Tag: The Factory st pete

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 Birth Blog breastfeeding Caregiving Conferences Dads Education Events Featured health History International JourMS MaMaPaLooZa MOM Conference Mother Studies motherhood

Health, Wellness & Black Maternal Health Week at MoM

Post author By MOM
Post date April 2, 2025

We finished an awesome month of Women’s Herstory activities in March, culminating with the 20th Anniversary MoM Conference (supported by USF) and the MoM Art Auction in partnership (with OXH Gallery).

Our impact over the course of five days was 200 + American and international guests that began with a tour with Girls Rock on Thursday, March 13th at MoM and ended with the MoM Art Auction on March 18th in Tampa.

MoM Art Auction

The Auction remains LIVE through April. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PROMOTE: People can ‘buy now‘ or bid’ as the fundraising continues.

*Thanks to everyone who helped, attended, contributed, and supported. Thanks to our various, hard-working committees. We appreciate our partners and contributing artists especially.

MoM Art Auction in partnership with OXH Gallery

St Pete is continually impressed with our dynamic team. Everywhere I go now, I hear the same thing: “What an amazing team MoM has.” TRUTH!

Congrats are in order for two highly successful networking events organized by Mary Havlock with Hypatia Collective and Working Women Tampa Bay, and attendance at Nerd Nite promoting MoM’s Escape Womb Experience. Meet Mary at monthly play dates. See our Events Page.

Kudos to Sierra for her March Women’s Herstory Events celebrating local she-roes and for bringing CONA(Council of Neighborhood Associations) to the space on March 25th from 6-8PM. Sierra is up to great things in April, kicking off April 8th with an evening of financial awareness for kids and families. Flyer is on the events page and below.

Sierra Clark hosts Health, Wellness and Education workshops at MoM as our Community Empowerment Facilitator

April also brings Black Maternal Health Awareness Week. MoM will host an event organized by USF that involves our Health, Wellness and Education committee members: doula Courtney West as well as award-winning photographer Sara Hunter on exhibit at MoM April 10th 5-8PM with a DJ and refreshments.

Sara Hunter, award-winning photographer on display at MoM

Thanks to Amanda Bartles for her lactation groups on Sundays at noon. We are hoping to replace this activity while Amanda goes on maternity leave. Yay, Amanda!

Barbara Lynch continues to network on our behalf and leveraged another encounter with 16th St Farms for a collaboration while also bringing a book club to MoM.

A University of Tampa Senior, Mary-Margaret Russo has approached us about doing a short documentary on MoM with filming taking place in April. We hope to film all April events culminating with MaMaPaLooZa on Sunday May 4th!

MaMaPaLooZa is Sunday, May 4th in partnership with FloridaRAMA.

We welcome returning sponsor BayFirst Bank.

We still need more volunteers onsite at MoM and we need a bigger board. Cast your nets. We will be focused on a board-building event leveraging the contacts we amassed for the art auction. This will be held in June. Think who you might want to invite or if you wanna join!

A renowned artist from NYC- Raisa Nosova (who contributed to the MoM Art Auction) has asked The Factory owners if she can paint a mural for MoM. The owners said YES – now we are figuring out timing! See her gorgeous design here.

The Journal of Mother Studies (JourMS) is open for submissions through May 31. Submit Now!

Currently we have rent paid through August when our lease is up!! This is a HUGE accomplishment. Thank you to all our contributors!

If we could miraculously raise $15k towards next year’s rent in the next 3 months, we will renew the lease for 2026.

Also, I am so grateful for being presented with the ‘Joy Award’ for 20 years of MoM Conference organizing. Thank you Courtney, Brittany and Meagan! This will be my last time leading the conference planning.

From left to right: Beth Charles, Brittany DeNucci, Barbara Lynch, Meagan Welch, Martha Joy Rose, Courtney Kessel

I thankfully gave my notice so that a new team can RISE and is empowered for next year’s academic and arts conference. I will stay on as an advisor only. New Team: Brittany DeNucci, Meagan Welch (also serving as editor to JourMS), Jill M. Wood, Beth Charles, Sonia Meerai, & Batya Weinbaum, Courtney Kessel with Michelle Hughes Miller, Aurelie Athan and myself in advisory roles and Hannah Brockbank advising on the Journal of Mother Studies (JourMS).

Health Wellness and Education at the Museum of Motherhood

April 8 (Tuesday 6-7:30PM

EVENT DETAILS: April observation of financial literacy SHEENA QUALLES Founder/CEO/owner at Kidzonomics LLC “Stacks & Future Facts”.

A budgeting workshop that frames financial literacy as a game plan for future success. Helps young people see money as a tool for building the life they want rather than something just for spending.

Kidzonomics mission- cultivating children, understanding of money management to strengthen their financial wellness as adults for program coordinators. Organized by Sierra Clark, Community Empowerment Coordinator. Questions call: 877-711-MOMS (6667)

Thursday, April 10th, 2025

Raising awareness and advocacy for the improvement of maternal health outcomes for Black women, their infants, and families—not just in Tampa Bay, but throughout Florida. We have a fun and informative week of events planned, starting with our Photography Exhibit and Showcase Kick-off Event at the Museum of Motherhood in St. Petersburg, FL, with USF.

Organized by Courtney West, facilitated by Sierra Clark featuring the award-winning birth photography of Sara Hunter.

#BMHWofTampaBay2025

Skills Drill with the Rainbow Midwife and Escape Womb Visit

April 18 5-7PM Sills and Drills with The Rainbow Midwife. The Skills and Drills for birth workers and the people who love them with a tour of the Escape Womb after.

You Must Pre-Register: Call 877-711-MOMS (6667) and leave a message.

May 4th, 10-4PM at The Factory in St Pete

MAMAPALOOZA St. Petersburg 2025 offers a diverse lineup of activities and entertainment for attendees of all ages. Highlights of the event include:

Interactive art installations celebrating the creativity and resilience of mothers with a marketplace featuring local vendors offering handmade crafts, jewelry, and other unique items. Join us as we come together to celebrate the strength, love, and resilience of mothers everywhere. MAMAPALOOZA is a day to honor the past, embrace the present, and envision a brighter future for all families.

CONFIRMED BANDS WITH GIRLS ROCK, ST PETE: Hex Appeal & Anarkitty along with The Rum Syndicate!

