Category: Residency

Categories
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

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

Attend Our Workshops, Book the Escape Womb Experience, Tour MoM

Mother Tree

More Submissions

"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

A white t-shirt featuring bold black text promoting the Museum of Motherhood (MoM), stating it is a museum about women located in St. Petersburg, Florida, along with a website and contact number.
Women’s Museum St Pete at the Museum of Motherhood

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

A world map highlighting documentary locations in Spain, Florida, Peru, Ghana, and China, emphasizing a global tour.
Categories
Activism Art Birth Caregiving Classes Eckerd Education Events Featured Featured Artists Feminism Fundraiser gender health International Internships JourMS Living Board Announcements MOM Art Annex MOM Conference motherhood Opportunities Queering Parenting Residency

Making Our Time Together Count with MoM

News & More

DID YOU KNOW WE ARE 35 + VOLUNTEER STRONG at MoM?

Thirty Five + individuals with unique skills, talents, and expertise contributing to the success of MoM from a variety of backgrounds! I don’t always get to opportunity to connect the committees, volunteer efforts and interns in one giant gratitude brag. So, I’m taking the opportunity to do that here. We are doing great things at the Museum of Motherhood, embracing museum-lovers of all ages, creating unique exhibitions, and empowering future generations through education, connection and inspiration.

As some of my community members know I have been going through some personal health challenges. I am taking the time required to go through treatments and heal. I feel incredibly fortunate to have access to the necessary care and I’m surrounded by family, friends and yes- my MoM collaborators!

Although I’m currently relegated to home– and will be for the foreseeable future- I have watched our crew come together in AWESOME WAYS. The work continues at MoM! We are all in this together and TOGETHER WE ARE STRONG. In the spirit of JUNETEENTH and PRIDE MONTH we celebrate freedom, access, and inclusivity ~MJR, Director, Founder.

HERE’S THE NEWS:

  1. We have secured our 2024-25 lease at The Factory moving from our current location to Gallery Row in September.
  2. We will continue to operate in our current location through Labor Day in August.
  3. Our GRAND OPENING in the new space (Gallery Row, Florida Wildlife Corridor, Drew Marc Gallery) will be Sept 21 – free museum day in St. Pete. 
  4. We are in the planning stages for a MoM October Art Auction/ Fundraiser as part of the We Build Tampa Bay initiative to reach our goal of 100k in partnership with Odeta Xheka &  OXH Gallery. The committee is for this is forming now! Want to be involved? Write us here or at INFO@MOMmuseum.org
  5. Our MoM Conference 2025 (20th Anniversary) committee is meeting regularly. Thanks to Brittany DeNucci, Megan, Batya and Kassandra for getting the planning stages going! The title is “Fun, Sex and Crying Out Loud” mark your calendars March 14-16 2025,
  6. Studies show that giving to women and girls organizations represent 1.8 percent of charitable giving in the USA of the 8.8 billion dollar pie. The ‘We Build Tampa Bay” fundraising initiative at MoM is ongoing. Our fundraiser yielded $4 k of the entire 100k goal for 2024-2025 with Founders Circle now including Liz Dimmitt, Deborah & Hugh Gelch,  Aleks Miziolek & Betty Schaub. This is 4% of our goal – so we are doing well statistically speaking. Join us as a Founding Circle member.

General Updates: The summer Interns are busy working on projects, Sierra Clark is overseeing schedule and Community Leadership projects, Whetley and Xy our summer HS interns are woman-ing up the space this summer w/special projects, Mary Noah is mentoring Xy as is Barbara Lynch mentoring Whetley & Barbara is attending St Pete Women’s Chamber luncheons on MoM’s behalf. Board Member Deanna Barcelona attended the last Chamber of Commerce event, Connie B. preservers with data (for our 2023 Form EZ accounting soon), Larry Dillahunty gave legal counsel on our new lease. Megan Welch is editing the Journal of Mother Studies, Ariana (Eckerd College) Sex Ed (embodiment education) is in the works to create and implement future programming. Escape Womb interactive exhibit planning is underway with with Jill Wood. Laura Bissell starts remote residency for June and Executive Board Meeting in July to approve the working budget. Mary at Little House non-profit is fundraising with a recent grant submitted to Foundation for a Healthy St. Pete, more grant writing, and sponsorships of new space.

