Tag: sojourner truth

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Art Featured History The Factory, St Pete

MoM’s Healing Garden – Finding Your Path To Wellness

Before we round the corner into February, we want to share some upcoming opportunities that we think are worthwhile reflections of a ‘new year – new you journey’ with MoM. Many of us charge out of the gate with the best of intentions post-holiday as we turn the calendar on another year. Each of us carries some degree of hurt, loss, pain, or trauma. We already know this. Studies also show that arts, culture and community are great ways to feel more integrated, connected, and educated about our purpose and place in the world. MoM is so pleased to support the work of some of our friends, facilitators and collaborators for this ongoing holistic journey to serenity, connection and even happiness.

Black History Month

We celebrate Black History (and HerStory) Month at MoM with our exhibit featuring Sojourner Truth, activist, suffragette, mother and preacher. We are continually inspired by her example of calling out gender and racial inequity. We stand by her memory and share her story at our space in The Factory in St. Pete beginning with the First Wave of Feminism circa 1850. We also celebrate our local Carter Woodson African American Museum here locally. Carter G. Woodson was a scholar and historian who dreamed of an entire month devoted to Black History, just as we, at MoM dream of an entire field of study, museum, and month of scholarship, art, and education devoted to mothers each May across the USA.

Well-Being Is (Mostly) An Inside Job

Visit MoM’s Healing Garden growing onsite at The Factory. We didn’t know we needed this, but we do! Part of our mission at MoM is to ‘start great conversations’. Over the course of the last four months we’ve been astounded at the humans in need of a deeper connection as they process issues around loss, grief, stress, and isolation. Inspired by our neighbor @Gio’s_Typos and his garden at The Factory we’ve decided to carry the mantle of floral expression to new heights as we build out our in-person experience with prompts, poetry and stress -relievers. Bring a flower, take a prompts, enjoy the serene and intentional setting and visit soon. We’ll be waiting for you! Regular hours are 12-6 Wed – Saturday, Second Saturday Art Walk (Second Saturday each month) 6-9PM, Indie Flea (First Sunday of each month) 12-3PM. Call ahead to book your tour and make sure our volunteers are on site. 877-877-MOMS (6667). Leave a message and we’ll call you back.

Break Free from Anxiety & Love Yourself Unconditionally 

A Very Special Women’s Retreat Feb 9-14. 5-days $299 or just the weekend $149 – plus accommodations (meals included). Rooms with private bathrooms are selling out. Finally release layers of emotional pain and reconnect with calmness, clarity, and happiness. Experience on-the-spot anxiety relief plus music, movement, and meditation to reawaken joy. 

LEARN MORE: 

https://www.stressisgone.com/retreats#nextretreat

The Stress Is Gone Method is a transformational healing modality facilitated by Author & Stress Expert, Brett Cotter. He is a clairaudient empath that guides you to reopen your heart as you feel self-love melt down emotional pain in your body and inside old memories. Brett has 25-years experience helping people recover from the most traumatic events of their lives. 

“As a clinician, it was impressive feeling my own stress lift out of my body. I’ve encouraged several family members to call for coaching!” Gerri DeBenedetto, Mother, LCSW

”It was a life-changing experience. Brett creates a safe space to open up and has an innate ability to get to the core issues. You feel tension leave your body.” Sarah StanczewskI, Working Mom, NY
Immerse yourself in a safe place for deep, lasting emotional healing. 

“I never expected in the first 5 minutes he’d be able to identify the source of my trauma, and give me the words to release it and move on.” Deidre Auchmoody, NY

[POSTPONED DUE TO ILLNESS] 33 Days of Transformation In-Person & Online Development Workshop

Sierra M. Clark, MoM Empowerment Facilitator invites you to join her onsite at the Museum of Motherhood each Tuesday at 6PM beginning Feb. 6th (or online) for FOUR WEEKS – 33 days – of personal and professional empowerment. Each week focuses on specific aspects of the empowerment journey, allowing participants to delve deeper into their strengths, obstacles, and break-through to new awareness and behaviors that will benefit every area of their lives. Sierra uses custom built tools which she shares with you as part of this workshop for your ongoing success. These tools can also be used for a self-paced experience which Sierra will guide you through. Register now for this insightful, personal, and empowering experience! 

