International Women's Art Full Biographies and Descriptions
As you move through the exhibit, please review the full biographies of our artists, and the full descriptions of their submissions, below. You may use the hyperlink just below this to "jump" to the room that you would like to explore fuller.
Additionally, use the video playlist (below) for a full audio tour of the exhibit. This is helpful for those with visual impairments and those who wish to experience the exhibit with an audio tour.
Girlhood Studies (Room 1)
Body Image (Room 2)
Embodiment (Room 3)
Media Room (Room 4)
Library (Room 5)
Violence Against Women (Room 6A)
Violence Against Women (Room 6B)
Women and War (Room 7)
Women and Body, Women and Health (Room 8)
Violence Against Women (Room 9A)
Violence Against Women (Room 9B)
Embodiment (Room 10)
Intersections (Room 11)
Menstrual Health (Room 12)
Race and Ethnicity and Gender (Room 13)
LGBTQ+ Identity (Room 14)
Leadership and the Workplace (Room 15)
Protest (Room 16)
Say Her Name Exhibit (Room 17)
Baker Atrium
Chloe Mace (1A)
Biography: Chloe Mace is thirteen years old (fourteen in March 2019)! She loves art (obviously!). Her hobbies include reading, writing, and photography. Chloe is open-minded and enjoys helping others. She is a volunteer at Passion Works in Athens, Ohio.
“Embrace Your Imperfections” (9x12, pencil and watercolor)
When I look at it, and when I was making it, I was focused on working on making the eyes, and when I made a mistake, I realized I could turn a mistake into something just as beautiful as I had intended originally. People make mistakes, in life in general, and even though you make a mistake, it shouldn’t change everything else - sometimes your mistakes are a good thing. A mistake could lead you to meeting your best friend.
“Beautiful” (9x12, pencil)
I wanted to capture the image that even though someone has been through a lot, and could be considered “broken”, they are still just as beautiful as anyone else. They are beautiful no matter what has happened.
“Equality” (9x12, pencil)
No matter who you are or where you came from, you are worthy.
“Inspire” (9x12, pencil, watercolor, and pen)
I wanted to say that a lot of people think, if they are going through rough times, that it’s not worth it. But you can still be inspired and be inspired by what is around you - like colors and beauty. There is always something worth doing.
“Everybody Has a Voice” (9x12, pencil)
Description: Women may feel like their voice is taken from them by others, and they may be afraid to express what they are for fear of repercussions or judgment. Don’t let anyone prevent you from using your voice.
“Together but Divided” (9x12, pencil)
My granny inspired this one. It represents that even though people may be different, we can still stand together: as a group and in our voice.
“DON’T BE afraid to BE YOURSELF” (9x12, pencil, watercolor, and sharpie)
People are afraid to be themselves because they fear that some parts of themselves aren’t “good enough”. But you should be who you are. If you look closely, I added descriptors in the background, like “too tall”, “too skinny”, “LGBTQ”. People are afraid of being judged. I used the rainbow to show that you should embrace who you are and not worry what others think.
Meghan Titterington (1B)
Biography: Meghan Titterington is a free-drawing artist that appreciates charcoal illustrations as a way to express the issues revolved around social constructionism and gender roles in society.
This canvas drawing provides a visual representation of a young girl struggling to feel confident within the box she was socially constructed in because she identifies with unconventional ideologies that do not align with societal norms. At a young age, girls are taught to follow socially constructed expectations of women by their parents, peers and educators. Gender roles, gender socialization, and familial structures are just a few examples of society’s influence over a young girl’s mindset. This drawing of a young girl symbolizes the restrictions she is faced with due to apparel, and career expectations of women through society and the media. Her ideological bubble exemplifies the need for motivation amongst young girls to change the socially constructed norms by showing confidence in the way they deviate from society’s limitations.
Sierra Smith (1C)
Biography: Sierra Smith is a student at Ohio University.
I have centered my project on the idea that girls are influenced due to gender stereotypes from the time they are born, to the time they grow up and become adults. I focused on how people, magazines, our peers, and social media affect these warped perceptions of the reality of gender. To demonstrate this, I have created a road map, starting with the image of little girls at the beginning of the long road. On the road, there are sticks coming out of the road with an image on it. It will show the gradual different ways they will most likely be pressured to act, look, or feel certain ways.
Arianna Guerra (1D)
“Women in Media”
Biography: Arianna Guerra is a storyteller who uses art to share the silent struggle of the Black woman in America.
Media has not been a friend to women since it's origin. Women have been objectified, over sexualized, and portrayed as stereotypes in all forms of media. This problem often gets pushed aside, because women are not seen as worthy of accurate and equal representation. This video made by Arianna Guerra, an undergraduate student studying journalism, brings to light some of the problems women face when it comes to the media.
The portion of the exhibit is entitled "Women in Media", which displays the misrepresentation of women in media. This includes a video with stories of women being portrayed in a stereotypical way through film, news and advertising. I used newspaper clippings that connect to the theme to pin on a wall or surface for people to look through. I also have a wall or surface that has the question "How would you like to be portrayed in the media?" then people can stick notes on as they are leaving to help them think about how the subject matter applies to them.
Alexandria Molnar (2A)
Biography: Alexandria Molnar is an Ohio University Senior studying Media & Social Change.
Beauty is not merely a sheer reflection of one’s attractiveness or desirability, but rather a reflection of one’s cultural individuality and self-identification. Through further analysis, I questioned the origin in which beauty and empowerment is embedded in women. I asked numerous multicultural women to identify the first time in their lives in which they felt beautiful. Seeking out this question not only emphasizes the influence that beauty has among the values, philosophies and principles of diverse women, but further helps empower our individuality and liberation. I recognized my admiration for multicultural female empowerment upon living with a Chinese foreign exchange student, my freshman year of college. She influenced my perception of self-worth, gratitude and beauty, leaving me with a new perception of feminine influence. I later received my Cultural Understandings certificate and participated in various events recognizing ethnic and cultural diversity among exchange students at Ohio University. My piece conceptualizes the guidance women have for their self and for others, reflecting on a pivotal moment each experienced during their lives.
Connecting with women of differing cultural backgrounds fosters the influence that women further acquire and demonstrate. Womanhood colors the world around us and impacts the growth and creation of life. It is our time to celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments of the past, present, and future progression of female liberation. Recognizing the beauty and resilience each woman obtains, makes women stronger together.
Anonymous (2B)
Biography: Anonymous is a student at Ohio University.
I have struggled with bulimia from 7th-9th grade. This artwork demonstrates how the mirror has looked to me, what food has looked like, what others look like, and my own journey examining the unrealistic pressure that I have put on myself to achieve beauty norms.
Britney Worch (2C)
Biography: Britney Worch is a 19-year-old freshman at Ohio University and is majoring in Studio Art, soon to be applying for the Interior Architecture program. She is a member of The National Society of Leadership and Success, Sigma Alpha Pi. Upon graduation in May 2022, Britney will pursue a career in Interior Architecture. Her personal interests include theatre and singing.
Britney is an interior architecture major who has always loved art and writing poetry. In high school, she wrote poems for some of her projects in English class and wanted to continue writing poetry in college. This poem reflects her personal experience as well as what she has seen from others who struggle with body image issues. The collage shows various body types of many different shapes and sizes of the female population. 70% of 18 to 30-year-olds don’t like their bodies, and 45% of 3rd through 6th graders want to be thinner. The media reflects an unrealistic image of what we “should” look like, and this causes women and girls to want to change themselves to look like the people we see in advertisements, social media, and on TV. Many women and girls end up either fad dieting, or even developing eating disorders to try to match what they see in the media. 89% of girls have dieted by the time they are 17 years old. We need to take a stand to show all women and girls that they don’t have to look like the images they see in the media to be beautiful or worthy, especially when the images we see in the media are so edited and unrealistic.
Elizabeth Finn (2D)
Biography: Elizabeth Finn is a student at Ohio University.
I have created an art piece since I am a photography major. I have used my corset that I have and printed out images of every body type and glued those images onto the corset. I have also written over it the word, beautiful, in multiple languages. Then I found models with all different body types and took their pictures in it.
Leia Bendersky (2E)
“Love YOUR Body”
Biography: Leia Bendersky is an undergraduate student at Ohio University.
My piece displays two separate collages. The left side shows Victoria Secret models that portray unrealistic body types in the media, which influences poor body image in young girls. However, the right side shows American Eagles Aerie Real Campaign, which includes models of all different body types. Poor body image is something in my life that I’ve struggled with since middle school. Like many other young girls, I compared my body to the models displayed on the left, and I never felt skinny or pretty enough. I truly enjoyed researching this topic, because I was introduced to the 8 valuable tips listed above, which help fight against poor body image. Aeries Real Campaign is inspiring, because it displays how beautiful all women are without any Photoshop. Girls should feel proud and confident in their unique bodies and continue to build each other up, instead of tearing each other down. It’s important to spread awareness of this topic, because a high self-esteem and a positive mindset can save many young girls lives.
Madison Jones (2F)
Biography: Madison Jones is a mixed-media sculptor that enjoys transforming everyday objects into meaningful symbols.
To combat negative body image, I created a sculpture using a black and white Health-o-meter, body-weight scale, white office paper, and clear scotch tape. Although it may not look like much, I think it sends a profound message about how we ascribe so much value to something that we let it determine how we feel about ourselves. As someone who has struggled with her weight, I think this is especially true for the scale. I know firsthand the kind of reaction this can elicit in a person. In a culture that degrades anybody that does not fit the “slim” idea, stepping on the scale can be an anxiety-ridden experience. It not only measures one’s weight but also one’s self-worth. People place so much emphasis on the number on the scale that it quite literally has the power to make or break one’s day and damage one’s perception of one’s body and ultimately, the relationship with one’s self. I really hope this artwork encourages others to be kinder and more compassionate themselves. They should not let a number define them or tell them what they are worth. I am not trying to negate the use of the scale as it can be a good health tool, but I do not feel like people should be ashamed or fearful of what they weigh. Weight fluctuates, so I think it is important for individuals to accept themselves as they are even if they are striving to be healthier versions of themselves.
Nora Meyer (2G)
Biography: Nora Meyer is a 19-year-old Freshman at Ohio University from Cleveland, Ohio.
I hope my artwork demonstrates the ways in which body image impacts people of all ages.
Taylor Linzinmeir (2H)
Biography: Taylor Linzinmeir is a first-year student at Ohio University. She has lived in Ohio all of her life, having grown up in Hilliard, Ohio, which is a little suburb right outside of Columbus. Taylor is studying Journalism at Ohio University.
*Please be aware this piece may contain language considered sensitive*
For my manifesto, I wanted to focus on the changing of “ideal” beauty standards that can be seen across generations and across cultures. With that, the idea of femininity as well as gender socialization was naturally a part of this piece. These beauty standards are primarily seen through media such as art, movies, and television, and so those mediums were a key part of my piece. I got the idea while strolling through an art gallery one day. As a woman who struggles with body positivity, looking at the women who were painted in the Renaissance who don’t necessarily fit into the “ideal” beauty box of today, but were thought of as the essence of beauty and femininity during that time served as some sort of comfort to me. The call to action of this piece was to help women, especially young women, learn that they are beautiful no matter what their society may tell them.
Thai Student Association: Saruda Seeharit (President), Matchima Buddhanoy, Onanong Autama (Treasurer), Krekkiat Chusap, Supaset Sitthitan and Thai Language Students: Ashley Kafton, Hannah Wintucky, Kylie Ross, Brookelynn Russell, Madison Jeffrey, Yan Guo (2I)
“Thai Bodies, Global Ideas”
Every nation has its own standards for beauty, and while many people acknowledge that Asian cultures both agree and disagree with certain Western perceptions of beauty, young Thai girls and women are expected to embody both. In their teens, most young Thai women have experienced harassment, negative comments, and even abusive relationships that traumatize women and damage their self-worth. In the era of fast paced globalization, the body image of Thai women has become a site for different contested global ideas while maintaining the essence of Thainess.
The Thai Student Association, together with Thai language students, propose to create an art exhibit that will inform viewers about the concept of the “ideal Thai woman” imposed by Thai men, and debunk myths regarding the ideal, desirable body type of Thai women. The group hopes to promote anti-bullying, body positivity, and advocate for all kinds of body types. The exhibit will juxtapose the exaggerated, idealized image of Thai women against the reality by presenting photos of distinguished and successful women from all walks of life.
Kacia Robinson – (2J)
“Natural Beauty”
Biography: Kacia Robinson is a student at Ohio University.
This self-portrait was inspired by my journey to self-love. For the first twenty years of my life, I struggled with low self-esteem and had little self-confidence. I did everything I could to add beauty to myself, but it made me like who I was even less. Fall semester of 2017 I decided to shave my head and quit wearing makeup. I was at a low point in my life and this was my way of starting over and focusing on embracing my natural beauty.