Tags Annual academic mom conference, art of motherhood, family, Florida museums, health, journal of mother studies, mamapalooza, Martha Joy Rose, Mother Studies, Motherhood Studies, museum of motherhood, Odeta Xheka, procreate project, st petersburg, The Factory st pete, Women's History Month, womens museums

AEHK Art Featured

Hurricane Recovery Successes & Losses: Moving Forward with MoM

Post author By MOM
Post date October 17, 2024

Bent But Not Broken

Thank you for your patience & support as we go through one of the most challenging times we have faced as a team – and as the Museum of Motherhood organization.

We made it out of the hurricane but exist in a community full of obstacles.

Many of our board members, family members, and community members have extensive damage to their homes & jobs. Some homes & lives are lost forever.

While Tampa Bay limps back to basic necessities like water, electricity, and debris removal, our non-profit’s programming & access have been impacted.

Our Report

The MoM Art Auction in collaboration with OXH Gallery has been postponed until the spring with a new date TBD. We will update information here as we have it.

Its not just us – our sponsors are struggling with their own infrastructure while MoM’s promotions and organization of the 25th Annual Academic Conference announcements have been delayed.

We are still setting up our new space in the face of extreme weather.

When Will We Focus On The Ethics of Well-Bring ?

WHAT CAN WE DO?

World focus needs to shift towards sustainability & longer term solutions.

Access, support, and fiscal stability for mothers, families & caregivers in the U.S. is an ongoing social epidemic which must be confronted.

Locally, ‘Give or Get’ is open for donations during MoM’s regular hours:

-Thursday-Sat 12-6PM

-Sunday 12-3PM

Visit our new location: 2606 Fairfield Ave. S Gallery Row: Building 7 Door B

Donation box inside. Child-friendly. Free play.

At MoM We Persist.

We continue because our mission is bigger than the moment.

The Museum of Motherhood team has come together in unprecedented ways. Even as this message reaches you, we are busy building back better ways to reach those in need, those who aspire, and those who are devoted to making the world a brighter, smarter, and more generous place.

BE THE LIGHT (WHEN YOU CAN):

May the peace that surpasses all understanding find you wherever you are.

I continue to embody JOY!

We are with YOU

(Martha JOY Rose)

FB I Insta @museumofmotherhood

The Museum of Motherhood is the first and only exhibition & education center devoted to the art, science, and herstory of women, m/others, and families. We are invested in countering narratives that have kept women less visible. We keep abreast of changing birth technologies and give voice to a mom-made art movement through our actions.

#sustainability

Tags floridarama, Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton, Hurricane Recovery, mom, MoM Art Auction, MOM museum, Mother Studies, Mothers are making art, museum of motherhood, OXH Gallery, St Petersburg FL, Tampa Bay Family Activities, The Factory st pete

Featured

Making HERstory w/MoM in Tampa Bay, Journal is Live & Other Extraordinary Strivings

Post author By MOM
Post date September 18, 2024

MoM Art Auction

Four countries, 17 cities and 100% Mother-made art from multiple perspectives in partnership with OXH Gallery at The Spiral Staircase (a new gathering place of m/others): MoM is making HERstory once again!

The MoM Executive Board is pleased to present the 2nd MoM Art Auction, taking place Oct 22, 2024 from 6-8pm. Special invite registration only for this not-to-be-missed event.

If you have not received your email invitation, please reach out to team member Mary@MOMmuseum.org. Registration and auction preview: https://auctria.events/momartauction

Original art works by a curated mix of established, mid’ career and emerging artists will be auctioned at an exclusive catered event to raise funds to support the mission of the Museum of Motherhood to be followed with an exhibition at OXH Gallery co-curated by Courtney Kessel, Assistant Director of Experimental Design, COFA Scripps, University College and OXH Gallery founder/director Odeta Xheka. This pioneering party elevating the art of m/otherhood would not be possible without fundraising champion Mary Havlock of Little House non-profit.

Join this exciting opportunity to partner and participate with a visionary museum and leader in the field of Motherhood and Mother Studies. MoM collects, preserves, and disseminates Mother Made Art with a passion for the cultural, social, and historical issues and experiences that affect women, inclusive of all reproductive identities. This call to action to elucidate the art, science, and herstory of women, mothers, and families is at the forefront of the Museum’s mission and vision. More HERE.

MoM Is Moving

MoM is moving: Same street, different space, St Pete – in The Factory. MoM is excited to announce this move in response to the recent sale of The Factory to developers. “We aim for a soft opening with new murals being unveiled in an open, child-friendly area by Oct. 1, 2024 next to Florida Wildlife Corridor in Gallery Row,” says museum founder Martha Joy Rose. “We’ll be proximal to Leroy King of Art and in the new artist area adjacent to FloridRama.” Our last day in our current location will be Saturday, Sept 21, 2024 from 12-6PM: FREE MUSEUM DAY St Pete!

Visitors will be free to roam, interact with the murals, watch the videos on display, and lounge in the space whenever the Gallery doors are open to the public. “We’re still figuring out our new MoM hours,” says team member and community organizer Sierra Clark, “but the idea is that the space can be utilized for inspiration and and relaxation whether we are staffed or not.”

MoM’s newest feature will be it’s carefully designed ‘Escape Womb‘ experience. An obvious play on words, the Escape Womb highlights fun facts about conception, gestation and birth. The experience is a first of it’s kind and has been designed with teamwork in mind. Scholar and educator Jill Wood, Penn State U., has been pivotal in terms of the academic content, while MoM’s longtime curator, Rose has put her personal touches on the red room, adding “This summer, the MoM team visited Great Explorations Escape Room in St Pete for inspiration.” “Everyone had such a great time,” MoM executive board member and local mortgage broker Deanna Barcelona gushed. “We think this is going to be an incredible way for people to learn a lot of important stuff in a totally cool environment,” agreed board secretary and writer Barbara Lynch.

The escape womb will open on November 1st with advance tickets going on sale October 23. Prices for visitors are still being discussed. “We want to make it affordable to everyone but encourage an ongoing funding stream for our non-profit to thrive,” says Rose. “Excitement is at an all time high.” The room will be available for private bookings as well. Sneak Peek.

Journal of Mother Studies is Published

The Journal of Mother Studies is LIVE online! Shout out to each contributor for their brilliance, talents and labor – with a special shout out to Lead Editor, Meagan Welch for this year’s awesome publication.

So many people contributed to the 2024 Conference and then many of those individuals stuck with us over the last few months to organize the 2024 journal.

Art for all is a short video clip highlighting some of the creativity that was on display in March. Artists Courtney Kessel ‘Fabric of Life, Martha Joy Rose, Museum of Motherhood welcome, Vanessa Marr; Tokens of Resistance/A Mothers Work is Never Done, Madison Hendry; Womb Project, Judy Lyons Schneider & Alice Harrison (the Bag Ladies) intergenerational conversation, Christine Carrig; Proudly Shamed in the USA – Art Installation w/ invitation for community collaboration, Emily Fitzgerald and Molly Sherman; The People’s Republic for Reproductive Empathy Workshop, Batya Weinbaum paintings, Alicia Campos Massó arts, Vanessa Hansen; n You Are Not Alone, and Victoria Bailey spoken word as well as Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart Flower of the Womb works were all on display, with installation assist from Liliana Beltran.

The academic presentations were thoughtful, provocative and as always thoroughly fascinating. Those who submitted papers are represented the journal.

Congrats to Christine Carrig for the Journal Cover Photo from her installation “Proudly Shamed in the USA”. The schedule of conference presentations are archived online, and links to the videos of presentations can be accessed from the same page. JourMS 2024: LINK TO THE ’24 JOURNAL.

Mother Studies

CFP 2025: 25th Annual Conference! Fun, Sex and Crying Out Loud: This international call for papers invites artists, scholars, poets, sociologists, maternal psychologists, philosophers, anthropologists, women’s, sexuality, and gender studies professors, masculinity studies experts, birth-workers, doctors, researchers, students, and lay-people to share their work and tie it to this year’s theme. Works that are inclusive of all identities of birthing folx are encouraged.

Pls circulate widely & SHOUT IT! Deadline to submit Dec. 15th. LINK TO CFP

RECENT PUBLICATIONS: The Mother Wave from Demeter Press: Theorizing, Enacting and Representing Matricentric Feminism. Matricentric feminism seeks to make motherhood the business of feminism by positioning mothers’ needs and concerns as the starting point for a theory and politic on and for the empowerment of women as mothers. Based on the conviction that mothering is a verb, it understands that becoming and being a mother is not limited to biological mothers or cisgender women but rather to anyone who does the work of mothering as a central part of their life. The mother wave of matricentric feminism invites conversations with others and offers a praxis of feminism that aims to coexist, overlap, and intersect with others. Edited by Andrea O/Reilly and Fiona Joy Green. Read Martha Joy Rose’s chapter here too: ORDER HERE

Tags Alicia Campos Massó arts, and Victoria Bailey Ayakoh Furukawa-Leonart Flower of the Womb, Annual MoM Academic and Arts Conference, Batya Weinbaum paintings, Christine Carrig; Proudly Shamed in the USA – Art Installation w/ invitation for community collaboration, Courtney Kessel ‘Fabric of Life, Demeter press, Emily Fitzgerald and Molly Sherman; The People's Republic for Reproductive Empathy Workshop, Escape Womb, Florida Wildlife Corridor, Fun, Fun Sex and crying out loud, JourMS, journal of mother studies, Judy Lyons Schneider & Alice Harrison (the Bag Ladies) intergenerational conversation, little house non profit, Lucky Leroy, Madison Hendry; Womb Project, Martha Joy Rose, mary havlock, Matricentric feminism, MoM Art Auction, MOM museum, Mother Studies, Mothers are making art, museum of motherhood, Museum of Motherhood welcome, Odeta Xheka, OXH Gallery, The Factory st pete, The Mother Wave, The Spiral Staircase Tampa, Vanessa Hansen; n You Are Not Alone, Vanessa Marr; Tokens of Resistance/A Mothers Work is Never Done

Activism Art Birth Blog breastfeeding Conferences Education Featured Featured Artists Feminism Fl Fundraiser health History International Internships Media MOM Art Annex MOM Conference Mother Studies motherhood Queering Parenting Social Justice st petersburg The Factory, St Pete

Strong Moms & Grandmothers Are the New Superheroes!

Post author By MOM
Post date August 22, 2024

When the headline “Strong Moms & Grandmothers Are the New Superheroes” crossed my desk recently from a prominent media outlet – I thought, “Yes, we ARE.”

There is a certain sense of achievement in some communities today. While we still have a long and challenging way to go in terms of women’s progress, many are celebrating the voice and strength of women on the national stage this week.

We cannot ignore the palpable excitement streaming through the airwaves as women, grandmothers, and women-of-color raise their allied voices. We cannot ignore that access to healthcare, safe birth, and children’s well-being is forefront on our minds. We cannot ignore our herstory or deny the anniversary of the ratification of women’s right to vote celebrated at the beginning of this week, Sunday, August 18th, representing 104 years of hard won American success.

Know Your HerStory

Wanna know more about world events in the context of the Suffragette movement and progress towards women’s right to vote in the USA? There are so many ways to learn more. Make a field trip to the home of the first Convention Days where Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and others argued for women’s equality in Seneca Falls, NY. Or, head to NYC where the musical SUFFS is on Broadway for an extended run. If you can’t get to New York, you can still watch the more serious accounting of the movement in England online with the movie Suffragette (2025) or the depiction of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns who risked their lives for freedom in Iron Jawed Angels (2004) online. Women’s voices are everywhere. Or you can visit the Museum of Motherhood in St. Petersburg, FL and learn more about activist Sojourner Truth and the journey towards justice as well as the four waves of women’s activism in the maternal sphere.

Celebrating MoM’s Successes

Last week also represents an incredible month of successes for the Museum of Motherhood with our active team of volunteers, including Sierra Clark, Barbara Lynch, and Mary Havlock. These achievers demonstrated a whole lotta grit and hard work securing three grants that demonstrate MoM’s success in our local community.

We are beyond pleased to announce the Foundation for a Healthy St. Pete and Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital recognized the Museum of Motherhood as a partner through their new Catalytic Capacity-Building Grant with funding for $10,000. We are so incredibly proud! Thank you Sierra Clark for your hard work on this.

We are also pleased to announce a 1k award from the St. Pete Arts Alliance with Barbara Lynch & Hypatia Collaborative for bookkeeping and IT (in-kind services) with champion Mary Havlock

Is Mother Made Art the “Last Taboo?”

The New York Times headline August 16th 2024 stated that “Camille Henrot has filled a gap in the canon by investigating the labor of motherhood.” The article discusses this ‘new’ art form of art made by women who are mothers and how not much has been done in this arena. The author of the article, Sasha Weiss, goes on to state that Henrot “scoured books and the internet for images of breast-pumping” and that “because [motherhood] is still stigmatized in visual art [she] resists characterizing work as being about motherhood.”

At this point in the article I wish very much that the artist had accessed the work of Jess Dobkin‘s lactation station (2006) or Sarah Irvine’s Infant Feeding Log, the student researched exhibit online at the Museum of Motherhood depicting the work of artists representing themselves breastfeeding, or even the photographic work of Renee Cox, Yo Mama (1992–94) who “decided I’m going to give you pregnancy in your face and found inspiration there.” My point being, that the art of motherhood is a developing field established and thriving over last thirty years.

When the author perpetuated the interviewed artist’s statement that she had “stumbled into a gap in art history… and that while there’s no shortage of representations of mothers with children, Henrot could find few of mothers on their own,” I moaned. Not from happiness but from despair.

My question to Sasha Weiss (and to Camille Henrot), is – How do we stop perpetuating the invisibility of the art made by mothers about motherhood by refusing to notice, research, and share the great body of work that currently exists all around the world? Every time an new article, exhibit, or piece of literature is published that refuses -or is oblivious to- the great accomplishments of literally hundreds (if not thousands) of women at this point in herstory, the patriarchal stereotype that legitimate art is only exhibited in specific types of galleries and museums is perpetuated.

The Museum of Motherhood (USA) has been devoted to art about art made by women about their reproductive experience and labor since 2003. Other organizations include: Procreate Project (England), Spilt Milk Gallery (Scotland), Artist Parent Network (USA), A.M.M.A.A. Archive for Mapping Mother Artists in Asia, and multiple artist residencies that support, collaborate and share the art made by mothers about their identity, experiences, and labor. I hope somehow we might shift this narrative together, starting NOW.

~Martha Joy Rose, Founder, Director MoM

Call For Submissions

The Art Exhibition and Auction of October 2024. Read more about submitting art here (by August 31) for this auction and exhibition sponsored by OXH Gallery with Committee Chair Odeta Xheka and organized by MoM’s Executive Board members Courtney Kessel, Deanna Barcelona, Barbara Lynch and Anna Lieggi. [LINK]

25th Anniversary MoM Annual Arts & Academic Conference CFP is LIVE! The Conference is being organized under the leadership of Brittany DeNucci and our Academic and Conference committee. The Museum of Motherhood is calling all scholars, artists, and community members for presentations and papers on the subject of ‘Fun, Sex, & Crying Out Loud’. [LINK]

New Internships

Welcome Kayla Foster, woman, mother, student. Her project will include archival research, ethnographic interviews, and collaboration efforts with the University of Oklahoma and the Museum of Motherhood to identify the cultural postpartum practices and traditions of Hispanic mothers in the Southwestern United States. The research will be multigenerational resulting in a final research paper focused on her findings and discuss the importance placed on traditional postpartum practices.

You may remember Whetley Earnest who came to us at the beginning of the summer as a local high school junior, interested in pre-med. Whetley is still with us, volunteering at MoM and we couldn’t be prouder! Here she is pictured with friend and ally Lucky Leroy who is currently featured in a solo exhibit at The Factory in St. Pete in partnership with FloridaRama. Leroy is our local ‘King of Art’ and his exhibit titled Florida Famous is up through August in the gallery next to the Museum of Motherhood. Come visit – You will love it!

Hold the Date

Experience some of St. Pete’s most popular museums during Arts Alive! Free Museum Day on Saturday, September 21, 2024. Select St. Pete museums will waive admission fees to allow the community to experience some of the fine art that makes St. Pete a premier arts destination. Arts Alive! Free Museum Day is produced by the City of St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, and participating cultural organizations based on the currently paused National Smithsonian’s Free Museum Day. [LINK]

We will be moving to gallery row. But, not yet! We are awaiting word from our new landlords about the projected move date, but right now, it looks as if we will remain in our current location across from FloridaRama and DaddyCool until at least mid-September. We’ll keep you posted on progress for sure!

*M/other (noun): is a self-identified individual who is relationally connected through pregnancy, birth, surrogacy, genetics, care-work, and/or adoption. Historically female; they are one who divides (time, labor, emotion, and/or genetic material) and are paradoxically increased by the experience. Best explained by the equation: me + other (m/other) a mother is one who is connected, or disconnected, to another, genetically through procreative activity or linked through identity, care-work, and/or association. This special relational status incorporates the phenomenon that motherhood is otherhood, which is its most fundamental principle. While gender identity has gone through multiple identity shifts in recent years – and MoM is super supportive of all folx.

Mother-made art recognizes the works and endeavors of those making fine and performing arts who are mothers and those whose work is impacted by, or is focused on, experiences of pregnancy, birth, care-work, fertility, loss, adoption, fostering, surrogocy, and m/otherhood inclusive of all reproductive identities. This includes artistic interpretations highlighting the lifespan of makers of maternal experience, action, matrescence, and embodiment, within personal and relationally organized emotions, biologies, technologies, and behaviors. [LINK]

Tags A.M.M.A.A. Archive, and children's well-being is forefront on our minds. We cannot ignore our history or deny the anniversary of the ratification of women's right to vote celebrated at the beginning of this week, and women-of-color raise their allied voices. We cannot ignore that access to healthcare, Artist Parent Network, August 18th, barbara Lynch, breast-pumping, Brittany DeNucci, Camille Henrot, floridarama, Foundation for a Healthy St. Pete, Fun, Fun Sex Crying Out Loud, grandmothers, Infant Feeding Log, Is Mother Made Art the "Last Taboo, Jess Dobkin, Kayla Foster, Lucky Leroy, Martha Joy Rose, mary havlock, MoM Art Auction, Moms Escape Womb, Mothers are making art, museum of motherhood, Odeta Xheka, Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, OXH Gallery, procreate project, Renee Cox, representing 104 years of hard won American success., safe birth, Sarah Irvine, Sasha Weiss, sierra clark, St Petersburg Arts Alliance, Suffragette, The Factory st pete, Yo Mama

Activism Art breastfeeding Caregiving Classes Education Featured Featured Artists Feminism health MOM Art Annex MOM Conference motherhood Queering Parenting The Factory, St Pete USF

MoM Knows How To Have Fun!