MoM Announcements


“Womb Project”
By MADISON HENDRY
Time-Based Sculpture and Documentation
Sculpture: Pink Yarn, Crochet Hook
Prints: Color Print on Foam Core
May 2013 – January 2014.

This 9 month long documentation explores the physical changes artist, Madison Hendry experienced throughout her first pregnancy. By crocheting around herself during this period, she creates a “womb-like” soft sculpture, which protects and comforts her, just as her womb protects and comforts her growing baby. Madison utilizes the repetitive and meditative process of crocheting to reflect on her pregnancy. As her baby continues to grow and begins to manipulate her body, it is apparent that the sculpture is doing the same. The more the baby grows, the more difficult it becomes for the artist to continue creating her work. However, it is inevitable that she continues. This is catharsis. At last, when the sculpture is complete, it is then deconstructed by the artist to reveal the greatest work of art; her baby. The “Womb Project” is currently on display at MoM.

Please Welcome Our New Board of Directors 2024

Courtney Kessel, President, is a mother, artist, academic, and arts administrator living and working in Athens, Ohio. She is currently the Assistant Director for Experiential Design at Ohio University and a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Arts. Courtney is one of the pioneers of the mother-made art movement.

Kayley Robsham – Secretary, is professional life coaching and Neuro-Linguistic Programming trainer, advanced Certified Life & Business Coach working with entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, healers, and visionaries to grow their business by helping them heal their subconscious mind and body. 

Deanna Barcelona, Treasurer, (aka Dr. B) is a proud St. Petersburg local mama to two teenagers. Her Ph.D. is in Higher Education Administration with a cognate in Anthropology which she studied for both her undergraduate degree and Master of Arts. She currently works as a home loan specialist transferring her strengths and skills as an educator into the world of helping people build wealth through homeownership.

Atlas Obscura January 11, 2024– Thank you for adding us to your collection of newsworthy organizations. Atlas Obscura has a mission to inspire wonder and curiosity about the incredible world we all share. MoM is part of 28,202 unique places shared by this resource. [LINK] for their recent coverage of MoM – because, ya know, m/otherhood is so obscure!

CFP: Incarcerated (M)others Publisher: DEMETER PRESS / Editors: Olga Marques & Michelle Hughes Miller. Writers, artists, academics, activists, and all those who work in and/or study or explore (m)otherhood within the context of incarceration are invited to propose a chapter for this interdisciplinary anthology centered within the criminalized, regulated, resisted, and lived experiences of (m)others who are or have been incarcerated and/or are or have been under state supervision. When we use the term (m)others, we refer to anyone who self-identifies as a mother or parent who has or is engaging in motherwork. We use the term incarceration to reference state governance over the lives of individuals within the state’s regulatory authority. CFP PDF Download

We continue to promote, thank, and celebrate the work of WEDU PBS who did an extraordinary job capturing the journey of founder Martha Joy Rose music career to motherhood through illness to the creation of the Museum of Motherhood in St. Petersburg, Florida. From inception in 2003 in New York to actualization, the aim of MoM is to reach humans everywhere with a message of inspiration, education, and compassion. The video is on rotation locally in throughout the Tampa Bay/ Sarasota area and is also available for viewing on YouTube. Here’s the LINK.

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Art Birth Blog Books Caregiving Featured Feminism health MAMA MOM Art Annex motherhood Residency Spiritual Motherhood st petersburg

MAMA Issue 50: Mothers and trees. Roots and families. Art and love.

The Mother Tree

I want to write about mothers and trees. Roots and families. Art and love.

Last year our world appeared to be on fire. Headlines captured devastating events around the globe. From politics to pandemics, the news cycle, as well as our personal lives, were upended in so many ways. In the midst of one of many California blazes, a story about a redwood matriarch dubbed the Mother of the Forest in Santa Cruz, California caught my attention.

Mother of the Forest is one of the tallest trees in Santa Cruz Park. A symbolic womb at her core forms an 8 x 13 foot room, or a hobbit hole, or a sacred space — depending on your perspective.   