This was one of the best decisions I had ever made. I felt free! I fell in love with myself and over time I began to fall love the world around me. I developed a love for nature and gardening. The feeling I have when I’m surrounded by nature is the same feeling I get when looking in a mirror. I have become the representation of black beauty that I had longed to see in the media for years. My afro is like a beautiful shrub. My brown skin is as rich as Earth’s soil and as radiant as the Sun.
Alexis Bennett (3A)
“Women Are...”
Biography: Alexis Bennett is an undergraduate student at Ohio University, as well as the Assistant Resident Director for Voigt Hall.
Our piece is entitled “Women Are...” by Voigt Hall. It is a compilation of photos. In the creation of our piece, we asked the staff and residents of the hall to reflect on their own multifaceted identity and the embodiment of womanhood. Knowing that all of our participants identify as women, we asked them to think about the following questions: 1. What does it mean to be a woman? 2. How are you treated, as a woman? How do you treat others? 3. What assumptions are made about you? 4. What adversity have you faced? Was that impacted by your identity as a woman? 5. What do you think of yourself? 6. How do you treat yourself? What do you like about yourself? 7. How do other aspects of your identity — race, heritage, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, ability, age, socioeconomic status, etc. — intersect with your identity as a woman? After reflecting, we asked participants to list out words or phrases that they either think about women or are what they hear about women. These words and phrases were then painted onto our bodies and captured in photographs. Our final picture is one of solidarity: our participants, with interlocked hands, standing together.
Jen Hernandez (3B)
“Rest”
Biography: Jen Hernandez is an Ohio-based Artist. She creates many different styles of paintings, she finds her groove with a sort of abstract impressionistic street art that encompasses bold and thoughtful nudes.
A piece that envisions women as entities with strength and the power she inspires. She is willing to try new combinations and techniques to convey the feeling that she is striving for in each individual piece of art. She provides raw social commentary with her body positive female paintings and social change. One of 2 paintings for the exhibit. The first is titled “Rest”. Which is a simple abstract female in grays, yellows, blues, and whites.
Phoebe Parker (3D)
Biography: Phoebe Parker is a senior, double majoring in political science and Southeast Asian studies. She is writing her senior political science thesis on the Sedulur Sikep people of Indonesia by analyzing their resistance to the cement industry. Also, she is currently in her sixth semester of Bahasa Indonesia. She stayed in Indonesia during the summer of 2016 and plans on returning this summer after graduation.
My submission is a poem written in Bahasa Indonesia about the women of the Sedulur Sikep community. The Sedulur Sikep movement, also known as Saminism, was founded during the period of Dutch colonialism as a group of Javanese peasants, with Samin as their guide, struggled against colonial oppression. Despite Indonesian independence, this community of peasant farmers still exists today, as they continue to live peacefully. Since 2005, however, the Indonesian government and state-owned cement industry have been attempting to coerce Sedulur Sikep farmers and their neighbors into giving up their land in order to build cement factories. In turn, the women of the Sedulur Sikep community in Pati, Indonesia have taken it upon themselves to resist the cement industry through educating and organizing with other farmers who are also at risk, as well as protesting the government and the cement industry directly. Through my poem, I hope to illustrate their strength, wisdom, courage, and determination in defending themselves, their community, and their neighbors from cultural and environmental degradation.
Priyanka Das (3E)
“I tried to write a love letter- with my body”
Biography: Priyanka Das is a New York-based filmmaker and visual artist.
This video installation captures the self-reflective feminine experiences in our everyday lives. It primarily focuses on our desire for connection, intimacy, and love; and how these shape relational identities to our surroundings through which we submerge ourselves into sociopolitical scenarios. This video attempts to open an outlet to our immediate surroundings through feminine senses and intuition rather than only masculine knowledge.
Andie Walla (4A)
“OHIO Women Through the Decades”
Biography: Andie Walla is a video producer based out of Athens, Ohio. She spends her time teaching video production at Ohio University in the School of Media Arts & Studies. Andie has spent the majority of her career producing videos for clients in higher education and the private sector. Her ability to produce, shoot, and edit projects from start to finish has created a group of satisfied clientele over the years. After spending nearly, a decade as video producer at University Communications and Marketing, Andie has developed essential strategies for working with clients that she shares with students in the classroom.
OHIO Women Through the Decades (72 minutes). Originally premiered on Nov. 6, 2013. This documentary has been created to record the experiences of Ohio University (OHIO) women through a dynamic era in American history. From the mid-1940s, when universities were largely girls' schools due to WWII, through the activism of the 1960s, to the emphasis on careers in the 1990s and beyond, 16 OHIO alumnae discuss their unique university experiences and how 'having it all' became possible for women in America during this rapidly changing period.
YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp6JmyobQZdEYCcROXaQUYEiNQX6dMJtx
Brianna Johnson (4B)
“Wearing My Sexuality”
Biography: Brianna Johnson is a junior studying Integrated Media at Ohio University. She enjoys working in the media because it gives her the opportunity to express herself while also trying to build connections with others. By going into the media industry, she hopes it will give her the chance to represent people who look like her (black, queer, woman) and others who don't by sharing their stories.
This video was created during my CFS 3601 Human Sexualities class for an assignment. The assignment was called “Experiential Assignment” and we were required to do something outside of our comfort zone in relation to Human Sexualities. I decided I would wear a bag around with two women of color kissing on the front around the Ohio University campus and record my thoughts and feelings while doing so. This was difficult for me; one, because I struggle with depression and mild social anxiety and both made the production and experience challenging to get through. Secondly, when wearing the bag, I was essentially “outing” myself through my attire during a time when I was not comfortable sharing my identity. Finally, I was scared of the reaction of those on campus and also those close to me finding out, particularly my father (who still does not know). Because I identify as a black queer woman, it was hard walking around campus with this bag because I was concerned about my safety. I knew that this bag would draw some attention from other people (both because of its aesthetic and content) and I was concerned it would have resulted in violence, verbal assaults, or other negative consequences. However, doing this project resulted in such loving and positive feedback and support from my friends and family members (and a good grade on my project :)). It has also inspired me to continue sharing my story and to search for those whose stories aren’t heard of and make them known.
Gabby Mato, Kirsten Pack, Crystal Vincent (4C)
Biography: Gabby Mato, Kirsten Pack, and Crystal Vincent have various backgrounds in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS), Psychology, and Sociology.
We have created a poster collage that focuses on the way that Jamaican/Caribbean women are represented in the media throughout their country. Women have been disproportionately represented in media and news coverage. A 20-year study by Hopeton Dunn estimated that 28 percent of the news is women’s coverage while men’s coverage is at a staggering 72 percent. This shows a consistent gender disparity in the news. It features different headlines, photographs, found objects, and pictures of female leaders represented in media, etc. Our goal is to take a look at any issues in female representation and the opportunities that are available to women to be a part of mainstream media and news.
Jocelyn "Jay" Palacios (4D)
Biography: Jocelyn "Jay" Palacios is an Ohio University Media student who enjoys a plethora of different things from photography to video editing to casual cosplay.
As a base of everything, how one feels about themselves is the most important thing of all. Since at the end of the day, you are with yourself - day in and day out. No matter your size or your color, one should feel empowered by the simple act of being yourself and no one else. Your love for yourself is important, and that is no different for these two ladies of cosplay. In this instance, they are costume roleplaying (Cosplaying) from the mobile game Fate: Grand Order (FGO), where its characters are based on different heroes, mythical beings and historical peoples from different eras. Some of the characters in the series are genderbent from male-to-female and vice versa from their originals. The dark haired one is named Katsushika Hokusai, based on the famous Japanese Painter from the Edo period. He is known for the painting The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Cosplayed by Haley Brown (@starryshyroo on Instagram). The fair-haired one is named Abigail Williams, based on one of the initial accusers in the Salem Witch Trials. Cosplayed by Molly Brown (@mysticmeringue on Instagram) In order to take these pictures to capture the beauty and essence of their characters, I used my Nikon D3300 Camera during the 2019 Ohayocon convention in Columbus, OH - using open spaces and a white background to take these pictures at. After the convention, the 90+ pictures I had taken were transferred to Adobe Lightroom then some were edited in Adobe Photoshop - two of which were heavily photoshopped to replicate the game they’re from.
Joseph Nurre (4E)
Biography: Joseph Nurre is a Strategic Communications major under the Scripps School of Journalism, looking to land a job in sales after graduation. Technology is the specialization Joseph would like to focus in as a sales representative because of the consistently evolving market and techniques needed to keep up with it. Joseph’s primary are hobbies are ultimate frisbee and board games.
As a sales oriented major, gender targeted marketing will be a recurring factor throughout my career in the process of understanding the audience of a specific product. Gender stereotypes and societal expectations heavily influence the target audience many products have, cutting off a huge potential of consumers who do not identify with the advertisement’s focus. I created a Venn diagram shaped collage to show the sharply contrasting nature marketers go to advertise towards a specific gender. The middle of the Venn diagram contains the advertisements that remain gender neutral in order to captivate the largest audience possible. I have highlighted and keyed many products within the Venn diagram that are targeted towards a specific gender even though it has appeal outside the target audience. On the outside of the diagram I included a couple statistics on the public’s view on gender targeted advertising to support or deny the amount of them found in society. This project seeks to show the typical products linked with gender targeted advertising and the ethical questions of shutting off consumers that fall outside of the advertisements focus.This collage was created using a poster board and cut up pieces of advertisements found in typical magazines and newspapers. In order to keep the balance of each side equal, I purposefully chose a balance of magazines targeted towards each major gender, with other neutral magazines that will have a mix of both.
Kaylyn Temple (4F)
Biography: Kaylyn Temple is a student at Ohio University.
Not everyone identifies as being a feminist. In fact, only 6 out of 10 women call themselves feminist or strong feminist, according to a national survey by the Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation. That being said, even some people who identify as a feminist do not support ALL women.
Growing up, I always thought being a woman meant starting your period, having curves in “all the right places”, and only keeping the hair on your head. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized how far off my definition was. The more I traveled and the more courses I took in university, the more “types” of women I was exposed to. I learned that you do not have to wear makeup or get married in order to fulfill your gender status. You can be whomever you want and each person who identifies as being a woman, has their own specific reasons for doing so.
Along with having your own definition of what womanhood means, you also have your own set of privileges and oppressions that tend to mirror your definition. The Women’s March on Washington states, "women have intersecting identities and are therefore impacted by a multitude of social justice and human rights issues."
To hear some personal stories about women in Athens, I decided to record interviews of about 10-15 people. I asked what being a woman means to them, and what they believe to be women’s issues. I compiled the videos to be able to compare the responses. "An intersectional feminist approach understands that categories of identity and difference cannot be separated and doesn't abandon one category of analysis such as gender, or sexuality in favor of (over)analyzing others such as race, and class,” explained Dr. Monica Miller to Vox. Because of this, I hoped to interview women with various backgrounds and speak to women of different races, social classes, sexual preferences, nationalities, religions, abilities, ages, education levels, and also women who identify as transgender.
I visited the Multicultural Center, the Global Studies Union meetings, the LGBT Center, Student Accessibility Services, Walter International Education Center, and Gamma Phi Beta to find women to interview.
I hope this video project will inspire others to follow their own definition of womanhood or if they do not personally identify, learn about a large and important group of people in our world.
Call to action: There is not one definition of womanhood!!
Kristen Bishop, Jenny Stotts, Kalei Edenfield (4G)
“A Woman’s Purpose”
Biography: This submission is created through a collaboration by a Mentor/Mentee Pairing from the Women’s Center Mentoring Program, Kristen Bishop and Jenny Stotts. Kristen is an undergraduate student at Ohio University, studying social work, while Jenny is an OHIO graduate and practicing social worker in the community. Also contributing with technical assistance is Kalei Edenfield, an Ohio University Graduate & Cutler Scholar and professional in the community.
A Woman’s Purpose is a unique display in that the title prompts viewers to immediately consider societal stereotypes regarding a woman’s purpose. This serves as a creative contrast with the content of the piece, which will be delivered via short video and feature women and girls from around the world explaining A Woman’s Purpose in their own words. Ultimately building up to the final message conveyed in the piece: A Woman’s Purpose… Whatever she wants it to be.
We are creating this statement piece as a way to shift the question we ask little girls from “what do you want to be?” to “what do you want to do?” Our hope is that visitors to the exhibit will leave with a refreshed perspective on the potential of women and girls AND that the participants in the video submissions will feel empowered to ponder the questions we ask in a way that fosters growth.
Mariam Al-Shaikh (4H)
“In Her Shoes”
Biography: Mariam Al-Shaikh, Center of International Studies Communication & Development at Ohio University
The purpose of this video is to take the viewers on a journey of how it feels like to be a woman, what a woman goes through, how it feels like to be judged in the society, and how she must keep up with different standards. This video uses a different comic approach, of a male character whose female subconscious voice takes over, he continuously has conversations with his female subconscious mind who took over his day. Now that he mentally turned into female, he must keep up with what the society is expecting from a female to do or to be. The audience will be following Nick, the main character in this video, on this day, Nick’s female subconscious voice is activated and changes his routine to put him “In Her Shoes”.