Please write us if you’d like to join our team. In the meantime, keep strong, safe and blessed. MoM Loves YOU!

Welome Ariana

Ariana P is a rising senior at Eckerd College studying Sociology and Women and Gender Studies. She is the co-president of the feminist club at Eckerd that hosts body positivity and sex positivity events as well as a book club! She teaches sex education with a focus in comprehensive and inclusive sex ed. Ariana hopes to earn her masters in social work and go into case management and continue to work with non-profits. She was introduced to MoM through a classmate that also interned with MoM the previous year. In her time with MoM she hopes to educate people about their bodies and how reproduction works! As well as have in depth conversations about womenhood!

Remote Residency

Laura Bissell: My project is to work with MoM for the period of 1month from 21st June to 21st July. During this time I will attend the Matrescence Festival in Exeter, interview mother artists exploring pregnancy loss for my book, work on a project on motherhood and academia, Term Time, with Lucy Tyler, begin a book chapter called Adolescence and Matrescence: Seasons of the Witch for Demeter Press and complete my book manuscript. I would like to undertake a MoM residency at this time to celebrate and platform the work of some of the mother/artists working in performance whose work I write about and also to connect with a wider international community of mothers.

MoM Loves You!

MoM Volunteers
Categories
Activism AEHK Art Blog Education Events Featured Featured Artists Feminism International Internships JourMS Media MOM Art Annex MOM Conference motherhood Residency st petersburg

Our New Year

Looking Back / Looking Forward

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

January 2024 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- July Geography 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 our donation page please.

Categories
Activism Art Birth Blog Books Caregiving Conferences Digital Media Internships Eckerd Events Featured Featured Artists Fl gender health History International JourMS Living Board Announcements MAMA MOM Art Annex MOM Conference MoM Pop Up motherhood Opportunities Residency Social Justice Sociology Spiritual Motherhood st petersburg The Factory, St Pete

Membership and Year-End Donation Drive – the Museum of Motherhood Needs You!

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. Pete Memberships.

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

Event Page with LOVE!

Categories
Activism Art Blog Caregiving Conferences Education Featured Featured Artists gender International Literature MOM Art Annex motherhood Residency Social Justice Sociology st petersburg USF

New Team Members, Interns, Residencies, Earth Day, Submission Prizes, Oh My!

Spring has sprung! But first, ‘About My Mother:’ Submit your poem or short story about your mother by April 30th for a Mothers’ Day publication with MoM on our Blog, Newsletter and Social Media. Submit via word document, 1,000-2,000 words for the short story/essay. Poems of any length. First prize is $50 for the story. Poem is $25 and the runner up gets love and publication too. Share widely, just one week left! Send to: INFO@MOMmuseum.org

Thank You Authentic Florida for including us on your website as we approach May (Mothers’ Month). MoM is working hard to increase memberships – 300 in the next 3 months! See our special offer and JOIN OUR FLOCK! We are grateful to work with Melanie Lentz-Janney at Authentic Florida towards this mutual goal of sharing information and cool stuff to do in the Sunshine State. Authentic Florida.

Welcome New MoM Facilitator Sierra Clark

Welcome Sierra Clark our new Empowerment Facilitator at MoM. Her workshop designs- based on her chapter “From Sweet Nothings to Sweet Everything” in Repair Of The Black Family as part of the edited collection by Nayyirah Muhammad- are transformational. We are all better for her leadership and strong voice! More about Sierra at www.sierraclark.life

INTERNS

April has us bustling with a new group of amazing interns from around the world. Please welcome these amazing international collaborators (from left to right):

Audrey Paquet-Frey: My name is Audrey Paquet-Frey, I’m a 32-year-old Master’s degree student from the TEMA+ program 2021-2023, an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree program. I am currently in Paris at the EHESS completing my degree. Prior to this program, I did a bachelor’s degree at the Université Laval in Canada, Québec in historical sciences and heritage studies in museology, ethnology, and archeology. During my studies, I worked at the Canadian museum of history from 2015 until 2020, where I worked in the photographic archives divisions and the documentation of artefacts divisions. So why am I doing an internship at the Mom Museum? Simply because in the last years I’ve developed an interest in museum communities and especially now with the new museum definition from ICOM (International Councils of Museums) redirecting their attention to communities and the public, I felt it was time to explore that avenue. After this Master’s, I hope to be able to create an online museum directed at and for different communities of women to empower them through their immaterial heritage and their collective memory. I would like to give a voice to different communities of women through online exhibits. I hope to learn a lot from this internship and to be able to apply it to my future projects.

Megan Hsu: I will be assisting MoM with identfying, researching, and applying for local or national grants in order to assist with fundraising efforts that can further assist MoM in being able to achieve its goals and create deeper connections with the local community. A native of Tampa, FL, Megan (she/her) is in her final year at the University of Florida, where she is pursuing a double major in International Studies and Hispanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics along with a minor in European Union studies. A lifelong student, she believes that education never ends and is always eager to learn more about the world around her. She has worked with non-profit organizations in the past and is excited to devote her skills to MoM and its mission of educating and celebrating women and mothers of all reproductive identities.

Clea Dobrish: I am Clea Dobrish, a junior at Eckerd College studying Sociology and Women and Gender Studies. Especially with the political climate, it is more important than ever to join together and educate ourselves and others about feminism and gender studies, this is my main goal through this internship. Working with the EC Feminist club on campus has ignited a passion in me to further my education on the matter as well as helped me find my calling in helping people desexualize and accept how amazing their bodies are through the events done on campus. I hope to bridge the gap between Eckerd and MoM by helping others get internships here and collaborating with the feminist club. I also hope to learn about and assist with grant writing for MoM.

REMOTE RESIDENCY AT MoM

Yes, it is possible to do a Remote Residency at MoM. It’s also possible to have a remote internship at MoM as well! Apply through our website on the appropriate page, work with your institution, and make progress on your project through interactions with the Museum of Motherhood and Director, Martha Joy Rose.

Christina Doonan PhD: is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Gender Studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Her research interests include the politics of health, human rights, the right to health, and motherhood and parenting in the context of chronic illness.

My current project, “Mothering Through Cancer,” explores how breast cancer affects motherhood for mothers of young children, and how mothering young children affects the experience of cancer. Taking my own experience as a starting point, I am interested in how idealized versions of motherhood work in both directions, influencing what mothers expect of themselves as they experience cancer and what others expect of mothers—and how this translates into the types of supports that mothers receive (or not).I first presented a portion of this work at the M.O.M. Conference in 2022: “Creativity for a Cause.”I felt invigorated by the supportive feedback I received from the M.O.M. community.Staying in touch with the project has been difficult given the dual demands of work and reproductive labour.My residency with M.O.M. this week allows me to reconnect with and refocus on this project and give it the time that it deserves. Thank you to Joy and Tracy for arranging the details and for welcoming me so warmly. I’m grateful and delighted to be here as part of this vital community! (Christina is pictured about with her husband Lincoln and MoM Director, Martha Joy Rose).

Categories
AEHK Art Education Featured Feminism gender History International Internships JourMS Media MOM Art Annex MOM Conference Opportunities Residency st petersburg

Young Feminists Unite

Doesn’t matter where you’re from, social initiatives toward equality and justice continue. Black History Month has presented many opportunities for learning. Here at MoM, we’ve shared information from with our students, partnered to create events putting Black-owned businesses at the center, and continued with a commitment to share broadly and loudly a commitment to empower all humans equally from all walks of life. For example we have shared widely MoM’s proximity of The Woodson African American Museum in St. Pete to MoM and admiration for Carter G. Woodson and his journey. We take that journey to heart and invest similarly in women’s rise within Women’s History Month.

MoM affirms that one person’s security, safety, and serenity need never jeopardize another’s. There is room for everyone to seek harmony on this earth, but not when primitive thinking rules. Mother loves all her children, even if humans fall short of this golden rule all too often.

News of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) failing yet again in its ratification is heartbreaking. The twenty-eighth amendment which bans discrimination based on sex was first introduced in 1923 and was passed by Congress fifty years later, it has yet to be ratified. Subsequent pushes to see it through have failed. It is disappointing to bring this most recent development to your attention on the first day of Women’s History Month after a Federal Appeals Court rejected the case only days ago.

Welcome MoM Projects and Our New Intern: Yana

This spring we have multiple projects in the works. Some are spearheaded by interns from around the world. Dr. Hannah Brockbank (England) is leading a team that includes Laura Gabrielle (USA) and Yana S. (Russia; read more below) towards the first of several online classes, we are developing and hope to be offering at MoM later this year, while Victoria Wright continues research on a breastfeeding exhibit for her final Master’s project with MoM.

Locally, in St. Petersburg, the AEHK Studio Tour takes place on March 18 & 19 all day long. Intrepid visitors can wander Historic Kenwood and see the amazing art studios of its residents, including MoM’s own Martha Joy Rose’s works. Jenilee Dowling leading a Mothers’ Moon Circle on March 21st at 7 PM instead of our regular morning meetup onsite in the garden at 10 AM. All other meetings this month are at the usual time. Then, the weekend of March 24-26 is the Annual Academic & Arts MoM Conference. Presenters from around the world share their work on the changing world of reproductive landscapes. Contact us to fine out more. Stick with us. Lots to come!

Hi everyone! My name is Yana S. I’m a high school graduate who plans to major in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at college, and pursue a social impact career – hopefully in public interest law or public policy work – in the future. I’m confident that my time with the MoM would be a truly transformative experience, and I can’t wait to work in the areas about which I’m truly passionate.

We look forward to bringing you lots of stories about Women’s History (or HERstory) this month!! Stay tuned. Also, we hope to see some of our local friends on Friday, March 3 for YesChefVillage dinner 6-7:30 PM at 538 28th St. N. in St. Pete. The dinners are free. The community is awesome. Meet Chef Omaka and friends. RSVP 877-711-MOMS (6667) pls.

We 3/4s of the way towards purchasing the Mother Tree for our permanent collection! Only $8,000 left to go, with $17K already raised! Help us meet this goal. Join this legacy production today.

We APPRECIATE YOU! Every dollar helps us rise to the occasion of our own success as we prove ourselves as THE destination for the art, science, and history of women, mothers, and families. DONATE NOW!

Thanks to Cait McVey/Spectrum Bay News 9 for the recent news story, March 1, 2023: St. Pete museum celebrates the history of mom. Martha Joy Rose’s new venture for the City of St. Pete is the Mom Museum, carefully curated with all things mother. LINK

Categories
AEHK Art Digital Media Internships Education Events Featured Featured Artists Feminism gender History International Internships JourMS MAMA MOM Art Annex MOM Conference motherhood Residency Sociology Spiritual Motherhood

Final PUSH to 2022 Fundraising Goals and A Big Move!

Donate To MoM

This is our final countdown to the Mother Tree Fundraiser in 2022. As of now, we are over halfway to our goal of purchasing this one-of-a-kind artwork from world-renowned paper-maker Helen Hiebert, on loan to MoM until June 2023. We have raised $13,300 towards the purchase price of $25,000. That means only $11,700 left to go! Won’t you help us clinch the deal? The Mother Tree is a seven-foot high handmade sculpture installation featuring single strands of thread which have been crocheted by over 400 participants around the world. Helen is an internationally acclaimed artist, author and educator. The Mother Tree is currently onsite at the MOM Art Annex. She is impactful, lovely, and represents the connection we have to the earth, our families, and our community. Any amount, no matter how small, helps us to secure her for our permanent collection. Your name will be added to the webpage and also onsite at MoM. You can write a check, donate through Paypal or go through our GoFundMe. We thank YOU!

Read on to see all our successes in 2022 and see what we hope to achieve in 2023.

This year we commenced with BIG goals at MoM. In addition to branded content, thanks to our summer interns, we revamped our mission statement to maximize inclusivity while staying true to our goals of elaborating on the art, science, and herstory of m/others.

We recommitted to serving up visible, educational, and inspiring offerings by conducting onsite tours on a regular basis. These tours oftentimes included children. We added to our collections and exhibits, built a vestibule to better enable visitors to view our interior space regardless of pandemics, and held postpartum groups and mothers’ playdates in our garden.

Easy QR MoM Donation with Stripe (Secure Payments)

New team members came on board. Specifically, we welcomed legal advice from local lawyer Larry Dillahunty, and are most pleased to be working with Deborah Gelch in the position of Strategic Advisor, Elena Rodz in website development, Marcile Powers as Arts Facilitator, and Connie Burgess as our new Membership Director and Community Laison.

We continued with our Residencies both remote and onsite, as well as our internship program, adding four new interns poised to start work in the new year. Our international relationship with MAMA collaborators continued, bringing online art exhibits from around the world.

We heartily thank the neighborhood of Historic Kenwood and the Artist Enclave for their great work on the Studio Tour as well as Winter in the Woods, and Bohemia Night at (Kenwood Gables) which MoM participated in, and also want to shout out to SPACEcraft for including us in their latest round of installations in St. Pete, and St. Pete High School for inviting MoM to present at the Art & Feminist Club.

One piece of big news is that our director, Martha Joy Rose took up permanent residence in Florida this year, relinquishing her NY-based teaching job at Manhattan College and further cementing her commitment to MoM locally in St. Petersburg.

We thank you Living Board 2022, Zabrina Shkurti, Nicole Musselman, and two-term Residency Coordinator Tracy Sidesinger. The Annual MoM Conference and the Journal of Mother Studies (JourMS) are ongoing with this year’s hybrid conference scheduled for March 24-26. (Join us online or in person).

This year, we wrote two grants: one was denied and we are waiting to hear on the second one. We received one anonymous foundation award in the amount of $1,000, and we thank all our new members and donors! While our needs are great, as is the case with many non-profits, we have persevered through geographic moves, personnel changes, pandemics, and great and we have SURVIVED and THRIVED!

MoM belongs to you – the public, our members, and our community. Please consider getting involved or making a donation today. Use our donation link or checks can be sent to 538 28th St. N St Petersburg, Florida 33713. Help us GROW!

Donate To MoM
  • SPACEcraft, Photo by Sandra Sonik
  • Marcile Powers, Photo by Sandra Sonic
  • SPACEcraft, Photo by Sandra Sonic
  • SPACEcraft Mama!
  • SPACEcraft, Joy and Connie
  • SPACEcraft founders Mitzi Gordon & Carrie Boucher
  • Journal of Mother Studies
  • Martha Joy Rose, St. Pete High School
  • Bohemia Night, Kenwood Gables
  • Bohemia Night Kenwood Gables
  • Tour MoM Alexis Baum
  • New Art
  • MoM Postpartum Group
  • Deborah Gelch and Connie Burgess
  • Feminist Club
  • MoM’s Playdate
  • MoM Playdate
  • Playdate at MoM
  • MoM Merch
  • Winter in the Wood
  • Winter in the Wood
  • Gloria Munoz- St Pete Poet Laureate and former MoM Resident
  • MoM Tour w/Family
  • Babies are the Future!
  • Summer visits/ Birth Chair
  • Friends from NY Visit MoM
Categories
Art Birth breastfeeding Classes Featured Featured Artists Feminism History Residency Spiritual Motherhood st petersburg

Batya Weinbaum, Goddesses, and the Season of Light

‘Tis the season of grace and friendship. Let us shine our lights brightly and wide. Let us reflect on the past as we approach the new year. Let that include in our reflections a little understood, often neglected vast herstory of Goddess-wisdom from within the pagan evolutions of this holiday season rooted in mystical wisdom and earth worship.

As the director of the MoM for almost twenty years, I have met with academics, artists, and m/others from around the world. They often share elaborative perspectives on women’s issues, family studies, and feminism. I often meet people who have lived experiences vastly different than my own. They always inspire.

For example, artist, scholar, and Femspec editor, Batya Weinbaum arrived onsite at MoM for a month of mural-making and herstory speaking at the beginning of December. Everyday, there is some new story. Beginning with her early years in Manhattan as a young feminist participating variety in consciousness-raising collectives to her systematic sharing of stories of art-making and land-living. Batya regularly teaches college coursework, hosts online art circles, and speaks at international gatherings. For me, she has become a wise, welcome daily fixture onsite at MoM, where young families regularly visit to hear her stories and where we collaborate on some art-sharing circles.

  • Batya Weinbaum Mural at Museum of Motherhood
  • Batya Weinbaum Mural at Museum of Motherhood
  • Batya Weinbaum Mural at MoM
  • Feminist Circle Art-Making at MoM
  • Family Hannukah in the Feminist Playhouse
  • Batya Weinbaum

Batya is a graduate of Hampshire College and a mosaic muralist acclaimed for an eight year art installation project on Isla Mujeres, Mexico, where images of fertility goddesses from around the world and across cultures were assembled in large figurines in order to lend strength to the Maya fertility goddess, IxChel. Her work elaborates on the Neolithic period, influenced by the works of Marija Gimbutas, Riane Eisler, Monica Sjoo (The Great Cosmic Mother) and Elizabeth Barber (Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years), who discuss periods of human history when motherhood was not a liability but something to be revered.

While visiting the MOM Art Annex, she will be constructing a fertility goddess mural from 6000 BCE. She believes women need to get in touch with origin myths in order to be strong women today. I agree!

This energy is significantly meaningful for students of all ages. Beyond contemporary celebrity icons, it is important to channel the power of the little studied leaders of a more female-friendly, woman-centric world.

Dr. Weinbaum’s contributions to MoM will serve up inspiration as well as a powerful legacy of connection to community members touring the MOM Art Annex as we build together towards our vision of a Museum of Motherhood here in St. Pete.

“Batya’s work hits on so many different levels for women, whether or not they’re mothers or feminists… And even in our current political climate, I think all women can and will find a unique resonance with this booming goddess that she’s installing at MOMMuseum. For me personally, as someone who has always struggled with balancing humility and pride, Batya’s raw, bold work inspires bravery and pride in addition to capturing the colorful joys that mothers contribute to a community.” – Dannie Snyder, Artivist & Educator 

BIO: Batya Weinbaum is a visionary artist whose works have been sold at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, the Oberlin Art Museum, and many galleries in NY, Boston, VA, OH, Hawaii and Michigan as well as Mexico. She has been active in the Association for the Study of Women in Mythology. Some of her work can be seen at goddess vibe.org. Dr. Weinbaum teaches online at Boston College in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, and American Public University. She earned her doctorate at UMass Amherst, her Master’s at SUNY Buffalo, and her Bachelor’s at Hampshire College. She has published numerous creative and critical works, including award-winning essays, fiction and poetry. She was a cofounder of the Feminist Mother’s and Their Allies Caucus and Task Force in National Women’s Studies Association, where she petitioned for child care, and has published extensively about the impact of motherhood on grassroots political organizing in Palestine/Israel, in numerous journals and anthologies. 

Great Cosmic Mother

As Batya writes, “A museum dedicated to the study of motherhood deserves a message from the past via an image of a goddess, a fat fecundity image seated on a throne flanked by lions from Catal Huyuk now in Turkey, conjuring up shrines where goddesses were revered for giving birth.”

Ms. Weinbaum splits her time between Floyd VA and Cleveland Hts, OH, is happy to grant interviews about the project. Her art, publications, workshops and adventures can be followed on IG #divinefemimineartworkshops

More on Goddesses Brooklyn Museum [here].

Yours in Affirmations for World Peace, Feminist Equalities, and Friendship,

Martha Joy Rose, Director

Categories
Art Education Featured Featured Artists Fl MAMA MOM Art Annex motherhood Residency

M.A.M.A. Issue 53 – Jessica Caldas

The Museum of Motherhood, ProCrete Project, the Mom Egg Review present M.A.M.A. Our collaboration celebrates the intersection of art and words. Wherever we live, work, and play, the art of motherhood is made manifest. #JoinMAMA  @ProcreateProj  @MuseumOfMotherhood @MERliterary

ART

BIO: Jessica Caldas is a Puerto Rican American, Florida and Georgia based, artist, advocate, and activist. She completed a residency at MoM onsite in 2022. Her work connects personal and community narratives to larger themes and social issues. Caldas has participated in numerous emerging artist residencies, including the Atlanta Printmakers Studio in 2011, MINT Gallery’s Leap Year Program from 2012-2013, The Creatives Project form 2018-2019, Vermont Studio Center in 2020, and was the Art on the Atlanta Beltline AIR in 2020-2021. Caldas was awarded The Center for Civic Innovations 2016 Creative Impact award, named Creative Loafing’s Best of ATL Artist for 2016 and 2015, received the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs Emerging Artist Award in Visual Arts for 2014, and was a finalist for the Forward Arts Foundation’s Emerging Artist Award in 2014. Her work has been featured at Burnaway, ArtsAtl, Creative Loafing Atlanta, Atlanta Magazine, Simply Buckhead, and more. Her work has been shown at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA and is included in the collections of Kilpatrick Townsend, The City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Kyoto International Community House.

In her advocacy work, Caldas has spent time lobbying for policy at the local level in Georgia and spent time with the YWCA Georgia Women’s Policy Institute at the 2016 general assembly to assure the passage of the Rape Kit Bill and in 2016 to stop HB 51 in 2017, a bill that would have harmed the safety of sexual assault survivors on college campuses.

Caldas received her Masters of Fine Arts degree at Georgia State University in 2019 and received her BFA in printmaking from the University of Georgia in 2012. She currently runs Good News Arts, a small community arts space and gallery in rural North Central Florida.

Jessica Caldas

Statement

My work is driven by personal experience and its connection to contemporary and historical issues. Overall, my work addresses the complexities and intricacies of care and identity in our current culture. I seek to make challenging experiences accessible to those without the same somatic knowledge while still engaging in conversation and confrontation. In my practice, I incorporate layered, labor intensive drawings, collage, sculpture, performance, et al, into fully realized mixed media works and immersive installations. Within my work, the viewer is met with bodily experiences that mirror the complexities of the stories I share, with a focus on shared knowledge, awareness, empathy, and change.

My recent work is mostly divided in two ways:
1. Focus on the daily lived experiences of women; their triumphs, their struggles, and everything in between in several bodies of work which reflects on the complicated spaces, both personal and public, that women inhabit and move through.
2. Exploration of the complexities of identity where family history, cultural and social influence, politicization, and personal desire are both at odds and overlapping. In this exploration identity becomes a fact-based excavation of personal history alongside a kind of fictional mythological world building.

My artistic process has become a slow one. Where once I worked quickly, and almost frantically, I have learned in the years since completing my graduate work  that a slower, more methodical approach serves me and my work much more completely than the ways I used to create. I spend an inordinate amount of time, months and sometimes longer, reading, writing, and researching ideas, stories, and concepts that inform the work I am creating. I probably spend more time thinking about the work I will make than actually producing it, because by the time I have gotten to the point of making, I have a lot of knowledge about where I am going and what I want from the work. This is not to say that I create without reacting to what is happening, because that is another important part of my practice. Much of my production is also organic and reactionary as well. I like the ability to respond to change, materials, problems, and other things that happen in the studio as they happen, rather than strictly adhering to a plan. I find that flexibility has produced far better work than rigidity ever does. It is more real and more realistic.

As for my journey, I am one of those fortunate people who have been creating my whole life. I was privileged enough to be surrounded by art from a young age, and to be surrounded by people who took art seriously and supported my desire to practice art professionally. So going to school for art was never an issue.

(Quote from the art journal: an online journal of art and cultural commentary. Link: https://www.theartsection.com/caldas)

WORDS

Dayna Patterson is the author of Titania in Yellow (Porkbelly Press, 2019) and If
Mother Braids a Waterfall (Signature Books, 2020). Her creative work has
appeared recently in Duende, EcoTheo, and Gulf Coast. She is the founding
editor-in-chief of Psaltery & Lyre and a co-editor of Dove Song: Heavenly Mother
in Mormon Poetry. She was a co-winner of the 2019 #DignityNotDetention Poetry
Prize judged by Ilya Kaminsky. daynapatterson.com

Categories
Activism Featured Featured Artists Feminism Fl gender health History home International JourMS Literature MAMA Media MOM Art Annex MOM Conference MoM Pop Up motherhood Residency Social Justice Sociology Spiritual Motherhood

Joy Report: Team Art Shows, MoM Conference, and #Giving Tuesday

Hello Friends,

It’s sunny in Florida and a balmy 76 degrees and many of us are celebrating together in traditional ways. The Christmas tree is ready to be illuminated downtown, fake snow is in the air, and lights abound. Whether you are prepping the family menorah, or simply looking towards Festivus, may we be glad and of good will. May we lift up those suffering through hunger and war and let us show kindness to our neighbor and gentleness in our homes.

Let us create! Let us show our souls! Let us paint our dreams and mold images out of clay. Let us stitch together a herstory that weaves its way from the city of the arts, in the neighborhood of Kenwood, ‘where art lives’, all the way to you, wherever you may be.

This weekend, MoM team member Elena Rodz has a solo art show at Redbud Gallery 303 E. 11th St. Houston, TX 77008, Texas. The title of her show is, Dilly Dally. Dates: Dec 3 – Jan 1/ Reception: Dec 3, 6-9PM

Artist Statement: The show’s title “Dilly Dally” refers to the practice of enjoying life at a walking pace. Like many of my generation, I’m overwhelmed by the enormity of the Now — the biannual once-in-a-millennia events, the metropolitan cultural hubs we all rushed to after undergrad, the gauntlet from grade school to (maybe) retirement. A move to a small city in Texas in 2013 prompted a reconsideration at the pace I experienced life. I learned to look each moment in the face rather than over its shoulder.

This series of paintings challenges the viewer to suspend thought. The imagery and composition are superficial, and the response should be primal. I want the viewer to feel instinctually rather than put thought into deciphering the hidden meaning of the artwork. The purpose of the artwork is to pause and appreciate the slow moments and the overlooked beauty of the average. Although the scenes are all real places in Corpus Christi, TX, they recall anywhere once called home.

We applaud Elena and love her dearly for her creativity, spunk, and expertise. She greatly contributes to the MoM team and we are all better for knowing her. See more of Elena’s art which is available for purchase here.

We are excited for our Annual Conference this March 23-24 in St. Pete and on Zoom. THE DEADLINE to SUBMIT IS EXTENDED TO DECEMBER 10th. You only need to submit a 250 word abstract about an academic paper, art project, or other medium on the topic of Reproductive Landscapes: This conference call is for papers, performances, conversations, and art, focused on new gender identities and discourse. Here is the full CFP and submit via the JourMS website. Won’t you please join the conversation about this very important topic!

It’s #GivingTuesday! This year MAKE IT MoM and help us GROW!

We have DREAMS of a PLACE to call OUR own. A museum that ELEVATES, illuminates, DISSEMINATES, and complicates this wildly IMPORTANT identity, JOB, journey, and POSITION of care, CONCERN, birth, and LIFE- the WOMYN at the CENTER of creativity, PROCREATION, productivity, SORROW, hope, HELP, and JOY 💓– any DONATION amount MAKES a difference. We ARE the ART, science, and HERstory of M/others.

Any amount benefits our forward movement; $5, $10, $15, $25, $50, $100, $1,000. We have so much we are $5, $15, $10, $25, $100, $1,000 towards MEMBERSHIP, acquisitions, BUILDING CAMPAIGN.

We look forward to your energy, your care, your good vibes, and your financial support. THANK YOU!

DONATE

As November winds to a close and December rushes in, let us take time to reflect not only on the things we are grateful for, but the ways in which we can all heed the call to ‘do better’ in our lives, our relationships, and in the ways we work and move in the world.

Love, Love, Love,

Joy Rose, Director and Founder (Link to our December Newsletter)