I have become obsessed with trees. 

Trees are a testimony to patience and resilience. They offer shelter, contribute to healthy ecosystems, and fight climate change. Redwoods protect and support each other as well as other sapling growth by creating family circles sprouted from the roots of a parent tree. These families may or may not be genetically related. These lessons in cooperation can be a metaphor for humanity in its current fragmented state.

One month ago, I headed back to the MOM Art Annex in Florida after a prolonged absence. Ready to explore the next steps with our community and see to the ongoing growth of the Museum project, I arrived energized. Rising in the midst of display artifacts, art, and birthing objects, a new exhibit towers in the heart of the Annex. Artist Helen Hiebert’s Mother Tree is a brilliant illuminated sculpture made of paper and thread on loan to us for the year.

In preparation for the Mother Tree’s arrival, I pursued the book Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard, a deeply inspiring tale of scientific discovery and maternal care. I pondered our new directions with the Museum of Motherhood and gladly welcomed a guest artist residency proposal by Polly Wood, which included constructing an empty nest as a ceremonial acknowledgement of her daughter going off to college.

“A nest,” I exclaimed. “How timely for the Mother Tree’s arrival.”

Polly and I spent a glorious two weeks spinning magic. A blog about her residency is online at MOM. The next guest artist arrives in mid-December with work featuring among other things, landscapes and trees in gorgeous muted watercolors. 

Polly Wood working on her “Empty Nest” at MOM

As the year winds down, I gratefully acknowledge the manner in which I’ve been able to spend time with emerging mother artists here in St. Petersburg, and also family as well. My son, his wife, and their baby have been on-site for the last six weeks, crowded into the MOM Art Annex’s tiny space– along with the exhibits, myself, and visiting guests. My one-year old granddaughter crawls around the carefully childproofed perimeter while I proudly chase after her.  

In these accompanying photos, I introduce my granddaughter to a world of female sheroes, the art of motherhood, and a variety of messages aimed at empowering women and girls. The images for this MAMA exhibit also include my own self-portrait surrounded by the Mother Tree’s yarn roots in a symbolic gesture of rebirth, renewal, and generational connection. 

Martha Joy Rose ; rebirth with Helen Hiebert’s “Mother Tree” sculpture and Polly Wood’s “Nest”

Every major tree metaphor reminds me to trust in the slow, yet, steady growth of the museum project. Good things take time. Like a redwood, we want the museum to stand as a testament to the ages. We want to collaborate with our community and our surroundings. These things develop and deepen slowly. We are the connection. We are the women. We are the love. We are the trees.

If you would like to donate to our Mother Tree acquisitions campaign, please consider helping us purchase the Mother Tree in perpetuity by making a tax-deductible donation here.

In gratitude and perseverance, Martha Joy Rose

Frank and Sojourner Truth at MOM 2021

Raising the next generation of empowered humans means teaching them about our past: our struggles, problems, issues, and herstory. At the MOM Art Annex we do exactly that, while building towards our future by developing the footprint for the Museum of Motherhood project as an international education and exhibition destination.

I look forward hopefully, understanding deeply the importance of engaging with people of all ages in an inclusive, supportive, and smart environment. Together we can elevate the voices and artistic endeavors of all humans, and in our case, especially m/others, procreators, dreamers, childless by choice, women in history and present day sheroes– as well as those who have suffered loss and infertility.

My granddaughter and I have started this conversation early and often – even though she is still pre-verbal. A picture is worth a thousand words in this case!

Martha Joy Rose: Martha Joy Rose is a community organizer and Museum of Motherhood founder. Her work has been published across blogs and academic journals and she has performed with her band Housewives On Prozac around the world. She is the NOW-NYC recipient of the Susan B. Anthony Award, her Mamapalooza Festival Series has been recognized as “Best in Girl-Power Events”, and her music has appeared on the Billboard Top 100 Dance Charts. She founded the Museum of Motherhood in 2003, created the Motherhood Foundation 501c3 non-profit in 2005, saw it flourish in NYC from 2011-2014, and then pop up at several academic institutions. After teaching Mother Studies at the college level, she moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. Her current live/work space is devoted to the exploration of mother-labor & performance art while she oversees the continued growth of the Museum of Motherhood project.