This idea was inspired by my attendance to "It's On Us Bobcats!", where one guy gave a heated speech about how he was upset because of all the sexual assault alerts he has been getting on Ohio University’s campus. Something stood out for me when he said, “I feel angry knowing that I am able to walk safely on the streets at certain hours during the night just because I am a male, and my female classmates can't do that.”
This video is mainly produced as a campaign to spread awareness about microaggressions and how women are stereotypically framed. It was originally submitted as a final assignment to one of my multimedia production courses.
Rylee Cavins (4I)
Biography: Rylee Cavins is a journalism student.
You don’t have to go far to find a male superhero, the movies are full of them, but where are the women who are saving the world? In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), there certainly seems to be a lack of women superheroes, despite them being more prevalent in the comics. My submission displays the changes in the MCU over the past 11 years and how they are slowly integrating more women into their movies. Using 4”x4” tiles with each hero’s logo on it, I created a timeline of when each character was introduced to the universe. From 2008’s Iron Man to 2019’s Captain Marvel, the ratio of men to women in the superhero movies has slowly been evening out, but it still does not accurately represent half of the population. Counting only the characters in hero positions, there are 18 men to 11 women in the MCU, and of those characters there are even fewer who are given titles as superheroes unlike Thor and Gamora who go by their own names. We see how women are being more represented in these powerful roles and we also see the success that comes with them. For a long time, it was thought that girls had no interest in comic books, despite there being no research to back this up. Therefore, movies were catered towards men and the few women we see are presented with the male gaze. However, the past 5 years have increased by nearly 4x the number of female superheroes in the MCU alone. While this project does focus on the MCU, it does not diminish the efforts of other production companies to include casts of better equality.
Rylee Reis (4J)
Biography: Rylee Reis is an amateur digital imaging artist that creates fake magazine covers to demonstrate the need of body positivity and uplifting body image.
This series of magazine covers creates the type of information we need to see when we checkout in a grocery store or at a doctor’s appointment. Traditional magazines depict unrealistic expectations of men and women by including unhealthy means of losing weight, opinions on being better in bed with a partner, and removing the signs of aging. Promoting the use of these methods can directly impact the idea of body image to all ages, leading to the possibility of different eating disorders, the pressure to perform for others that might be uncomfortable, and the use of surgical body alterations.
Christine Bergeron (5A)
“How Female Entrepreneurs are Changing Periods for Women around the World”
Biography: Christine Bergeron is a Senior in the College of Business at Ohio University majoring in International Business and Marketing. She is passionate about traveling and meeting and connecting with new people. During her time interning for a startup company in the Netherlands, Christine had the opportunity to meet many successful and influential female entrepreneurs who are changing the world for good through their products and business models.
How Female Entrepreneurs are Changing Periods for Women around the World. An essay that will explore how three female-led startup companies are creating sustainable and social value for consumers during their time of the month. The three companies this essay will include are: Yoni, She Blooms, and Ruby Cup. Yoni is a Dutch startup company that produces organic tampons and pads and focuses their mission on created products that are natural and not harmful to women’s bodies. She Blooms is a Dutch social startup company that sells soap on a “one-for-one” model where with each bar of “period” soap sold, one bar of “period” soap will be donated to young girls in South Africa experiencing their period for the first time. Ruby Cup is a German startup company that produces menstrual cups and also operates on a “one-for-one” business model and they donate menstrual cups to ten countries in Africa to girls without access to proper menstrual health and education. This essay will discuss what prompted and inspired these female entrepreneurs to change the way the world views and educates their girls about periods.
Nina Richner (5B)
“Mueterland”
Biography: Nina Richner is a Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies major at Ohio University. They are the president of F-Word, a performing arts organization which specialized in spoken word poetry. Richner is a Swiss immigrant, and draws upon that aspect of their identity for this particular piece. They began writing poetry as a way to tell stories, and that fascination with oral histories continues to fuel their art. Richner immigrated as a child with her family in 1996.
Mueterland is a chapbook-style collection of poetry focusing on Richner’s experiences as an immigrant, as well as the experiences of their mother, grandmother, and sisters. Richner conducted interviews with the women within their family, and those stories are found within the pages of this book. The vignettes cover issues that women face within Switzerland, the struggle to find a coherent identity as the daughter of an immigrant, the confused reactions towards modern day immigration policy, and much more. The longer, typographized pieces, Mother and Daughter, are two sides of the same story. While one could easily be understood on its own, the viewer can only experience the entirety of the narrative after reading both. There is a certain trauma involved in immigration, especially for women. One does not simply uproot themselves from their heritage, family, history, and home without pain. For example, the burden of carrying culture has always landed upon the shoulders of women, particularly mothers. How does one reconcile being the cultural torch bearer with the separation that emigration entails? This becomes a harsh problem when mothers translate this responsibility to their daughters; to women who have not even lived in their home country. The confusion and pain and heartbreak that follows is, for lack of better words, extraordinary and unique.
The piece Alptraum explores trans-generational trauma, and its effect on the artist. Trans-generational trauma is the idea that the children of trauma survivors can continue to experience PTSD-like symptoms from their parent’s (or another relative’s) trauma. Children of immigrants cite this as a common experience. Often when people experience trans-generational trauma, access to healing is minimal. How does one heal from trauma they don’t have ownership of? Alptraum translates to nightmare. It would be an extreme disservice to paint the life and experiences of immigrants and children of immigrants as solely nightmarish and terrible. There is a particular feeling of lineage and connection that the artist describes having access to. It is not only a burden placed upon daughters of immigrants to carry the traditions and stories, but also an honor. Mueterland is not only a collection of confusion and struggles, but also the joy of knowing the stories of your home, the delight in meeting other people who know the same traditions, the pride of being able to look back and see the line of strong women behind you. For this reason, this chapbook contains recipes and folk-stories from Switzerland as well as poetry. Mueterland is a celebration of Swiss culture, and of the ways the artist’s family has held onto it.
Reece Wallick (5C)
Biography: Reece Wallick is an undergraduate student at Ohio University.
Growing up in a small, rural town, I was never exposed to many things. On top of that, I was raised in a white, middle class family so I did not witness much discrimination, or so I thought. On my dad’s side of the family, he grew up with three brothers in the same town I did. He went to the same high school as me, but never went off to college to experience new things. My mom on the other hand, was raised in Canton and went to Glenn Oak where she got to witness a little more diversity than my dad. Unfortunately, she never went to college either; however, they have been successful business owners for years now. During high school I was determined to become an engineer. I had always been told it was a job for a man and that I needed to do something “more suitable for a woman”. For the first time in my life I witnessed discrimination because of my sex. When I took engineering classes in high school, I would sit in the front of the room and I would do all of the work right. My teacher, a white man, would make a seating chart and stick me with the two other girls in the class in the back corner of the room and told us that we were to work together on all of the projects because we “probably couldn’t do it on our own”. My parents were always so encouraging and always told me I could do anything, so to be around people who thought I couldn’t do something because of my sex, shocked me.
Trisha Clifford-Sprouse (5D)
Biography: Trisha Clifford-Sprouse is an Adjunct Professor Ohio University Lancaster
“The Deconstructed Mistress”
This is a fine art book that is made using paper, origami, and printed on a laser jet printer. This book looks at the history of the terms Mr. and Mrs. as derived from Master and Mistress. It is an accordion style book with one side occupying the history of the term Mr. and the other occupied with the term Mrs. Each page has excerpts from historical documents, writings, or facts that were relevant in the time period represented. I created this book in 1994, a few years after marriage. I belonged to a local organization that insisted on referring to me as Mrs. Robert Sprouse and this was a response to that practice. I am happy to say that the organization no longer uses that as the standard.
“Transformation”
This is a fine art book constructed as hinged binding that looks at the process of transformation and change. This book was created in 2018 after I had an abrupt career change that was forced upon me. This book embodies the resilience that I have learned from the women that have been important in my life; my Grandmother and Mother raised me with strong feminist ideals.
“100 Years of Women”
This altered book is a dedication to my family’s women. It has a page for my grandmother, mother, self, and daughter. Created as a celebration of life and influence after my mother passed, it encompasses the cultural events in our lives that have affected us and made us into the women we are.
Jo Caya (6A1)
“WOMAN WITH THE DOVES”
Biography: Jo was born in Helsinki, Finland and grew up in Columbia Park, Maryland. She moved to Southeast Ohio in 1994 and has enjoyed the peace and beauty of the area ever since. Jo studied photography, among other things, at Ohio University, where she graduated in 2012 with her B.S.S. Her experience at OU, along with suggestions from counselors and friends prompted Jo to join APP in 2014. She appreciates the friendliness of the group along with the input of the instructors, helping her to attain more artistic control of her artwork; her freedom to express her feelings and illustrate what is important to her. Sharing her images with others helps Jo to feel a part of the community, while APP gives her the environment to support her creativity.
This woman is showing us, through her tattered dress and scarred arms, that she has had much pain in her life. Even though, at times, she feels anger over this, her final choice to overcome her abuse is to choose love. This isn’t a constant state, this is a constant ideal in order to live a happier life. As John Lennon said, “The love you take is equal to the love you make.”
Namrata Jain (6A2)
“The Cities that are Men, The cities that are of Men” (Acrylic and Ink on Canvas 20”x15”)
Biography: Namrata Jain is a Graduate student at Asian Studies (Master’s Program), Center for International Studies, Ohio University. She also teaches Hindi under the World Languages Department at Ohio University. She has a background in literature and has taught at University of Delhi, India. Her research project aims at looking at the Clothing systems of Indian Women under the British rule. She is from India and is an independent artist. She likes to use folk forms of art upon urban landscapes, abstract representations of reality, and textures and forms in her work. She was at Ohio in the academic year 2017-18 as the Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant for Hindi.
It is a representation of the city of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, India. Jodhpur is also known as the blue city. The blue color of many houses in the city is a marker of high caste (Brahmin) and a declaration of power and privilege in society. In my painting, I have presented the city as the archetypal Brahmin male with a male gaze upon the marginalized ‘others.’ The women are seen as the victims of the gaze and the surveillance. It embodies the caste and class hierarchies in sync with patriarchal hegemony exercised in society. The city of Jodhpur is a color-coded representation of the divided demography. The women then exist within margins of margins. The negotiation with the city space and the domestic roles is presented through the clustered houses. The city architecture and the women are huddled under the glaring eyes of the overarching mustachioed masculine figure. Where is the space for the women? The painting attempts to find answers to this question and opens a scope for thought and resistance.
“Descent/Dissent” (Acrylic, Pencil, and Candle Wax on Canvas 8”x10”)
When I completed the painting, one of my male friends said, “Oh! Is it Brazilian gone wrong?” In that one moment lay the violence, transferred to the cosmetic alteration, beautification of the body, commodification, and distancing of the woman from her own body. This is part of the representation and the continuum of consumption of the female body by the male mind. Vaginas are to be waxed. The implication branched into the more heinous crimes and violence upon the organ and the women. In descent/dissent, I have represented death by bleeding – the deaths caused by Female genital mutilation or over bleeding during childbirth and lack of after care, poor menstrual health and rape. How the place of origin transforms into the place of death, is the journey mapped in my second painting. The painting carries many narratives of violence where the place for pleasure transformed into torture and death.
“Banjaran (A Gypsy girl of the Indian desert)” (Acrylic and Ink on Canvas 8”x10”)
Banjaran - It is a celebration of a gypsy woman’s survival in the desert against the geographical and patriarchal conditions. She is not a goddess nor a super-woman, just a woman performing her chores. It is not a comparison to the camel or snake head, the three are actually used to represent the forces in a desert.
Paige Johnson Greeley (6A3)
“Pretty in Pink”
Biography: Paige Johnson Greeley is a figurative oil painter whose work deals with sexual violence against women. She creates unforgiving pictures that treat physical and psychological abuse as facts for which we are all ultimately responsible. Greeley, who grew up in Massachusetts and Maine, earned her BFA from Endicott College. She is presently an MFA candidate at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She has worked with Nasty Women Exhibitions and has shown her work at galleries in the US and Italy. Presently, her work can be seen at the Dairy Barn in Athens, Ohio as part of Athens Voices ’19.
Inside reflects the physical and mental trauma of sexualized violence against women or people who identify as women. The color palette is made up of battered and abused skin tones in the place of any visible flesh. The singular figure is repeated to represent movement held to a set boundary, an inescapable skin.
Even people who willingly acknowledge the abuse of women at the level of a “social issue” often ignore the reality of it as the lived experience of the victims. Pretty in Pink deals with violence against women as a physical fact. The battered face is framed closely. First, to emphasize the damage done. Second, to provide no escape for the eye, no “context” or explanatory environment that might suggest a less disturbing interpretation or psychological comfort. Finally, the peephole-like framing refers to the sadism of abusers who are aroused by their victims’ suffering and the hypocrisy of non-abusers who still participate voyeuristically by watching media depictions of violence against women.