Post author By MOM
Post date August 6, 2024

ANNOUNCING EVENTS – PROGRESS – RHYTHMS at MoM in August and Beyond.

Our team sure knows how to have fun. Last week we did a little research in St. Pete. We explored local escaper rooms for inspiration as our volunteers continue to design and plan for our future ‘Escape Womb Experience‘ – (Anticipated opening in October). We also celebrated the opening of friend and neighbor Lucky Leroy’s Florida Famous exhibit in the gallery at The Factory. The exhibit is up through August. Make sure to experience it when you visit MoM in August this summer.

Yes, to those who have been following the news that I’ve been having some health hiccups this summer. I am moving much better now as is evidenced in these pictures. Yay Team! I aim to continue with the healing process. Also, on a recovery note – if you’ve seen the weather reports, Hurricane Debby just came raging through Pinellas County, and thankfully we are okay here with only one event cancellation on Monday and our lactation event with Amanda Bartles on Wednesday, August 7th this week at 6PM, still happening! (Our hearts go out to anyone impacted by extreme weather everywhere). August is Breast Feeding Awareness Month: raising awareness about the challenges and rewards of chest feeding! Whichever direction you choose, MoM is here for you. We are in Florida – HOME OF THE ENDLESS SUMMER. It’s hot, hot, hot at the Museum of Motherhood where Christen Clifford’s INTERIORS: we’re all pink inside Exhibit is up all month along with a Womb of Our Own – Seeing RED and Molly Duffy’s Lil Dicki.

Joy, Leroy, Barbara, Tracey, Mary, Sierra, Deanna, Allen

You may have heard the news that The Factory property – where MoM is currently located was recently sold to investors. The transition has been a bit chaotic with no firm news of our future spot in Gallery Row and many of the artists are also up in the air. We anticipated moving at the beginning of September. Now it may be later in September and we’ll let you know as soon as we have any news. The arts make everything great, so I hope St. Pete can keep the cool vibe going with all the recent gentrification of the city.

Meanwhile, we persevere with all our committees are meeting regularly. We still need onsite volunteers. If you have 3 hours a week and are local to St Petersburg we are looking for responsible volunteers to spend time with us as a docent in a beautiful, warm, and inviting space, MoM needs you! Even if you are only available once or twice a month – Sign up on our volunteer form here. MoM is open for regular hours throughout August.

Lots and Lots of Love – Enjoy the end of your summer,

JOY (Martha Joy Rose, Founder, Director)

Here’s the rest of the GOOD NEWS report – Keep reading below:

MoM Art Auction for the Museum of Motherhood

An upcoming MoM Art Auction is planned for October in Tampa with chairperson and arts gallery owner Odeta Xheka and our entire Executive Board spearheading the event. The goal is to raise funds for MoM and build on our permanent collection. The submission announcement is live and open for artists to submit through August. We will have a great big bash and a post auction exhibition. Please spread the word! In collaboration with OXH Gallery.

Artist Submissions Mom Art Auction

MORE NEWS

The Journal of Mother Studies (JourMS) is in final edits with lead editor Meagan Welch.

Going into our 2024-25 season we have an operational Executive Board with newest board member Anna Lieggi. See our full board here and our updated Team Page.

MoM was awarded three grants last week! We can’t wait to announce all the details – but we can spill that one of them was with the Arts Alliance of St Pete for their Pitch Competition. Congrats Barbara Lynch for that team success on behalf of all of us!

25th Anniversary MoM Annual Arts & Academic Conference CFP is LIVE! The Conference is being organized under the leadership of Brittany DeNucci and our Academic and Conference committee. Thanks to all and Deanna Barcelona and Mary have visited USF and are actively seeking to coordinate conference space on campus in 2025. Artists, Scholars, Activists, SUBMIT NOW!

Thanks to New Community Partner/Sponsor, BayFirst Financial. Headquartered in St. Petersburg, BayFirst Financial offers personal and business banking services, including checking & savings accounts, loans, and more. MoM thanks BayFirst Financial.

Tags 25th Anniversary MoM Conference, Academic Submissions, Amanda Bartles, Anna Lieggi, Art Auction, barbara Lynch, Bayfirst Financial, breastfeeding awareness month, Brittany DeNucci, Call for Art, Call for Submissions, Christen Clifford, Courtney Kessel, Crying out loud, deanna barcellona, deanna barcelona, Endless Summer, escape womb experience, florida famous, floridarama, Fun, Fund, Good News, hurricane debby, Interiors, JourMS, journal of mother studies, Joy Rose, lactation, little house non profit, Lucky Leroy, Martha Joy Rose, mary havlock, maternal art, Meagan Welch, Molly Duff, MoM Art Auction, MoM Executive Board, mother made art, Odeta Xheka, Sex, sierra clark, St Pete Arts Alliance, The Factory st pete, tracey wiseman, We Build Tampa Bay, We're All Pink Inside

Art Blog breastfeeding Classes Conferences Eckerd Education Events Featured Featured Artists Feminism Fundraiser gender health International Internships JourMS Living Board Announcements MaMaPaLooZa MOM Art Annex MOM Conference Mother Studies motherhood

JOY Report: Updates, JourMS, WABA, Upcoming Events

Post author By MOM
Post date July 15, 2024

No summer slacking at MoM. We are in the planning stages for some exciting upcoming events:

First, the Joy Report: All hands on deck with MoM Operations running smoothly at The Factory in St. Pete. Visitor hours are: Thursday – Saturday 12-6 & Sunday 12-3PM. We are also open for special events or private bookings. Contact us if you are interested in organizing an event at MoM. Testimony from a visitor this week: “It’s unlike any other place. It’s a must see!”

We have PRIDE at MoM: Our June exhibits featuring Interiors: We are all pink inside by Christen Clifford is viewable onsite through August. So too, is Molly Duff-Clarke’s work, Lil’ Dicki- which has been acquired by the museum and is now part of our permanent collection.

Planning Stages for what will be our 2nd MoM Art Auction in October, 2024. We are very excited about this opportunity and our incredible partner (ta-da drumroll-announcement coming shortly). Our last one was 12 years ago in NYC. Did you know MoM’s permanent collection includes photo works that are also in the Tate Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, historic papers, and works by notable mother artists from around the world. Submissions for artists to participate are now open. Link to Call for Art.

The Journal of Mother Studies is in its editorial process with an online publication date of Sept. 1, 2024, thanks to all our awesome team members. JourMS.

The MoM Conference committee is actively planning next year’s 25th Annual Academic and Arts MoM Conference. Thanks to Committee Chair Brittany DeNucci & Team for doing a super stellar job organizing initiatives. The CFP is posted online here: Fun, Sex & Crying Out Loud, March 14-16, 2025. We are working on some of our community connections to make this year’s conference even more amazing than ever. Link to CFP.

Our Move from The Factory to Gallery Row is in the planning stages. Renderings for a vision of the new space are on our website here. We are waiting on the configuration of our next iteration of MoM. Our new grand opening will be after August 30th, on September 21st, which is free museum day in St. Pete.

Intern projects are ongoing: Social Media Calendar of posts by Xy with mentorship by Mary Noah, Collections data by Whetley with mentorship by Barbara Lynch, and Sex Ed classes by Eckerd Student Ariana are all in the works over the next 7 weeks.

Artist in Residence Laura Bissell, Scottish artist, author and scholar, is interviewing mother artists, exploring pregnancy loss for her book, working on a project on motherhood with Lucy Tyler, and begining a a book chapter called Adolescence and Matrescence: Seasons of the Witch for Demeter Press. The Matrescence Festival, being held in Exeter UK is a composition of expert speakers, vibrant discussion, deep feeling poetry and songs, art making, dancing, gathering to share, discuss and support this important subject, which Laura is attending and reporting from as part of her Remote Artist in Residency with MoM.

JOIN Sierra for Sierra Speaks each Tuesday LIVE at 5PM EST with playback available Wednesdays! Sierra uses custom built tools which she shares with you for love, success and well-being. Sierra Speaks empowerment through core values and acts of sharing.

Sierra Speaks is LIVE 2nd/4th Tues. JOIN HER LIVE 5PM (EST) on Tuesdays, then episodes are available by Wednesday for archival viewing. Monthly online YOUTUBE with SIERRA

YOU TUBE SIERRA SPEAKS

Amanda Bartles of Lactation Loop- Join us to socialize with other moms and families, meet local IBCLCs, & take advantage of on the spot breastfeeding education and lactation support.

August 5th at 10:30am & August 7th at 6pm with MoM. This year, the theme for National Breastfeeding Month is Nourish, Sustain, Thrive! At MoM we are pleased to host these two in-person events in collaboration with Amanda. Celebrate World Breastfeeding Week with.

Please register in advance using this LINK.

Contact INFO@MOMMUSEUM.org about Sponsor/Partnerships

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

Post author By MOM
Post date June 25, 2024

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:

We have secured our 2024-25 lease at The Factory moving from our current location to Gallery Row in September.
We will continue to operate in our current location through Labor Day in August.
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.
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
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,
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!

Tags Art Auction, Crying out loud, featured, Fun, Martha Joy Rose, MOM Conference 2025, MOM museum, Mother Studies, Mothers are making art, museum of motherhood, Museums, non profits, Sex, st petersburg florida, The Factory st pete, volunteerism, We Build Tampa Bay

Art Birth Education Featured Featured Artists Feminism gender health MOM Art Annex motherhood Queering Parenting Social Justice The Factory, St Pete

MoM PRIDE: Geography of a (Wo)MAN: summer plans, new exhibits, welcome interns & more…

Post author By MOM
Post date June 2, 2024

The Joy Report – HERE IS THE LATEST TEAM NEWS!

June is PRIDE Month. This Saturday, June 1st, a new exhibit titled ‘Geography of a (Wo)man‘ onsite at MoM, incorporating images from NYC artist Christen Clifford and her body of work titled Interiors; ‘We Are All Pink Inside‘ and Molly Duff-Clarke’s “Mr. Dicki” sculpture. This will be on view along with the “Womb of Our Own; Seeing Red thru August. *Thanks to St. Pete Month of Photography on the ‘Mother Lens’ Exhibit through the month of May – we loved having you!

Christen Clifford is a feminist performance artist, mother, curator and writer whose work has been seen at The Lewyn Allyn Museum of Art, The Newark Museum of Art, The New Museum, Project for Empty Space, Eva Presenhuber, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, PS122/solonova, The Culture Project, AUNTSisDance, Postmasters Gallery, Panoply Performance Lab, Grace Exhibition Space, ArtShareLA, Vox Populii as well as London, Budapest, and Slovenia (and more). Residencies include The Museum of Motherhood, Some Serious Business, and the Ragdale Foundation. She co-chaired (with Jasmine Wahi) Rape, Representation and Radicality for The Feminist Art Project, teaches at The New School and curates Experiments and Disorders at Dixon Place. She at work on her first film. Her limited edition risograph artbook BabyLove was acquired by the Thomas J Watson Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her studio is Project for Empty Space in Newark. She lives in Queens and online @cd_clifford

Molly A. Duff-Clarke is a ceramic artist living and working out of St. Petersburg Florida. Using clay, Molly constructs figures that challenge the viewer’s notion of body and humor. Through the introduction of materials, such as yarn, flocking, and velvet, Molly creates soft textures that oppose the hard nature of fired clay. Molly’s studio practice is a dance between her fine-tuned craft in ceramics, and the discovery of new processes and materials. This balance between old and new, seasoned knowledge and discovery, is what keeps Molly active in her studio. Molly received her MFA from the University of South Florida in 2023, where she was the recipient of the MFA Excellence Award. She received her MA from Maharishi University and has a BFA in printmaking and ceramics from Kendall College of Art and Design. We are pleased to include her piece Lil’ Dicki in our summer exhibit: Ceramic underglaze, yarn, steel56″ x 20″ x 17″ Website

About Embodiment: The Museum of Motherhood presents exhibits that contain depictions of human anatomy. This is done for the specific reason that we are of human born and that our bodies are the vehicles and vessels for human life as well as the fact that we are an embodied species. Body parts depicted at MoM through exhibitions, display models, art, film, books, and clay may include naked breasts, bellies, wombs, embryos, penises, and other reproductive anatomy. These are not intended to be gratuitously sexual in nature but rather educational, inspirational and provocative; specifically in the manner in which art may cause us to reflect and ponder at any arts-based or science-based museum. This disclaimer is in direct response to Florida’s Obscenity Laws. The Museum of Motherhood has no intention of harming or exposing museum workers or attendees to anything other than museum-quality information and art. Everyone enters MoM in full knowledge about the nature of our purpose which is to elucidate the art, science, and herstory of women, mothers and families inclusive of all reproductive identities.

MoM at The Factory: Perhaps you’ve heard? After much back and forth, The Factory building was SOLD last week. The good news: we will stay in our current location through August and then we will move to Building 7 & 8 in Gallery Row near Drew Marc, The Florida Wildlife Corridor, and The Factory Artists in September. We will keep you posted on progress, but in the meantime, our new space will be reconfigured for new presentations of MoM – to see our original exhibits- make sure to book your tour in June, July or August of this year! New digs/ new exhibits. Don’t miss this current incarnation! Read more about the sale here: St Pete Rising ….

We Build Tampa Bay Fundraiser: Studies show that giving to women and girls organizations represent 1.8 percent of charitable giving in the USA of the 8.8 billion dollar pie. Our ‘We Build Tampa Bay” fundraising initiative is ongoing. Our fundraiser yielded $4 k of the entire 100k goal for 2024-2025 with donations by Liz Dimmitt, Deborah & Hugh Gelch, Aleks Miziolek & Betty Schaub who now comprise the first wave of our founders circle. This is 4% of our goal – so we are doing well statistically speaking. We will re-configure this page a bit and continue to actively promote.

MoM All Over: Museum founder and director, Martha Joy Rose spoke about MoM at the Tampa Bay International Ladies lunch in May and this week an invitation arrived to speak at the St Pete Women’s Club in the fall. An Eckerd College music class toured MoM and Joy shared a chapter from her edited collection Music of Motherhood from Demeter Press (2018). Joy also spoke at NERD Night about new definitions of m/otherhood and is presenting at the IAMAS Conference at Boston U June 22 & 23. Her presentation “The Last American Housewife” will be published in the forthcoming book Mother Waves by Demeter Press. Pre-order here.

TEAM

We Thank Our Volunteers: MoM runs on volunteer power. Each of the humans represented in the photo here (and more) are integral to making our operations go around on a daily basis. Our team keeps growing. Are you interested in getting involved with this legacy -defining project? Sign Up here to get involved and tell us about yourself.

Internships: In June and over the summer, we welcome two high school interns, Whetley and Xi who will be onsite managing the space and working on two projects: archiving our current exhibition and social media. We are excited to welcome them to our team!

EVENTS

XY Unboxed: a workshop, a seminar with open dialogue featuring shared experiences, and offering genuine connection, next weekend’s gathering is aimed at fostering interconnectedness. A transformative event dedicated to unraveling the complexities of masculinity and nurturing the original man. In today’s gender-evolving world, men, especially minority men, face unique challenges that require our attention and support. By addressing these challenges head-on, we can foster a more diverse and equitable society where all individuals can thrive. LINK TO REGISTER

Art Birth breastfeeding Caregiving Classes Conferences Education Events Featured Featured Artists Feminism gender health History home Media MOM Conference motherhood The Factory, St Pete

Directions, Schedule, Team & MoM Conference 2024

Post author By MOM
Post date March 21, 2024

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

MORNING MEETUP

Each day of the conference we will plan on meeting first thing in the morning at 9AM at MoM. Then, we will walk over to Heiress Gallery for the events of the day. If you are coming to MoM by car GO THIS WAY: Take 28th St. South of Central. Left on Fairfield Ave. South to parking lot on left and multicolored sidewalk on right. Walk through door 2606. MoM is across the hallway and up the stairs from Fairgrounds St. Pete and DaddyKool Records. If you are arriving after 9:30 AM follow the directions below (except for Saturday midday crochet event)

DIRECTIONS TO HEIRESS GALLERY

Heiress Gallery by car: 28th St. South of Central. Left on the entrance PAST Fairfield Ave. South which leads BEHIND the Fairgrounds St. Pete to the BACK OF THE BUILDING. Follow all the way to the end. Heiress Gallery is up the stairs on the left at the back of building 7/8.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

CONFERENCE IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC VIA ZOOM & IN PERSON. You must register for the password for the Zoom Link by writing INFO@MOMmuseum.org

DONATIONS

Help MoM thrive and cover the costs of this conference by making a generous donation here or CashApp museumofmotherhood@gmail.com. Thank YOU!

Threads of Connection: Mother (and other) blame, shame and pain, with a focus on resistance and healing. Blame and shame can be self-imposed or projected by dominant social narratives that hyper-focus on the performative nature of m/otherhood as reinforced by unrealistic hegemonic constructions. This can be true for adult children reviewing familial relationships and the world writ large as well.

We encourage presenters to unpack the sociocultural domain of mother (and other) blame and the psychological, personal, professional, and media environment within which this topic is situated. Who is harmed by blame, and whom does it serve? How are oppressive systems reinforced or even sustained? How can we resist or dismantle these systems in large and small ways? What forms of resistance, peace-making, and healing can help improve our relationships?

FRIDAY	MARCH 22	MIXED ZOOM & IN-PERSON PRESENTATIONS
9:30 AM	Coffee at MoM	We gather to walk over to Heiress Gallery
10:00 AM	Martha JOY Rose	Why we’re here: Intro – suggestions, ground rules, intro Brittany DeNucci & Courtney Kessel Build
10:30 AM	Chelsea Robinson	Smash the Mom Rage -The power of a Smash Room in supporting mothers in feeling into their anger. (Zoom)
11:00 AM	Avery Delany	How Empathy is our greatest tool to deconstruct the institution of normative motherhood and intervene with “bad” and “monstrous” mothering (Zoom)
11:30 AM	Blessing Gbemisola Ogunyemi	Matricentric Feminism and the Liberating Power of Unmasking Motherhood: Unknotting Maternal Grief and Shame in Yewande Omotoso’s An Unusual Grief (Zoom)
12:00 PM	Fly Jamerson	Resisting Mother-Villain Narratives in Performance and Media through Adaptation Conference Themes and Topics (Zoom)
12:30 PM	Mariana Della Barba	How news coverage on ‘maternal burnout’ exacerbates the unrealistic perception of motherhood and leaves mothers feeling even more guilty, exhausted and sick (Zoom)
1:00 PM	LUNCH (onsite)
2:00 PM	Agnes Howard	Echoes of the Primal Scream: American Motherhood during COVID (Zoom)
2:30 PM	Emma Tam	Defining Daughterhood (Zoom)
3:00 PM	Victoria Trinko, Julia Sarewitz & Aurelie Athan	Applied Matrescence: A Paradigm Shift in Postpartum Care (Zoom)
3:30 PM	Sonia Meerai	Navigating maternal regret in the context of infertility: Intersectional and intergenerational
4:00 PM	Miranda J. Brady	Munchausen by Proxy: On a cultural fascination with selfish motherhood
4:30 PM	Mariona Visa	Revising the castrating mother figure from Psycho to Bates Motel.
5:00 PM	Merle Bombardieri	“Should I have another Child?”
5:30 PM	Vanessa Hansen	You Are Not Alone
6-7:00 PM	Vanessa Marr	Tokens of Resistance/A Mothers Work is Never Done: Embroidery Circle EVENTBRITE REGISTRATION FREE
Dinner	On Your Own
SATURDAY	March 23	IN-PERSON PRESENTATIONS ONLY (Viewable on Zoom)
9:00 AM	Coffee at MoM
9:30 AM	Amalie Vacanti	Shout Your Abortion: Signs of Change: The Impact of Billboards on the I-55 Abortion Access Route
10:00 AM	Alicia Delima	Recognizing Mother Work and Sex Work as Work under Neoliberalism
10:30 AM	Jill M. Wood	Birth(ing) Justice: Using a Birth Plan Undergraduate Writing Assignment as a Feminist Pedagogical Tool
11:00 AM	Ieva Bisigirskaitė	Challenging ‘Safe’ Birth: A Feminist Perspective on Maternal Activism in Lithuania
11:30-12:30 PM	Madison Hendry, Bag Ladies, etc. Mother Tree – crochet circle	The Womb Project; threads of connection and the roots of the Mother Tree crochet collaboration with Judy Lyons Schneider & Alice Harrison (the Bag Ladies) intergenerational conversation
12:30-1:30	LUNCH at MoM
1:30 PM	Keynote: Courtney Kessel	From witches to the weather, from maternalism to manifesto, from Talking Heads to tarot, this interactive performance lecture will wind, warp, and weave, tracing the umbilical through generations of feminist art, writing, and theory.
2:00 PM	Christine Carrig	Proudly Shamed in the USA – Art Installation w/ invitation for community collaboration
2:30 PM	Lakshmi Seshadri	Mindful Motherhood Meditation
3:00 PM	Cyntoria Meaderds	Being The Mother You Are Told to Be: a Qualitative Analysis on Mothers In Recovery
3:30 PM	Megan Welch	Othering the Mother : An In-depth Psychological Exploration of Mothering through an Ecofeminist Lens
4:00 PM	Elizabeth Charles	Thirdspace Feminist Practices for Embodying Motherhood in Academia
4:30 PM	Meredith Gringle, Amber Welborn, Tracy Nichols	“…you know, bad news travels fast”: A narrative case study of caring for mothers and infants experiencing substance exposed pregnancy (Zoom)
5:00 PM	Nathalia Martinez-Baca	Mamá; My grandmother, eight children, and Mexican healthcare outcomes
5:30-6:00	PIZZA ONSITE
6:00-7:30 PM	Emily Fitzgerald and Molly Sherman	The People’s Clinic for Reproductive Empathy
SUNDAY	MARCH 24	MIXED ZOOM & IN-PERSON PRESENTATIONS
9:30 AM	Coffee at MoM
10:00 AM	Victoria Bailey	All The Ways, Always–An Ode to Mother Blame (Zoom)
10:30 AM	Loïs van Albada	Nightbitch, the Bad Mother, and the Monstrous-Maternal
11:00 AM	Heather E. Dillaway	I Did Not Plan on This: Abrupt Shifts in Motherhood
11:30 AM	Batya Weinbaum	MOTHER: Shame Blame and Pain; the Impact of Resistance and Healing
12:00 PM	Freshta Ahmadzai	Decolonizing Mothering and Care; Labour mama was skilled, her labour had value & she was a trying m(other) (Zoom)
12:30 PM	Sushree Routray	Whispers of Rebellion: Matricentric Feminist Insights into Maternal Ambivalence in Contemporary Indian Fiction (Zoom)
1-2:00 PM	LUNCH ONSITE
2:00 PM	Frésange Maleka	Maternal Vaccine Hesitation and the HPV Vaccination: Exploring the Complex Interplay of Loss Aversion, Emotion-Laden Choices, and the Impact of Normative Motherhood (Zoom)
2:30 PM	Alicia Campos Massó	Women Cultural Agents and the Extermination of the Beguines, the Caring Mothers.
3:00 PM	Collin Xia	Black Motherhood and resistance in the Pre-Emancipation British Caribbean (Zoom)
3:30 PM	Sylvie Cote	A Matrifocal Reading: Monstrous Motherhood in Domenica Ruta’s Addiction Memoir With or Without You (2013) (Zoom)
4:00 PM	Closing Keynote: Andrea O’Reilly	Towards a Literary Theory and Criticism of Matricritics: Begin with the mother in her own right” to deliver “new meanings of motherhood and transform maternal thinking itself (Zoom)
5:00 PM	Group Closing & Dinner	In the Museum of Motherhood

*Paid registrants receive a discounted entry to the Fairgrounds St. Pete the weekend of the conference

Special thanks to Heiress Gallery for hosting the MoM Conference and associated exhibits March 16-31, 2024 and to Liliana Beltran for making the art exhibit happen!

Closings for a Cause: Founded by Deanna Barcelona to align her mortgage business with a passion for giving back to the community. Refer someone you know in need of a home loan solution to my team. Mention closings with a cause to benefit the Museum of Motherhood. At the closing table, we’ll make a commitment to present a check to MoM in YOUR name.

The Journal of Mother Studies (JourMS): peer-reviewed, international, interdisciplinary open-access, digital humanities hybrid project focused on the field of interdisciplinary study devoted to the issues, experiences, topics, history, and culture of m/others, mothering, and motherhood.

Tags Conference Directions MoM, Fairgrounds St Pete, Heiress Gallery, MoM conference 2024, st petersburg florida, The Factory st pete