Helen Hiebert: Helen Hiebert constructs installations, films, artists’ books and works in paper using handmade paper as her primary medium. Her sculpture Mother Tree serves as a symbol of the vulnerability, strength and sense of community she feels as a mother. The seven-foot tall handmade paper dress/tree features single strands of thread which extend from the bodice of the dress, representing mother’s milk, and cascade to the floor, transforming via crochet into roots which pile up, filling the surrounding space as a tree’s roots would fill the ground beneath it. The transformation from dress to tree and root to soil symbolizes the mother as a provider and nurturer throughout human development. Since her inception, hundreds of people have contributed to crocheting roots with messages of family, friendship, and affirmation.

Procreate Project, the Museum of Motherhood and the Mom Egg Review are pleased to announce the 50th edition of this scholarly discourse. Literature intersects with art to explore the wonder and the challenges of motherhood. Using words and art to connect new pathways between the academic, the para-academic, the digital and the real, as well as the everyday: wherever you live, work and play, the Art of Motherhood is made manifest. #JoinMAMA #artandmotherhood

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Conferences Featured Feminism gender History Internships manhattan college motherhood Sociology

Women’s History Month at Manhattan College

March is Women’s History Month! Find out more about The American Women’s History Initiative, which aims to “amplify women’s voices to honor the past, inform the present and inspire the future.” (Smithsonian Institution: Discover more online here). It seems we are all working towards the same goals.

Here at the MOM Pop Up, at Manhattan College in the Bronx, we have installed an exhibit in the lobby of the O’Malley Library. The exhibit is in collaboration with the LWGRC promoting Women’s Week, April 1-6th on campus. We are pleased to highlight just a few of the amazing American women who have helped pave the way for the rights, liberties, educational content, and social justice initiatives still relevant in our society today.

The installation will be onsite through April 4th and was coordinated through the Museum of Motherhood internship program. Please meet our newest intern Hannah Rome (in her own words).

Hannah Rome, Manhattan College Internship with the MOM Pop Up

My name is Hannah Rome and I was born in Northampton Massachusetts. I am the daughter of two wonderful mothers and the sister of two amazing sisters. Being from a small town in western Massachusetts, I had always to experience what it was like living in a big city. That is one of the reasons why I decided to attend Manhattan College

Right now, I am a current senior at Manhattan College majoring in Urban Studies and minoring in Sociology and Spanish. I decided to major in Urban Studies because of my interest in cities and people. I became a sociology minor because of the interesting course list offered at my college. Finally, I pursued a Spanish minor so that I could study abroad in Spain during the Spring semester of my junior year.

During my past four years as a student at Manhattan College, I have earned membership into two honors societies. First, I am a member of Epsilon Sigma Pi which is considered to be the highest scholastic honor that can be earned by a Manhattan College student. Second, I am one of the very first two inductees into Upsilon Sigma which is the Urban Studies honors society.

Alongside my academics, I have worked as a student coordinator at the Manhattan College Multicultural Center since my sophomore year of college. I coordinate a number of events such as HerStory, which is a panel discussion composed of women of color in the arts. I also coordinate a week-long leadership summit for undergraduate students to learn about New York City governance.

About Internships with M.O.M.: Each year the Museum of Motherhood (MOM) welcomes interns from a variety of disciplines. Each internship seeks to balance individual goals and needs with those of the museums’. Study labs, online courses, individual projects, visual displays, research, and guest docent opportunities are just a few of the ways MOM has worked with university and graduate students since 2011. Onsite and remote internships are available for the academic year. Write Director, M. Joy Rose: Museum of Motherhood; online, the MOM Pop-Up at Manhattan College in partnership with the LWGRC, and the MOM Art Annex 538 28th St. N. St. Petersburg: info@mommuseum.org, or to find out more about internships, follow this link.

Also, please see the latest media content featured in the Quadrangle Paper about bringing Mother Studies to the Manhattan College Campus with Professor Martha Joy Rose and the Sociology Department. Click on the photo to read the full story: