a men’s mental health initiative, supported by a partnership with Supportive Therapy Empowering People (STEP). Williams’s passion for healthcare stems from her personal experiences with birth and loss. These experiences have instilled in her a sense of relatability and compassion for the birthing community. Williams has been a licensed practical nurse for the past 15 years. Her diverse experience, including hospital settings, skilled nursing facilities, maternal-fetal medicine, and family clinics, has equipped her with the knowledge and skills to make a meaningful impact.

Summer Camp for Girls

Coming to MoM this summer: This is Me – Whole Girl Summer Camp. The camp is designed to facilitate embodiment empowerment with information and education targeting body knowledge and awareness, periods, safe sex education, consent and procreative knowledge. For ages 12–16-year-old girls to increase confidence, knowledge, and control over their own health.

Camp Dates are July 28-Aug 1 and August 4-8th. Five day camp, 2.5 hours a day – Kids are welcome to hang out longer in the afternoon. 12-2:20PM Monday-Friday. Camp is FREE (with requested donation of $125)– Limit 12 girls per session.

Registration Opens June 1st. Use our SIGN UP FORM TO SUBMIT and WE’LL GET BACK TO YOU ASAP.

A Year’s Worth of Programming – Click the Banner to See Our Offerings

MoM has spelled out an entire year of exhibits, programming, workshops and Health, Wellness and Education events. Click the pic above to peek at all the glorious plans that are in the works with MoM!

TONIGHT AT MoM

MAY 27 6-7:30PM International Day of Families, Hosted by Sierra Clark.

Highlighting the importance of family and dynamics of support systems with Sister Nayyirah Tivica Muhammad. Sister Muhammad is a visionary leader and the founder of Repair of The Black Family . As a dynamic keynote speaker, international three-time bestselling author, spiritual advisor, and master retreat leader, she inspires and motivates those she serves to achieve total transformation through her purpose-driven life. Sister Nayyirah specializes in helping individuals release generational trauma patterns through her keen intuition and unique approach to healing. Her work focuses on guiding women to heal intentionally. Her mission is to help restore the customs and beliefs of the Black family while working towards a universal government where peace prevails regardless of class, creed, or color. (FREE) Register by calling and leaving a message: 877-711-6667

Tags Board Building, Education, Girls Camp, health, Health Camp for girsl, Tracie Williams

Activism Birth Blog Education Events Featured Featured Artists International Mother Studies motherhood Opportunities The Factory, St Pete

May is Mothers Month! This Weekend, 2025: ILLUMINATE!

Post author By MOM
Post date May 6, 2025

ILLUMINATE! Art, Movement, and Motherhood
Bold explorations of performance, dialogue, and disruption throughout May 2025.

Mother’s Day is so much more than sentimental greeting cards.
It’s about shedding light on the most vital, undervalued, and complex work we do as humans: creating, sustaining, and transforming life.

This week, we confront that truth through art, performance, and unfiltered conversation.

Featuring Julienne Doko
International dancer and choreographer Julienne Doko presents a visceral performance and artist talk exploring the lived, embodied experience of motherhood across cultures in her work titled W.O.M.B. – Worth of My Body.

Thursday, May 8th 6:30-8PM an intimate artist talk with Julienne Doko hosted by Odeta Xheka (OXH Gallery) and Camille Adrienne (Gallery Noir). OXH Gallery, 1624 E 7th Ave Tampa, FL 33605

Saturday, May 10th (2nd Saturday Art Walk) 6-9PM – LIVE PERFORMANCE 7PM at the Museum of Motherhood. Julienne Doko performs W.O.M.B – Worth of My Body. Gallery Row Building #7 door B Parking across street or behind building:, 2606 Fairfield Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712

A dance performance that explores – and celebrates – motherhood in all its contradictory beauty.

Becoming a mother brings many changes: the relationship to your body, to time and material things, to the sense of identity and heritage. Dancer, choreographer and artist Julienne Doko invites us to reflect on the body’s ability to change through the different cultural perceptions of motherhood in a performative work that celebrates the body that bears signs of having created life. In English, the term ‘stretch mark’ shows a negative assessment of body changes. In Doko’s native language, Gbaya from the Central African Republic, the marks are called ‘ancestral tattoo’, a word charged with pride in the continuation and transmission of life.

WORKSHOPS AT MoM

THIS EVENT IS POSTPONED DUE TO A CONFLICT – NEW DATE COMING ASAP!

MoM AT THE DALI

Surreal Night at the Dali with the Museum of Motherhood
Curated installations, community dialogue, and art that provokes and challenges. Co-hosted with the Museum of Motherhood. Join us for Surreal Nights at The Dalí! Dance to a live DJ, sip specialty cocktails from Café Gala and explore interactive installations, original artworks, hands-on activities and more from the Museum of Motherhood in celebration of Mother’s Day.

Activities Include:
– Play with clay: Embodiment! Make a body part. Take it with you, or leave it for a future exhibit.
– Pregnancy vest: Interactive experience. Experience the stress that pregnancy puts on a human body! T
– Original artworks: Four pieces from the Museum’s collection highlighting surrealism from mother artists. A mini taste of the artwork we feature and uplift!

MoM Original Artwork on Display:
“Illusions & Portals” Cayla Skillin-Brauchle
“Untitled (Image Transfer #21)” Robin Assner-Alvey
“Poetics of the Body” Odeta Xheka
“A Women (fabric of life)” Sierra Clark

Enjoy extended hours, entertainment and activities for free on the ground floor. Admission to the permanent collection is available at reduced admission, half-off after 5pm.

To reserve tickets, click the ticket link and select your Thursday Night After 5pm ticket for May 15th.

Access to the Dali lower level is open and free including the Café, Store and Avant-garden is free and open to the public. Gallery for admission is required to access the exhibits. WEBSITE PRESS DETAILS. Hurry Up – What are you waiting for!! Sign up now!!!

WOMAN IN THE LIGHT

Visit the Woman In the Light – A custom mural painted on the exterior wall of the Museum of Motherhood by Raisa Nosova. Raisa Paints the Town.

ILLUMINATE invites you to see motherhood not as sentiment, but as power—raw, real, and radically creative. #Where motherhood meets movement, art, and truth. #Not your Hallmark Mother’s Day. #Shining a light on motherhood—raw, real, and radically creative.

This Mother’s Day week, we’re not playing it safe.
Join us for ILLUMINATE—a bold mix of dance, art, and conversation featuring Julienne Doko and the Museum of Motherhood.
🔥 Performance. 💬 Artist Talk. 🎨 Art Night.
Let’s light up what mothering really looks like.

#IlluminateMothersDay #ArtAndMotherhood #JulienneDoko #MuseumOfMotherhood #SalvadorDali

SECOND SATURDAY ART WALK MAP & BROCHURE

Full Promo Booklet for Art Walk –Downloadable PDF

Submit to the Journal of Mother Studies

– SUBMIT TO JOURMS -2025

The submission portal for the Journal of Mother Studies 2025 is open April 1-May 31, 2025. 10th Anniversary Edition.

Guidelines are here.

Submit here.

The title of this year’s journal is ‘FUN, SEX & CRYING OUT LOUD’. This broad backdrop offers a platform for submissions on a wide variety of topics.

More here.

JOIN US IN JUNE: RSVP NOW

Barbara's Birthday Bash and Board Building Party on June 3rd 2023 at the Museum of Motherhood — Barbara’s Birthday Bash and Board Building

May is for Connection

May 15th is Global Accessibility Day and we thought this would be a great opportunity for you to share it with your network! To help you with this, we created a graphic which is attached to this email and text for you below to post!

Our brand isn’t just about looking good. It’s about doing good.

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day and we’re proud to say that we are able to reach more people through a website designed for all abilities. Thanks to Naaman Creative, inclusion is part of our foundation.

Because we have an accessibility tool integrated on every page of our website, it works for everyone – just like it should.
#TheWebIsForEveryone #WebsiteAccessibility #GAAD2025 #AccessibilityMatters #NaamanCreative

Tags barbara Lynch, Board building at MoM, Call or papers, Dail and MoM, Gallery Noir Tampa, journal of mother studies, Julienne Doko, MoM at the Dali, Mothers Day 2025, Mothers day at the Museum of Motherhood, OXH Gallery, Parties at MoM, Play with Clay, Raisa Nosova, Second Saturday St Pete, Submissions JourMS, WOMB