Sarah Diamond Burroway (6A4)
“Flower Garden - A multimedia exploration of Femalachia”
Biography: Sarah Diamond Burroway is a writer and theatre artist from Flatwoods, Kentucky. She serves as director of External Relations, Communications and Workforce Success at Ohio University Southern. She is pursuing her Master of Fine Arts degree in creative nonfiction at Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University. Sarah also serves on the boards of the Women of Appalachia Project and the Rivertown Performing Arts League, Inc.
Finding beauty and strength in the face of adversity or oppression is part of the power of Appalachian women. “Flower Garden” is a multimedia exploration of Femalachia, the experience of growing up female in Appalachia. The piece is based on a nonfiction essay about the life of the writer’s paternal grandmother in the foothills of eastern Kentucky. It incorporates vintage quilt pieces, found objects and the artist’s writing in a portrayal of how the writer’s grandmother, Iona Mandy, found peace and grace in her beloved flowers while raising twelve children and enduring three stillbirths and a life of poverty married to an overbearing sharecropper.
Kylee Holbrook (6B1)
Biography: Kylee Holbrook is a junior Psychology Major at Ohio University
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, "More than 90% of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report the assault". This goes to show that there are more people who will relate to the above poem than one may suspect. Unfortunately, sexual assault is a continuous problem at Ohio University and other universities located all over the world. Holbrook found one of the best ways for her to cope with these issues is through poetry. The NSVRC has also found that, "Nearly two thirds of college students experience sexual harassment". As horrible as that is, the survivors are not alone. Holbrook hopes to inspire those affected by sexual assault to know that their voice can be heard and if they choose not to discuss that they too are not alone. This topic is a difficult one to discuss for many, but it is important to bring awareness to these issues, in hopes that it will encourage the violence to end. The NSVRC found, "20% - 25% of college women and 15% of college men are victims of forced sex during their time in college." With all of this being said, now is the time for action. A poem may seem minuscule, compared to the other heroic acts being made in support of survivors. However, it is bringing light to the issue in way that Holbrook hopes assures and calms survivors. Please remember that the Survivor Advocacy Program is located in Lindley Hall room 038. They can also be contacted at: E: survivor.advocacy@ohio.edu, P: (740) 597-SAFE (7233).
Namrata Jain, Wendy-Marie Martin (6B2)
“Always, Everywhere”
This piece was directed by Skye Robinson Hillis and performed by Namrata Jain & Wendy-Marie Martin, with videography by Zoe Foerster.
Biographies: Namrata Jain is a Graduate student at Asian Studies (Master’s Program), Center for International Studies, Ohio University. She also teaches Hindi under the World Languages Department at Ohio University. She has a background in literature and has taught at University of Delhi, India. Namrata’s research project aims at looking at the Clothing systems of Indian Women under the British rule. She is from India and an independent artist. She likes to use folk forms of art upon urban landscapes, abstract representations of reality, and textures and forms in my work. Namrata was at Ohio in the academic year 2017-18 as the Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant for Hindi. Wendy-Marie Martin has taught, directed and performed in Europe and the U.S. Her short plays have been produced in Germany, The Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Ireland and the U.S and published by YouthPLAYS, Theatrefolk, Polychoron Press and Smith & Krauss. She is creator and Executive Producer of The Red Eye 10s International Play Festival and on the Board of Directors for the International Centre for Women Playwrights. Wendy-Marie is a member of the Dramatists Guild, TCG, the Playwrights' Center and the Mid-American Theatre Conference. She taught Theatre History for the Pacific Conservatory Theatre at Allan Hancock College through 2018 and is currently pursuing her PhD in Interdisciplinary Arts & Theatre at Ohio University. For more information about Wendy-Marie's work, please visit her website at www.wendymariemartin.com || This piece was created/performed by Namrata Jain & Wendy-Marie Martin and was directed by Skye Robinson Hillis with videography by Zoe Foerster.
This performance presents experiences of violence in the incidents of rape involving Indian and American women. We explore questions of age, class, religion, and race to analyze the societal responses to the direct and indirect victims of violence as well as potential points of intersection.
When Uma Narayan argues against the essentialization of feminism centered in the west, she opens up a dialogue for feminisms. Through theatrical performance, we bring to the stage feminisms across borders, race, class, and religion. Using violence as a common denominator of experience, we will present the lives of two women who have witnessed rape and their mental and bodily responses to it. What happens when the daily newspaper reports five rapes on an average? What is the effect of the mindless multiplication of the incidents of rape on various media and a consumption of it?
We explore the lives of women who have grown up with visual and oral narratives of rape. How does the second-hand violence transform into fear and shame? The indirect and direct forms of violence against women create a weft and warp of feminisms. An Indian woman does not look westward for her response to violence, just as a woman from the west does not refer to theory in understanding violence. The feminisms, then emanate from their respective contexts and become entry points for a confluence of the trans-national experiences.
As Uma Narayan exposits, “While women in Western context might be unfamiliar with the violence against women connected to the contemporary functioning of the institutions of dowry and arranged marriages, they are no strangers to battery and violence prevalent within their own various forms of marriage and family arrangements. They are no strangers either to the sense of shame that accompanies admitting victimization or to the multiplicity of material, social, and cultural structures that pose serious impediments to women seeking assistance or to their leaving abusive relationships” (Narayan, 13).
Works Cited:
Narayan, Uma. Dislocating Cultures: Identities, Traditions, and Third-World Feminism. New York: Routledge, 1997., 1997. EBSCOhost, proxy.library.ohio.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat00572a&AN=ali….
Raquel Gleicher (6B3)
“Manifesto”
Biography: Raquel Gleicher is a CODA (child of Deaf adults). Unlike most CODAs, she is the only one in her household who can hear. This is because her three sisters are also Deaf. Her mother is a single mother who has raised all four of her children to be successful, college-educated, young woman. She is beyond grateful to live a life that offers perspective into the Deaf community and feel it is her duty to properly reflect that. More importantly, she owes it to the strong Deaf women who shaped her life, to pay tribute to them.
Women’s Health reports that, “The national domestic violence hotline shares, “Data from an eight-year survey of college students at Rochester Institute of Technology indicates that Deaf and hard of hearing individuals are 1.5 times more likely to be victims of relationship violence including sexual harassment, sexual assault, psychological abuse and physical abuse in their lifetime.” According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner” and “intimate partner violence is most common against women between the ages of 18-24.” Baylor’s College of Medicine’s research on women with disabilities found that out of the 598 battered women’s programs, “only 35 percent of these programs offered disability awareness to their staff.” It is extremely important that Deaf women have access to women’s programs that are culturally sensitive to their communicative differences in order for Deaf women to get the help they deserve.
I have created art that encourages Deaf woman to get help in situations of sexual or domestic violence while bringing insight that not all women’s programs are accessible for those with disabilities. I included these statistics around the hands on the poster spelling out “you are not alone” in sign language. The letters signed are from the hands of females. The bottom of the poster features the following information from DeafHope who provides support for victims in need:
AIM: DeafHotline | Email: nationaldeafhotline@adwas.org
VP: 855.812.1001
Katie Conlon, Jessica Huber, Andrea Padilla (7A)
“‘Neither Men Nor Completely Women:’ The Gendered Body as a Site of Anti-Colonial Resistance in Northern Ireland”
Biography: Katie Conlon is a first-year master’s student in the Political Science department, concentrating in Law & Politics. Her research interests are at the intersection of gender and law in conflict zones. Next year, she will complete her thesis on the ways in which feminist and anti-occupation organizations in Israel-Palestine use legal rhetoric to engage in activism. Andrea Padilla is a first-year master’s student in Latin American Studies with a concentration on Gender & Development. She is currently researching how women’s perception about empowerment in the southern province of Loja in Ecuador relates to Amartya Sen’s concept of development and empowerment by looking at the conditional cash transfer program called Bono de Desarrollo Humano.
Jessica Huber is in her last semester of undergrad and studying
strategic communication with specializations in business and women’s gender studies. After graduation she hopes to focus on women’s sports marketing and development, and its representation in contemporary media.
Beginning in February 1980, guards at Armagh Gaol in Northern Ireland denied thirty-two republican women being held in the prison access to toilet or washing facilities. In protest against these prison conditions, and more broadly against the British occupation of Northern Ireland, these women went on what was known as a “dirty protest.” For thirteen months, the women engaged in this protest by refusing to wash themselves or clean their cells. They smeared their own urine, excrement, and menstrual blood on their cell walls when their chamber pots overflowed. As a consequence, prison guards confined the women to their cells for twenty-three hours each day. Strip searches and other violent tactics were widely used during this protest as attempts to entice the women into cooperating with the British prison regime.
The women endured these conditions in the name of the Irish republican movement; most of the protesting women had been jailed for activities related to involvement with the Irish Republican Army. They staged their protest in collaboration with the republican men held on the infamous “H-Blocks” of Long Kesh Prison, located outside the capital city of Belfast. The Armagh women, and female republican prisoners, had long expressed that their struggle was one and the same as that of their republican men in Long Kesh. However, prior to the 1980 dirty protest, their resistance was largely ignored by their contemporaries in the republican movement. It was only after the protest that women were actively and formally included in republican politics, despite the long history of women’s active participation in the Irish republican, anti-colonial struggle for independence from Great Britain. Our project explores this turning point in the relationship between the larger republican movement and the women’s movement in Northern Ireland during the period known as “the Troubles” (1968-98).
The title of this project, “Neither Men nor Completely Women” comes from Begoña Aretxaga’s (1997) study on women, nationalism, and political subjectivity in Northern Ireland and speaks to the complexities of identity for republican women (p. 138). The Armagh dirty protest was necessarily a part of both the republican movement and women’s movement in Northern Ireland. The male republican leadership, who initially dismissed the protest, viewed it primarily as a distraction from the hunger strikes of male prisoners at Long Kesh Prison. For these men, the protest was primarily a feminist issue. Mainstream Irish feminists condemned all forms of political violence (for which the Armagh women were imprisoned) and viewed the Armagh dirty protest primarily as a republican issue. When they began their protest, the Armagh women did not consider their gender as significant; they perceived their struggle as the same as that of the men in Long Kesh. However, their protest was uniquely shaped by their position as women within a male-dominated colonial prison system and a male-dominated republican movement. This process primarily happened through the gendering of the body as a site of resistance in Northern Irish prisons.
Gender shaped both prisoners’ experiences with prison conditions and treatment and their experiences with acts of resistance. In both the typical daily treatment of women prisoners and the treatment of prisoners during the dirty protest, the female body was implicated as a site of resistance. The British prison system in Northern Ireland was a part of both a colonial and patriarchal power structure, and prison guards exploited gender norms to particularly target, humiliate, and silence female prisoners. Most of the republican women prisoners came from Catholic communities where they were raised with values that stressed the importance of modesty, particularly for women. The prison administration exploited these norms and targeted the women by exposing their bodies through strip searches.
Gender also impacted the collective action of the women dirty protesters, as their protest undeniably revealed their womanhood through physical and biological differences from male prisoners. Portrayals of the dirty protests were also always gendered, often by including descriptions of menstrual blood present on the walls of the women’s cells. Presented as an undeniable marker of femininity and the female body, this imagery explicitly gendered the women’s actions by objectifying a sexual difference that women had carefully obliterated in other dimensions of their political life. Again, the body was at the center of prison resistance, but in this case that body was explicitly gendered. Sexual difference was not meant to be a part of the dirty protest, but it became a part of the political discourse surrounding the prison protests in 1980 and 1981.
In these three photos, we highlight some of the ways in which women’s bodies were uniquely implicated in the Northern Irish prison system and republican prison resistance during the Troubles. The first image focuses on the context of the dirty protest, focusing on the dirt on the walls of prison cells. The second focuses on the female body as a site of colonial violence through the practice of strip searches. And the third highlights menstrual blood as a marker of the gendered body that differentiated the women’s protest from that of the men. Throughout, we have chosen to obscure or omit faces from these images to focus attention on the body and how it was implicated and gendered in the British colonial prison system in Northern Ireland.
Tereza Kidane, Rose Aku Adotei, Brittney Holloman (7B)
“Migration Blanket”
Biography: Tereza Kidane is a second-year doctoral student in the school of Interdisciplinary Arts. Rose Aku Adotei is a first year MA student. She is studying International Development Studies. Brittney Holloman is a second year MA student, studying Recreation Management and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS).
The project will feature a collection of artworks in the form of drawings and other creative works (poems, pictures etc.) by Eritrean women refugees and/or asylum-seekers in Europe and the United States of America. The drawings and creative works will highlight the migration experiences of Eritrean women refugees and /or asylum-seekers told from the women’s perspectives. The artworks will be collected with the help of the Network of Eritrean Women, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of Eritrean women, and through personal connections in the United States. The purpose of this project is to give Eritrean women refugees and/or asylum seekers the agency to tell their own stories and expresses their feelings and thoughts (that might be too painful to speak about) through the art of drawing or other creative works. It is worth mentioning that projects like this have been done in the United Kingdom with the supervision of Salma Zulfiqar, artist and activist, to bring communities together and allow refugee women to share their hopes, dreams and struggles.
Women's Center Staff (7C)
“Women and War Art Event Pieces”
The Dog Tags are made of aluminum foil and cardboard. The piece is meant to capture that names of women who have and are serving in our military. The tags are especially highlighting women who have contributed tremendous efforts and intelligence to our U.S. Military. These women are often not mentioned in our history books, but have been the turning point for the military in our history. The Dog Tags are created to give them representation and to recognize their contribution to our military.
Anonymous (8A)
Biography: A student at Oho University
This item is a written piece in which the idea that differences can be construed into disability or disorder and thus create disability and disorder, may be explored. The piece centers specifically on how the hegemonic force of psychiatry combined and the experience of psychological disorder, and the consequences of these, can shape and intersect with all other aspects of life, including gender and sexuality. The intention of the piece is not to call into question the value or validity of psychiatry, or to speak on behalf of any marginalized group; it is only to share the perspective and context of a single individual and, in doing so, to humanize the nuances of a conceptual amorphism.
Carmen Solitt (8B)
Biography: Carmen Solitt is a student at Ohio University.
There is much controversy over pro-choice and pro-life, and President Trump is trying to make it nearly impossible for women to have an abortion, like enforcing the gag rule on abortion so women cannot be referred to a doctor to get one. I think women should have a right to do whatever they would like with their bodies, and not everyone can understand what it is like to carry baggage of figuring out how to support a child that you physically and/or financially cannot do. My painting shows both sides (pro-choice and pro-life). The arm reaching for the pro-choice signs represents a woman who may choose to have one, but the government is making it harder to do the procedure.
Courtney Archibald (8C)
Biography: Courtney Archibald is a freshman here at Ohio University studying Studio Art with minors in Philosophy and Digital Storytelling and Screenwriting. She is a member of the Margaret Boyd Scholars Program, Student Senate, National Society of Leadership and Success, and the Official Astrology Club.
1. Periods will be an example of what society claims periods are like versus how they are through the representation of the mysterious “blue liquid” that floats through television commercials advertising feminine products. Between two pads, one is neatly flattened with the light and mysterious blue liquid scattered solely on the product, while the other is very crinkled and worn out with a substance representing period blood soaking majority of the pad as well as its surroundings.
2. Lingerie will be a display on how women are over-sexualized for day to day routines such as wearing undergarments. I displayed society’s portrayal of what lingerie women should be expected to wear to be considered sexy versus the typical day to day undergarments worn by women that would typically be considered “boring” or “mundane”. The point of the piece is to recognize that women can be beautiful and sexy without having a certain wardrobe (or lack thereof).
Habiba Mohamed Montasser and Moham Abdelaal (8D)
Biography: Habiba Mohamed is from Egypt. Currently, she is a second-year student in Communication and Development master’s program at Ohio University. She anticipates graduating in May 2019. She believes that her whole personal and professional life experience has guided her to be an activist. She has been volunteering and working in many NGOs, initiatives, and institutions advocating for women rights.
A photo series that represents some of her feelings as she continues to on her journey with depression. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155751215654576&set=a.10155751215539576&type=3&theater
Intersectional Feminist Alliance and the Student National Medical Association (8E)
“‘Weaving Our Stories’: Women, Wombs, and Whys”
Biography: This exhibit features art created by the "Weaving Our Stories": Women, Wombs, and Whys event that took place on February 22 that was cosponsored by the Intersectional Feminist Alliance and Student National Medical Association.
A collaborative arts-based workshop on racial/ethnic disparities in women’s health care, particularly maternity. Presented by Alicia Rodgers, M.S., OMSII and Karinne Hill. Co-Sponsored by the Intersectional Feminist Alliance and Student National Medical Association and the Ohio University Women’s Center. The art was created in a session led by student leaders, where they worked with participants to identify the causes of the increased morality rates for Black women in the United States when compared to their peers. After a brief talk, participants were asked to engage in an arts-based practice that is displayed in this International Women’s Art Installation.
Julia Schneider and Ava De Ra (8F)
Biography: Julia Schneider is currently a Sophomore HTC History Major, Music Minor here at Ohio University. She is involved in the Margaret Boyd Scholars Program, Picardy Thirds acapella (Secretary), Hall Council (Treasurer), the Women’s Center (volunteer), and the Jitterbug Club. She likes to spend her free time arranging music, practicing yoga, writing poetry, and generally expressing myself through art. She has been writing poetry for four years now and Perfectly Abstract is her favorite piece that she has written.
This piece is a collaborative work between myself—I wrote the poem—and the wonderfully talented Ava De Ra, who created the beautiful watercolor illustrations. Whenever I write poetry, it usually comes flowing out of me in a multicolored stream of creativity, sometimes when I least expect it. I love hearing what individual readers take from me, such as little pieces of insight that my writing is able to help them realize or consider, because each response is different. Word choice, language, and diction are my favorite things about poetry; in my mind, the whole point of poetry is to symbolically communicate as much as you can in as few words as possible. Poetry is dense and full of meaning, with elements such as rhyme, format, and rhythm adding to that significance depending on how one utilizes them. This piece, for me, is about defying both inner and societal expectations, finding one’s true passion, and accepting the beauty of being imperfect; all of these are themes closely related to my own experiences. Finally, I wrote it because I could, because I felt the idea bubbling up inside me, forming into lines, and asking to be released onto paper.
Kelsey Griest (8G)
Biography: Kelsey Griest is a current freshman at Ohio University. She is planning to major in art education or art therapy. Kelsey has always had a passion for creating art and has been crafting for as long as she can remember. She began truly taking up painting around her Freshman year of high school and has been loving it ever since.
This piece is also aimed to embrace female sexuality and all the beauty it has to offer; no woman should be afraid of their vagina. I believe by seeing images of vaginas put up to be viewed as art pieces, women will feel inspired to embrace the inner Goddess that they so are. The bright hues of yellow and oranges and pinks are meant to symbolize the warmth and lovingness of women, as well as to imply the celebration they deserve.
Community based art project organized by Susan Folger, Megan Yetzer, and Rachel Siegel at Counseling and Psychological Services at Ohio University (8H)
“Transforming Trauma”
This art project is informed by the challenging conversations that took place last semester through Open OHIO and the emergent common theme of “Navigating Turbulence.” (See the Open OHIO website at https://www.ohio.edu/instructional-design/initiatives/aia-open-ohio.html for more information.) Artists and scientists are collaborating to create art inspired by the theme “Navigating Turbulence.” We are inviting individuals who have been impacted by trauma to engage. To do so, please write (on supplied paper) thoughts or reflections related to the trauma that they would like to let go of, transform, or modify, and then to fold that piece of paper into an origami flower. The flower will be added to a sculpture which includes numerous other flowers folded by members of our community who have also been impacted by trauma. We hope this project contributes positively to healing and community building.
Ohio University, Counseling & Psychological Services Expressive Art Group, co-facilitated by Rachel Siegel, LPCC-S, Staff Counselor and Nestor Avila, LPC, Graduate Assistant. (8I)
“Embodiment”
Biography: This piece was the final group session in a series of weekly meeting where four women (who prefer to remain anonymous) from various backgrounds and identity statues, came together at the Lindley Studio space at CPS to create a safe space for one another, using the creative art process to gain insight and self- awareness and to offer support, and use creativity for shared relief from tension and stress. The focus of all art created in the Art-based Counseling groups is on being mindful in the PROCESS and EXPERIENCE rather than focused on performing, evaluating, and critiquing (which we are so often required and comfortable doing in daily life.)
This piece is a representation of the dynamics and themes of how women working together can support one another’s growth and healing. The piece is titled “Embodiment.” Participant artists created intuitive masks, working with the insight of self and other acceptance to focus on the making, rather than the product/outcome. They generated these mask symbols that reflect how they show up in the world to others on the outside, and then reveal the way they feel about themselves on the inside. Acrylic paint, wire and multicolor twine was selected and used. Dominant themes arose of what is hidden and what is exposed and how connection and witnessing within a therapeutic group process freed participant artists to explore qualities of themselves and their relationship together, while healing as they reflected on what they choose to expose and/or hide. This piece was created in the final session of our time together and the group chose to create a mobile bringing their masks together as a symbol of connection and to reflect the dynamics that they created and shared in this process.
Francesca Miller (8J)
Biography: Francesca Miller is a 22 year old artist from Columbus, OH, where she is soon-to-be graduating from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education. In addition to being a visual artist, Francesca is also a singer-songwriter and musician, as well as a poet and writer. She aspires to use her artistic ability to cause people to see themselves, and the world around them in a healthy manner, as well as bring awareness to social justice issues. As an educator, she is passionate about helping her students find their voice through the arts, as well as understand the significant role art plays in society.
This piece dedicated to the future of mothers and their babies. Too many women and children of color die during labor or birth-related complications. The grave is a reminder but the happy and healthy mother and baby are closer to the front - to show where the focus of initiatives should be placed and what the future looks like. Through telling their stories and bringing greater attention to the issue of minority maternal and infant mortality, better days lie ahead to shift the narrative and see equity in their care and survival.
Alyssa McNulty (9A1)
“No Justifications”
Biography: Alyssa is a first-year student at Ohio University who has a passion for seeking out corruption, injustice, and discrimination. She believes awareness, accountability, and action are all necessary to making change to the current social structures.
No Justifications seeks to call out some of the trite, conventional phrases or excuses that are used to dismiss woman and their experiences with sexual harassment, comments, or abuse.
Mashael Aldossary (9A2)
Biography: Mashael Aldossary is an international student at Ohio University, majoring in Linguistics.
Aldossary is an international student who rarely hears about sexual assault back in her country, Saudi Arabia. Coming to the U.S.A. and hearing a lot about sexual assault on U.S. college campuses makes her interested in investigating the topic. Through an interesting infographic, she outlines current statistics about how often women experience sexual assault, why it is such an issue in U.S. college campuses, and different ways to prevent sexual assaults on U.S. college campuses.
Payton Emanuel (9A3)
Biography: Payton Emanuel is 19 years old and grew up in Stow, Ohio. Payton is a freshman at Ohio University who is currently undecided, but will be studying Marketing at the College of Business and will also be minoring in communications and getting a certificate in sales. Payton has always been an advocate for women’s rights, and feels like everyone can benefit from learning more about women’s achievements in history, as well as the fight it has been for our society to be where it is today with women's rights.
I created an art piece that shows the prevalence of domestic violence against women in the world today and how to catch the warning signs. I feel as though this issue is not talked about enough as a society, even though this problem occurs on a daily basis for women all over the world. This poster displays a large, clenched fist in the middle of the poster with all of the warning signs running up and down the hand - almost as if they were tattoos. My poster focuses mostly around the fist in my piece because that is the primary weapon used in most domestic violence cases against women. Each finger displays a warning sign of abuse in the home in bold black lettering. The background is bright red as red is associated most with violence. At the bottom of the poster, there is a call to action stating, “How to Catch the Warning Signs of Domestic Abuse Against Women” as well as the National Domestic Violence Hotline. My poster also features the domestic violence awareness ribbon which will proudly hang in the corner of the poster so people will be more aware of the meaning that is behind the purple ribbon. I think that with this manifesto, the audience will leave with more knowledge on how to catch domestic violence early on and can stop this from happening to more women.
Stormie Rothan (9A4)
Biography: Stormie is an undergraduate student at Ohio University
Through recent articles that have been released this year, it is safe to say sexual assault offense numbers here at Ohio University has skyrocketed. There have been many questions and assumptions wondering why this hasn’t been a big problem in the past and is now is a problem consuming our community. Some students are putting the fault of the assaults on the recent classes that have arrived here at Ohio University. Ever since these acts have started, victim shaming has risen. Students are saying that many of these are false accusations. On the other hand, many students here are saying that the numbers didn’t change and that people are finally confident enough to report their assaults. I have also heard that these acts are ‘probably’ repetitive acts of the same attacker. This pushes us to a common question of why they didn’t report it or report it sooner. I want to find out the accurate reasoning of this and explain why reporting sexual assault isn’t as easy as it seems, and that just because it is reported years later, doesn't mean it didn’t happen or have the same effect. To do this, I wanted to dig deeper into the media coverage of sexual assault. First, I wanted to use the Twitter hashtag #whyididntreport. This hashtag has been trending on Twitter and shows survivors reasoning on why they didn’t report. This hashtag shows many sides and reasons that had never even crossed my mind on why survivors don’t report their sexual assaults. When I began to dive deeper into my research, I saw a common occurrence on why reports were not made. Many women blamed this on the media and how it twisted stories as well as blame the victim. After reading this, I knew I had to add it on my board and this is where added headlines and news clippings of these twisted stories. I think that this was a great way to empower survivors by giving them the chance to share their story. This is a topic that hits home for me. I do not believe that survivors should have their stories belittled because they didn’t report it. I want those who haven’t had this experience be able to understand survivors’ decisions.
Andrew Howard (9B1)
Biography: Andrew Howard is a Ph.D. student in history.
We submitted a poster to highlight women’s issues in India. With the goal of not portraying women as solely victims, we have decided to use the #metoo movement in India as a framework for analyzing women’s issues in India, which will vary from dowry, sexual violence, and controversies about women of a menstruating age in Hindu temples. Inherent in #metoo is the reality of women coming to the forefront to share their struggles and claiming agency within their own histories. Our emphasis is on highlighting issues unique to India, but we were also aware of and identify similarities that set these issues within a broader context of women’s issues in the world (again, we relied on the framework of #metoo to achieve these twin goals). We were sensitive to nuance and explored how the growth of urbanization has affected these issues across both time and space. In addition to exploring the issues themselves, we explored how women and others respond to these problems and how they are portrayed in media and popular culture.
Featured Artists for this exhibit are as follows: Julia Schneider, Lorien Chavez, Ashlee Jackson, Katelynn Walker, Andrew Norris, Rebekah Jasper & Riley Williams, MaryKathyrine Tran, Divya Warrier, and Carter Beeson (9B2)
“Violence at the Intersections”
This portion of the Violence against Women exhibit was facilitated by Carter Beeson and Divya Warrier, two student employees on staff at the Women’s Center. An art creation workshop was held where artists had the opportunity to reflect on and create art in response to an occurrence of violence against women anywhere in the world or an example of advocacy being done to eradicate violence against women. Artists were provided with a wide range of supplies and were only constrained by the canvas they worked on.
Emma Nichter (9B3)
Biography: Emma Nichter is a junior here at Ohio University – a psychology major with a concentration in sports psychology, also pursuing a minor in Business Administration. She has an internship currently with a D1 football recruiting company, which is generally a “man’s field”. This makes it very hard to find internships or jobs who are willing to give a woman a chance. Although her supervisor is adamant in telling her that being a woman “won’t be that much of an inconvenience”, when in reality, it shouldn’t be an inconvenience or hindering to her professional career whatsoever. This manifesto is an attempt to showcase the mistreatment given to women, whether in the workplace or otherwise. This manifesto is an attempt at showing the extent that women must go through when they leave the house, to make them feel safe.
Description: My manifesto is going to combat slut shaming and victim blaming. At the beginning of this year, my mom shared an article on Facebook laying out all the different precaution's women take throughout the day to avoid getting sexually assaulted. Here is a snippet from the article:
“Hold my keys as a potential weapon. Look in the back seat of the car before getting in. Carry a cell phone. Don't go jogging at night. Lock all the windows when I sleep, even on hot summer nights. Be careful not to drink too much. Don't put my drink down and come back to it; make sure I see it being poured. Own a big dog. Carry mace or pepper spray. Have an unlisted phone number. Have a man's voice on my answering machine. Park in well-lit areas. Don't use parking garages. Don't get on elevators with only one man, or with a group of men. Vary my route home from work. Watch what I wear. Don't use highway rest areas. Use a home alarm system. Don't wear headphones when jogging. Avoid forests or wooded areas, even in the daytime. Don't take a first-floor apartment. Go out in groups. Own a firearm. Meet men on first dates in public places. Make sure to have a car or cab fare. Don't make eye contact with men on the street. Make assertive eye contact with men on the street.”
A woman then commented on my mom’s post saying, “You and your daughter are beautiful.... take a serious look at the picture you shared of your parent’s weekend. What precautions did she take when she selected her attire”, as well as, “Teach your daughters responsibilities, not to flaunt everything they’ve got”.
In my manifesto, I aim to showcase this comment, what I was wearing this night, along with an image of multiple different precautions, which I, along with other women, take on a daily basis. For example, I hold my keys in my hand when I walk in the dark, I have pepper spray in my purse, I look in the back seat of my car every time, I own a Rottweiler, I don’t use highway rest areas, etc.
Nikhita Shah (9B4)
Biography: Nikhita Shah joined the Survivor Advocacy Program in August 2018, as a graduate assistant and MSW intern. Currently, she is pursuing her Master in Social Work program at Ohio. Shah, who hails from Mumbai, India, is an undergraduate in Life science and has a Masters in Biochemistry.
Passionate about social work, even while pursuing her undergraduate in Life science, Shah has been a volunteer at ADAPT, a school for the physically challenged children and has been a part of a team project dealing with children of AIDS affected commercial sex workers. Shah has also been an associate member of Akshayashakti Welfare Association, which is involved in community welfare, education initiatives, health initiatives and women empowerment, and was actively involved in training underprivileged children from slums and interacting with cancer-stricken children. Shah has also been a part of the Early Childhood Team at Hopewell Health Center. She represented the agency as a mental health worker at Amesville Elementary in the prekindergarten class.
Shah loves to travel and enjoys history and you would find her at a museum at the first opportunity. She is also an avid animal lover. Her hobbies include swimming, reading, watching anime, and watching the extended version of The Lord of the Rings.
Shah is a strong believer that she should do her bit to give back to the society the opportunities society provided her, she wants to make a difference to the quality of life of people to alleviate the pain of the suffering, and this is her main goal
The art exhibit is focused on the #MeToo movement that recently started in India. It features a Hindu Goddess in the center surrounded by the various headlines put forth by the newspapers in India. This installation also focuses on the hypocrisy and patriarchy present in the Indian society. On the one hand, they revere Hindu goddesses and pray to them, but on the other hand they put down women that stand up to patriarchy. The men are considered as victims, and the women are not believed. There is also a lot of victim shaming happening. This exhibit will try to throw light on this situation in India. I also wrote a short contextualizing piece about the exhibit, regarding the goddess and the patriarchy of the Indian society so that it will be easier for people to understand what is being portrayed via the exhibit.
Dr. Indu Sharma and Ms. Tammy Tucker (10A)
Biographies: Ms. Tammy Tucker is the Assistant Director of OHIO’s TRiO Student Support Services (SSS): College Achievement Program (CAP) in charge of Engagement and Outreach. She has spent the last 10 years working with first-generation students helping them to be career and college ready, as well as, helping them persist and graduate from college. She started her K-12 teaching career in 1993. With 26 years extensive experience in education, she is a highly sought-after TRiO consultant who specializes in improving service outcomes and support strategies. As a first-generation graduate, she knows first-hand the struggles of staying in college and creating a plan for success. Dr. Indu Sharma is the Academic Retention Specialist of Ohio University’s Academic Achievement Center (AAC) and TRiO Student Support Services (SSS): College Achievement Program (CAP). She has spent the last 15 years teaching/researching/advising/and doing outreach work in higher education settings, helping students from diverse backgrounds including first-generation students to be academically successful. She started her career in higher education in 1996. With 22 years extensive experience in higher education, she is known for her engaging classroom approach to teaching, using communication theories to encourage participation, using performing art forms to teach, express and communicate important concepts/ideas in and outside classrooms. Dr. Sharma was awarded twice with the Honored Instructor Award by the University of Wisconsin Madison, anonymously voted by the students. She also has international project management/coordination/campaign organization experience, especially with grant programs supported by the Government of India, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP) to name a few. She earned her PhD degree in Communication (the Scripps College of Communication); a Master’s degree in International affairs, with a focus on Communication and Development, and a graduate certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the Ohio University. She has earned a Bachelor’s of Education degree and a Bachelor's of Science degree from the University of Delhi, India. On a personal level, she is trained in the Swami-Khera Gharana (traditional performance school) in dance and theatre. She has given hundreds of performances across the world. As part of her teaching/advising and coaching philosophy, she truly believes in combining her teaching experience, project management skills, education, and training in performing arts to enrich cultural and diverse learning experiences for her students
This piece speaks to the many levels of poverty that affect women around the world. The fight to survive is real and ongoing. Poverty has layers. Often people only see the outward layer, but the struggle is many layers deep and often is generational. Surviving poverty is a battle for many people, especially for women. It may be a poverty of “choices”, for others it is classism, sexism, lack of education, lack of a voice, or simply lack of knowing someone who can help without judgement.
Slowly the evolution of classism showed me the way. How can I become middle class or wealthy? How do I turn the tables and prevent poverty from influencing my children’s future?
This poem is in the book Lifting Women’s Voices an anthology comprised of women’s voices from around the world using prose, poetry, and prayer to lift each other up as they fight the things that get in the way of having a big life without poverty.
How do you define poverty? How do you fight it every day? What is your story? Won’t you share…?
Diamond Allen (11A)
Biography: Diamond Allen is a Saint Martin De Porres graduate. During high school, she participated in cross country, Women's Circle, and served as vice president in Jewels and Gents and landed a helping hand whenever she could. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, professionally bowling in a league where she received many awards and scholarships that assisted her in continuing my higher education at Ohio University. Along with bowling, dancing, and running, she also enjoys reading, writing, and drawing in her free time. She really enjoys helping others because it could be something as small as holding the door for someone that brings her joy.
My focus is on wrongfully convicted women. During a seminar for a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder, I had the chance to meet him and talk with his wife. His wife asked me had I ever heard about women who were wrongfully convicted, which I had not. My interest grew deeper and I was intrigued by these women's stories and the fact that it sometimes takes years for them to get released, and even longer for them to be exonerated. Not only are their lives changed because of the time lost, but depending on the crime they supposedly committed, if they aren't exonerated then that can affect the rest of their lives. These women put their lives on the line when they choose not to plead guilty, just to get a lesser time for a crime they never committed - not to mention the types of things that they may go through behind bars and how the media comes into play makes things unbearable and disheartening. The idea for my piece was to have two trifold boards that displayed 4 women behind bars and the bars will display the foul play that had to do with why they are in jail. In the middle there are clippings of headlines used to bash these women, and the ways that society demeans them without knowing the true story of what happened. Examples of things that can cause error in a case are bias against sex, sexual orientation, race, class, ability, and political views. Some other things include junk science, foul play and lying, and poor funding for defense.
Olivia Ratcliff-Totty (11B)
Biography: Olivia Ratcliff-Totty is a sophomore at Ohio University. Olivia is a Psychology major and plans on getting a doctorate in the future. She is also involved with several multicultural organizations on campus, such as Black Student Cultural Programming Board. Her passions include singing and exercising. She enjoys learning about women’s rights and is an advocate for racial equality.
I focused on the microaggressions that women face and hear daily. Microaggressions, regardless of race or background, impacts each woman on a different level. To show how microaggressions impact women, I have created a photo album. I have asked my close friends and other women on campus if I can take their picture for a project. I will then proceed to ask about the most prominent microaggression that has even been said to them, or had the biggest influence in their life. That microaggression was then quoted next to their picture in the album. The tone of the album was be serious, so I asked the women to look powerful yet serious in their facial expression. I wanted to include a wide range of women who come from different backgrounds, religions, and races. Along with the photo album, I provided a list of the most commonly used microaggressions and how to respond maturely when the sayings are used. A total of 15-20 women are featured in the photo album. There are many times when women feel as if they do not have a voice.
An Intersectional Feminist Alliance and Women’s Center collaboration (12A)
“Menstrual Hut”
While the practice of Chhaupadi was banned in Nepal in 2005, some still enforce it in rural and conservative regions. Chhaupadi denies women equal participation during menstruation and are kept separate from others in menstrual huts and prevented from touching food, practicing certain aspects of religion, and more, while menstruating. There are cases of women dying when forced to sleep in a menstrual hut removed from others. Some die due to weather conditions, snake bites, and a death in January 2019 was due to smoke inhalation (as a fire was lit due to weather conditions and the hut did not have appropriate ventilation). This construction of a type of menstrual hut that someone may stay in (though not to scale) forces our gaze and makes visible the often-silenced topic of menstruation.
M. Geneva Murray, PhD, Director of Women’s Center (12B)
“Menstrual Quilt”
Biography: Geneva is a textile artist that enjoys using thread and fabric to demonstrate the interconnectedness, and the differences, in our stories. This menstrual myth quilt creates visible the myths relating to menstruation, which have very real impacts in one’s day to day life. For example, the myth that only women menstruate can prevent transmen from receiving adequate health care. The myth that women cannot participate fully in public life while menstruating creates a cycle of stigma, shame, and economic disparity.
Arianna Guerra (13A)
Biography: Arianna is a storyteller who uses art to share the silent struggle of the Black woman in America.
The woman in the photo is her mother and the phrases flowing from her scalp are microaggressions that she faces daily. These seemingly harmless comments are a form of prejudice that we do not often recognize. Specifically, Black women receive many negative comments about their hair, body or style which are often perceived as not traditionally professional or elegant. This commentary furthers the stereotype that Black women cannot be beautiful or feminine.
Delight Jessica Agboada, Rustom Amartey, & Harry Morgan Insaidoo (13B)
“Gender roles in a traditional Ghanaian setting”
Biography: Delight Jessica Agboada studies Communication and Development Studies and has interests in gender, development and health. She is particularly interested in the synergy between the health and development of women in low and middle-income countries. Being an art fanatic, she is also open to learning about the contribution of art in development. Rustom Amartey studies Latin American Studies with a focus on education and health. Harry Morgan Insaidoo studies Communication and Development Studies and has interests in health, education and empowerment of young children especially the female child in low and middle-income countries. He is a professionally trained teacher and Graphic Designer and believes that we can use art to bring about social change.
Gender plays a dominant role in the traditional Ghanaian setting. The role played by participants in a home is basically determined by their biological makeup. Over generations, it has been that the man provides for the home and the woman manages the resources mostly by multitasking. The woman, unfortunately, has to handle everything from chores to the upkeep of the children. However, even in the wake of education and feminism, women are still being oppressed in their marriages in these forms. Interestingly, the dynamics have changed with regards to who provides for the family as both the man and the woman work jobs to fend for the family. However, the woman’s role has not been redefined in homes. It is in the wake of this development that we revisit the past on how the traditional woman was oppressed while raising awareness on the kind of oppression women face simply because they are women.
The artwork depicts a traditional Ghanaian home where a man and a woman who had returned from the farm are seen settling into their various roles. The woman is seen breastfeeding a baby, bathing the second child, grinding vegetables in “asanka” (traditional earthenware bowl) and still has her eyes on the food on fire whereas the man listens to the radio while relaxing in his lazy chair and asking when food will be served. In the artwork, the farm tools, cutlass and hoe are still beside the man with the expectation that the woman will place them back at where these tools are kept.
Esther Aulis-Cabrera (13C)
Biography: Esther Marie Cabrera is an 18-year-old college freshman at Ohio University. Her family is originally from Veracruz, MX and have lived in Cincinnati for 16 years. Esther is a past member of the advisory board for Youth Educating Society, a youth leadership program of the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center. Esther has been involved since her Sophomore year in high school. She is a very passionate activist, writer and reader. Esther's passions have led her to pursue an English degree at Ohio University this fall and become a strong advocate for the Latinx community.
“Just So Right”
My presented art is poetry. I have attached a document with three poetry submissions. My first piece is called “Just So Right”. The piece is about finding your identity within a culture that regulates you to two identities. As a white Latina I often find myself having to validate my identity in terms of my privilege and inequalities. The poem aims to introduce words like Afro-Latina and White Latina to the conversation. In every culture and nationality there are people of different skin colors.
“Suitcase”
In my second piece is called “Suitcase”. This piece is about the struggle of a young girl afraid to lose her mother. The piece brings light to issues of immigration, family separation and America’s currently broken immigration system. The poem is extremely personal as I have based it off my own immigration story with my mother.
“We the People”
*Please be aware this piece may contain language considered sensitive*
My last piece is called “We the People”. The poem explores the idea that women can also contribute to putting and keeping women down. The suppression of women at many times is harsher and stronger when coming from other women. All these poems are taken from personal experiences and then made to fit a boarder narrative. These are the stories that tell my experience, but are not foreign to many women in this world.
“Métissage” (13D)
“Métissage as a tool to examine women and leadership”
Biography: Authors of this piece include Sara Hagan, Brooklyn Kuhn, Macy Shaeffer, Sarah Wingo, Rebecca Willard, Sunny Simms, Mac Stricklen, Jenna Lehr, Mallory Golski, Tiffany Anderson, Rachel Thomas, Esther Marie Cabrera, and anonymous contributors.
The word has a problematic history – rooted in Métis for mixed: denotes “both fear of the ‘Other’ and fear of the ‘familiar-strange’” (Nishad Khanna). For our purposes, it’s an art practice that allows us to see the differences and connections between our stories – the lack of boundaries, the deconstruction of binary. This art piece was created as part of the Thirsting for Knowledge series at the Women’s Center. Two prompts were given: 1) What do racial conversations about women’s leadership look like? 2) What are the leadership qualities of a social change maker? Participants free wrote and then wove their narratives together. The narratives were then embroidered to create what you see today.
Phoebe Parker (13E)
Biography: Phoebe Parker is a senior, double majoring in political science and Southeast Asian studies. She is writing her senior political science thesis on the Sedulur Sikep people of Indonesia by analyzing their resistance to the cement industry. Also, she is currently in her sixth semester of Bahasa Indonesia. She stayed in Indonesia during the summer of 2016 and plan on returning this summer after she graduates.
My submission is a poem written in Bahasa Indonesia about the women of the Sedulur Sikep community. The Sedulur Sikep movement, also known as Saminism, was founded during the period of Dutch colonialism as a group of Javanese peasants, with Samin as their guide, struggled against colonial oppression. Despite Indonesian independence, this community of peasant farmers still exists today, as they continue to live peacefully. Since 2005, however, the Indonesian government and state-owned cement industry have been attempting to coerce Sedulur Sikep farmers and their neighbors into giving up their land in order to build cement factories. In turn, the women of the Sedulur Sikep community in Pati, Indonesia have taken it upon themselves to resist the cement industry through educating and organizing with other farmers who are also at risk, as well as protesting the government and the cement industry directly. Through my poem, I hope to illustrate their strength, wisdom, courage, and determination in defending themselves, their community, and their neighbors from cultural and environmental degradation.
Women of Color Who Paved the Way Exhibit (13F)
Women of Color Who Paved the Way originated as a Thirsting for Knowledge Thursday with the Women’s Center. The project was inspired by both Black Panther and Hidden Figures as Women’s Center staff were interested in the ways in which women of color’s achievements have been ignored. As such, the Women of Color Who Paved the Way program (February 2019) was born. Pictures and biographies were provided of women of color who have paved the way, including Maya Angelou, Tarana Burke, Shirley Chisholm, Laverne Cox, Gulabi Gang, Anita Hill, Lű Hsiu-lien, Mary Jackson, Marsha P. Johnson, Frida Kahlo, Jhumpa Lahiri, Audre Lorde, Wilma Mankiller, Fe Villanueva del Mundo, Shirin Neshat, Rosa Parks, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Mary Golda Ross, Sojourner Truth, and Malala Yousafzai. Participants at the event were then encouraged to create art inspired by the women identified, as well as any other women that inspired them. As you view the art, we hope that you will also take the time to read the biographies of these amazing women and to commit to learning more about women’s achievements throughout history and around the world!
Dani Mailap (14A)
Biography: Dani Mailap is a trans artist of color currently studying English: Creative Writing and Gender and Sexuality Studies. Their work often surrounds the intersections of gender, race, and class that they inhabit and embody. Previously, they have most often found themselves drawn to poetry as a medium but have recently found themselves drawn to more visual arts.
"I am led to this work as a filipinx trans person because exploring the lives of those similar to me in all ways except the country we live in, has been a deeply unsettling task. There are not words to describe how it feels for a displaced person to imagine their life without displacement. At the core of this work is a feeling only I will ever feel, if I can convey even a sliver of that feeling, I have done my job."
73% of people in Philippines believe that lgbt+ people should be accepted by mainstream society, according to a survey published by the Pew Research Center in 2014. This survey has been cited many times in articles deeming the Philippines one of the safest countries in Southeast for lgbt+ people. Recently these claims have come into question, with the Trans Murder Monitoring Project reporting that 41 trans people were reported* murdered between 2008 and 2016, the highest trans murder rate in Southeast Asia.
These posters were created using Adobe InDesign and bring to light the truth behind the safest country for lgbt+ people in Southeast Asia. They are minimal in design and focus on words to instill in the viewer the same feeling of deep unease these words leave in me.
*not all trans people who are murdered are reported as trans and therefore this number is likely higher in fact
Anonymous (14B)
“let me be me”
Biography: Anonymous is a student at The Ohio University in Athens, Ohio studying animation and is pursuing a degree in media arts and studies.
The piece “let me be me” is a visual representation of just some of the frequent feelings of a genderfluid person. In the United States alone, it is estimated that 150,000 children identify as transgender, and 1.4 million adults do as well. Each state is said to be home to an estimated 100,000 transgender individuals. Every year, the number of citizens who choose to publicly identify as a gender that strays from what is considered to be traditional increases, as a growing number of youths work to raise awareness and call for a society in which all might feel safe and accepted.
Jenna Rose Hanifan (14C)
Biography: Jenna Rose Hanifan says: "Art has always been my thinking space, my place to be me, free of all the taunts, torments and stressors of my life. It is through art that I can share my inner self with others. To quote the doctor from the British TV show Dr. Who as he prepares to regenerate into a new physical form, “things change and so must I”. I understand as change is a stressor for me as I transition from male to female. We choose our gender expression through our clothes, hair style and behaviors which helps others to see us as we want to be seen and I chose to do two very personal collages about my transition – of how this transition can sometimes be beautiful and free and other times despair, doubt and depression."
The two collages I wish to exhibit is about my transition. Both collages are 18 x 24 with acrylic backgrounds. The yellow collage is about the hardest thing I have ever had to do – tell my mom. The letter in the middle is the exact one I wrote to her, afraid of what she might think and do; afraid of hurting her yet hoping for her understanding and acceptance. I know she loves me, but this is a difficult thing to be told and I was afraid it would shock her to her soul. I particularly wanted this collage to portray freedom, peace and beauty as shown with the butterflies and roses – the freedom I now experience after coming out. The pink collage is about women and our struggles to be accepted. We have mountains to conquer realizing that not everyone will understand the journey we are on, but it is our journey, not theirs. Some of our friends will choose to leave but new ones take their place as we journey to find ourselves, who we really are, who we were born to be. We are not defined by our genitals.
Natalie Artz (14D)
Biography: Natalie Artz is a freshman studying Integrated Media at Ohio University, interested in film photography.
This is a series of three photographs taken during the Columbus Pride Festival and Parade in June 2018. The middle photo is of my roommate and her girlfriend at the festival; I captured this photo moments after they finished walking in the parade together. This photo displays women empowerment and women as leaders because the subjects are self-assured and strong as they proudly walked down the streets of Columbus. My roommate, Addie, and her girlfriend, Logan, are two of the most resilient, bold, and unapologetically genuine women I know. The first and last photo are shots from the parade itself. I think all of these photos embody confidence, self-respect, and, most importantly, pride in oneself. The energy and happiness surrounding Columbus on the day of Pride is breathtaking, and I sought to capture its essence. I was able to walk in the parade alongside my roommate and her girlfriend, which was an incredible experience because I was able to show my support while capturing the beauty and vibrancy of the parade within my photos. These photos were taken on 35mm Kodak 400tx black and white film. (medium: film photography)
Sally Gainey (14E)
Biography: Sally Gainey is a sophomore and an integrated media major at Ohio University.
The piece that I created is an acrylic painting on canvas of an African American drag queen as to represent the intersection of gender with LGBTQ and racial/ethnic identities. I hope to able to capture the essence of the power and beauty of queer PoC who have paved the way for so many movements in American history and around the world.
Sierra Noser (14F)
“Relaxing the Curriculum”
Biography: I am Sierra Noser, I am a lesbian and I am a woman.
The representation of all women and all LGBTQ members has always been very important to me and I am a large advocate for equality. A woman by the name of Laurel Lampela tells us that 80% of art teachers include LGBTQ artists in their curriculum, so why have I never heard anything about them? This question could have many answers, but I don’t care about any of them. I want to relax the system and start teaching more about LGBTQ artists across the country, because they deserve to be represented. You were probably unaware that some of the most known artists identify as part of the LGBTQ community. Women artists of the LGBTQ specifically are significantly underrepresented. We need to take a break from the old, dated, heteronormative system and start learning about these amazing artists that happen to be a part of the LGBTQ community, and that is exactly what I hope to do with my installation. From the hammock I have hung many things including their names and some of their works as well as some facts and statistics about LGBTQ women artists.
Chris Mediate (15A)
Biography: Chris Mediate is a sophomore strategic communication major at Ohio University. I love to write, read, watch movies/TV, and I’m a huge sports fan. Chris decided to look to his biggest interests—sports, literature, and writing—for inspiration for this piece and he hopes everyone can both enjoy it and find it very informative.
Inspired by his love of sports, paired with his love of writing, this poem exemplifies the pay gap discrepancies between female athletes and male athletes, despite both playing the same sport and putting in similar amounts of work. The focus here is on the pay gap between the WNBA and the NBA. According to Forbes Magazine, the average salary of referees is more than the average salary of WNBA players. The referee salaries range from $150,000 to $550,000. The highest paid WNBA player’s salary is $117,500 (Forbes). This is due in large part to the fact that WNBA players are only receiving 21.5% of the league’s revenue, as opposed to the NBA whose players receive 50% of league revenue (Forbes). The main idea of this poem is to capture and compare the work players of both leagues put in and how unjust it is that female players only receive a small fraction of what they could be making
Collection of Dianne Bouvier, Painting by Marlene L'Abbé (Montreal, Canada) (15B)
“Housewarming” (2014)
Biography: Marlene L’Abbe is from Montreal, Canada. Her work often has themes and images of women, alone or with other women and/or animals, in colorful home settings. This painting, called “Housewarming,” is reminiscent of Marc Chagall, with dreamlike imaginings enfolding around a central woman knitting together a house.
Artist Statement: Housewarming was created a month prior to moving into our new home in Athens. We settled on a location after several months of ups and downs connected to the joys of house hunting. The contract was signed, and I needed to process the experience. The art depicts a woman finally centered on the task ahead of her, to create a warm environment for her new home. The past with the colliding houses, stray dog, emotional ups and downs symbolized by the ladder was over. The knitted sweater with the sun pattern represents my housewarming gift to the process.
Thoughts from Dianne: When I saw Marlene L’Abbé’s painting, “Housewarming,” at the Appalachian Women’s Art Show in 2015, I immediately fell in love with its life spirit, vibrant colors and the calm bluebird on her shoulder. The painting was reminiscent of Marc Chagall, with dreamlike imaginings enfolding a central woman knitting what would be a home filled with sunlight. It’s been a joy to have it welcome me when I walk in my office in the morning.
International Affairs Commission (15C)
Biography: The International Affairs Commission is one of the twelve commissions in Student Senate. We represent the international student body, providing programming, events, and act as a liaison between the administration.
The commission tabled about international women’s day and had a large cloth for students to come and write what internationals women’s day means to then, female empowerment, female leaders etc.
These are some of the questions asked in addition to “What does your student org mean to you”:
“Why are women important to the world?”
“What does international women’s day mean to you?”
“What makes you a female leader?”
“Why is international women's day important?”
“What does a world without women look like?”
“How do you support international women?”
Prince Duodo (15D)
Biography: Prince Duodo was born in Offinso in the Ashanti Region of Ghana and is the 1st of 3 children of his father and mother. In his early years, he saw education as a fundamental element to self and national advancement. With this as an imprint, he took my studies seriously aiming to be an influential person who will make an immense impact in his country and the world at large. Although he took his studies seriously, he had a setback in his education when he failed mathematics in his High school examination. The performances in some of the other subjects were also not as he expected. He sat for a re-sit in mathematics but failed again. He always believes that failure can be either a weight or wings to propel a person to higher heights in life. He chose the latter and decided to go back to school again. He registered in a school and wrote all the subjects again. When the results came out, he was the best student in the school. This gave me an automatic admission to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) without buying any application forms and applying to any program at the University. This happened because KNUST has a criterion of selecting the best students from the less endowed schools without buying any application forms. His school was a less endowed and because of his performance, he was selected. Just a week to my University education, his father divorced his mother. He was emotionally and psychologically traumatized and his early days at the university were difficult financially. He encouraged and challenged himself that he will never allow anything to derail his dreams. He could hardly make ends meet since he struggled to buy handouts and other learning materials and had to borrow handouts from colleagues and stay awake to read at dawn since he had to return it in the morning. He also borrowed laptops for his assignments and research work. He had to combine his studies with other menial jobs on and off campus to survive financially. All these challenges and hurdles propelled him to work harder in his academic pursuit. He was a member of the Political Studies Student Association (POSSA) and became its Public Relations Officer (PRO) during his undergraduate studies at KNUST in the 2013/14 academic year. Despite all these challenges and hurdles, he was able to graduate with a second class (upper division). His national service and most of his voluntary services were directed to the teaching and doing voluntary work in many places in Ghana. His tough challenges and experience have made him believe strongly that, with dedication, commitment, and perseverance, everything is possible. He is currently an MA candidate in African Studies at Ohio University, and he is also the Akan instructor. He believes if you cannot make the life of someone better, don’t make it bitter.
This submission is about the courage and strength exhibited by a woman named Yaa Asantewaa during the British colonial rule in Gold Coast, currently Ghana. It portrays the power of a woman. Yaa Asantewaa, the queenmother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Region of Ghana passed away on 17 October 1921. Her story and life are that of a queen who rallied masses in the Ashanti Kingdom to fight for their independence against British colonial rule. Yaa Asantewaa’s story is that of courage, determination, and stamina. She led a rebellion against the British at a time when the men surrounding her were low in spirit, afraid, and discouraged. She encouraged and gave them a sense of courage to fight for their independence, and for their nation. Her fight against British colonialists is a story that has left an indelible mark in the history of Ghana. Yaa Asantewaa was born in 1840 in the Gold Coast in the Kingdom of Ashanti. She was a farmer, mother, intellectual, politician, human right activist, Queen and leader. Yaa Asantewaa shot into fame for leading the Ashanti rebellion against British colonialism to defend the Golden Stool, which epitomizes the soul of the Ashanti nation (1900–1901). She was at front foot for the promotion of women emancipation as well as gender equality.
Sarah Donaldson (15E)
Biography: Sarah Donaldson is a freshman enrolled in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism with a major in Journalism News and Information. She is the digital editor for The New Political and a reporter at WOUB’s The OUtlet. She’s passionate about news, politics, and intersectional feminism, and hopes to see even more women in political office come next year.
Sarah Donaldson's piece focuses on women in politics, specifically about the number of women elected to Congress this year.
Julia Triston (16A)
“Push My Button Knicker Bunting”
Biography: Julia Triston is a professional UK-based Textile Artist with a strong established track record and a conceptual focus on notions of gender, identity and sustainability. She also is a selected member of the Textile Study Group, and an experienced public speaker.
Push My Button’ Knicker Bunting. This is my original Knicker Bunting Installation, created in 2008.My aim in making this installation was to create a permanent, feminist, social artwork that embodied real women, by displaying proudly and honestly, what is usually unseen and taboo: our worn underwear.
Lorien Rose Chavez (16B)
Biography: Lorien is a 19-year-old Sophomore studying psychology and neurology here at Ohio University. She grew up in Yellow Springs Ohio and hopes to go on to join the Peace Corps after graduation, before continuing her education in hopes of obtaining a PhD in neuroscience.
This piece is a representation of a picture taken of me at the Women's March on Washington in January of 2017. Being surrounded by ordinary women like myself who were doing extraordinary things brought me such a sense of power and purpose for myself, as well as a great deal of gratitude for those before us who marched for our right to march. Made with a blend of acrylic paint and metallic painting markers, this piece is my humble attempt at capturing what I felt so strongly there.
Protest Room (16C)
Protest signs located within this exhibit are not necessarily reflective of the political views of any of the organizers. They are, however, an important representation of feminist engagement. Some protest signs are on loan and represent participation in protests in the early 2000s. Many of these represent the National Organization of Women. Early in the formation of the National Organization for Women (NOW), some NOW organizers desperately tried to distance themselves from any association with lesbianism. In 1969, Betty Friedan, one of the NOW founders, argued that lesbians were the “lavender menace” (as quoted in Gilmore and Kaminski 2007). The strategy of excluding lesbians from a women’s organization assumes heterosexuality as the norm amongst women. Many heterosexual members excluded lesbians out of fear that NOW would become overrun with lesbians. It was argued that this would give too much attention to lesbian concerns at the expense of heterosexual women and delegitimize heterosexual feminists’ protests (Gilmore and Kaminski 2007). The “Lesbian Rights NOW” protest sign in particular demonstrates a change in the official messaging of NOW, which is also represented in that LGBTQ Rights is included in their “issues” of importance. The suffrage banner “Mr. President, what will you for woman suffrage” replicated the National Woman’s Party’s banner that was used in protest during President Wilson’s presidency (February 1917). National Woman’s Party members were the first group to formally protest a war time president. 218 suffragists were arrested. Many of the other protest banners were created at an International Women’s Coffee Hour, organized by the Women’s Center and International Student and Scholar Services, and hosted at Passion Works in January 2019. These hand-made protest banners vary on topics but provide insight into some of the ways in which women’s history, identity, and women’s rights are viewed.
Sophie Little (16D)
Biography: Sophie Little is a freshman at Ohio University. She is a graphic design major with a minor in French.
The main focus of this painting is to show people to recognize that feminism works to free women of all identities including women of color, working class women, poor women, physically challenged women, lesbian women and old women- as well as white economically privileged heterosexual women. The painting shows the importance of looking through an intersectional lens on different topics and events. The left side of this painting takes place during the suffrage march of 1913 where one day before the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson, more than 5,000 women descended on Washington to fight for the right to vote. Despite the fact that the right to vote was no less important to black women than it was to black men and white women, African American women were told to march at the back of the parade with a black procession. Seven years after this march the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote, was ratified on August 18, 1920. The right side of this painting is capturing the 3.3 million Americans who gathered for marches around the country, rallying behind calls for a Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017 calling for gender equality, protection for immigrants, minority and LGBTQ rights and access to women's health services.
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/03/03/this-day-history-1913-womens-suffrage-parade
Domonique Cudjo (17A)
Biography: Domonique Cudjo is a second-year graduate student in the College Student Personnel program at Ohio University, and a Graduate Resident Director for Housing & Residence Life. Prior to beginning her graduate studies, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Florida Gulf Coast University in English with minors in Creative Writing and World Literature. Her passion lies in educating, engaging, and empowering students to shape their story. If anyone ever needs a pick me up, she is there with a quote to turn their day around. In her free time, she enjoys decorating her planner, writing poetry, and trying new foods.
SayHerName raises awareness for black female victims of police brutality and anti-black violence in the United States. Instead of sewing the names of victims on fabric to make a quilt, their names will be displayed using a different medium. The art installation is a literal interpretation of the SayHerName social movement. Exhibit participants will choose a name from a list of black women who were victims of police brutality and anti-black violence. The list is subject to change as new names are added to the list. The participant will choose a name from the list and speak it out loud which causes a heart animation to beat. A bullet wound will appear and grow with each heartbeat and names will swirl around the heart.
Katherine Ziff, Ph.D. (ATRIUM A)
“River Spirit: An Embodiment of the Hocking River”
Biography: Katherine Ziff am an artist, writer, counselor, and teacher. Born by the ocean in North Carolina, she is going on her 21st year in Athens. She is a wife to Matthew, mother of Benjamin, and mother-in-law to her beautiful “bonus” daughter Alexandra. She has been a school counselor, a clinical counselor, an ombudsman, and a professor at Wake Forest University. Her first job asked of her to help organize the advocacy effort of a coalition to preserve the New River as a National Wild and Scenic River. Since then she has been an advocate for preservation of wildness in nature. Last year she was the first Deep Ecology Artist Fellow for the United Plant Savers, an international organization based in Rutland, Ohio dedicated to preservation of wild medicinal plants. Her book on the history of the state mental hospital on The Ridges: Asylum on the Hill, History of a Healing Landscape, weaves the significance of the landscape into the narratives of patients and politics. In 2012 She began studying plant medicine in the form of flower essences and now teach about this integrative healing modality.
This work is part of an exhibit at the Majestic Gallery in Nelsonville February 22-March 22, 2019. I have undertaken that exhibit in collaboration with artists from Passion Works.
As part of our planet’s waterways, the Hocking River’s waters eventually flow into the Gulf of Mexico. This river gives us drinking water, supports fish and other wildlife, and at one time supported a canal that transported travelers, coal, other goods, and even a floating barber shop. The Hocking can be a docile trickle, and occasionally its floodwaters roar and churn as they sweep down to the Ohio River creating at times new paths for itself.
I like to contemplate the river personified as a woman. I imagine how she must tire of receiving and processing the chemicals that she must absorb, and the sewage that emptied into her waterways. I wonder what she thought of being dug up and moved off the Ohio University campus, and whether she minded displacing the gardens and lakes from the Athens State Hospital in her new path. I love to (cautiously) go visit her in flood stage, as she sweeps up everything in her path.
River Spirit is a colorful net, or curtain, that embodies my imaginative vision of the presence and energy of the Hocking River.
Diversity Ambassadors (ATRIUM B)
Biography: The Ambassadors are a group of students, grad and undergrad, who are committed to the pursuit of a genuinely accepting and diverse community for OU and Athens County.
Our piece is a collective effort meant to celebrate the women that have positively impacted us. It’s not often we take time out of our days to actively appreciate what we’re grateful for, so we took on this project as a moment of reflection, a time to honestly give gratitude through artistic expression. We also made sure to include a rainbow of women from all types of cultural backgrounds, gender identities, and sexual orientations. We chose this medium to be able to collectively showcase not only who we, as a collective group felt, was impactful on a broader scale, but also the individual level. A college is always an amalgamation meant to express a larger idea. Starting here we took a step back and took a look at what makes not only a strong woman, but a strong person, resilience, empathy, kindness, and passion were all traits that came to mind, the women included all are an excellent example of one or more of these. It has become so familiar to view a picture through a screen that the concept of a real photo has become almost a source of nostalgia, bringing the likeness of these people who bring us so much joy to a tangible space is an emotionally cleansing experience. We encourage the viewer to take a moment for themselves and think about the women in their life and think about the impact that they’ve had on you, or even the world at large.