WomenWorkBooks, which is a collaborative group exhibition of art books created by local female artists and teen girls, makes its debut at
Kennedy Heights Arts Center Saturday.
The exhibit coincides with National Women’s History Month; and for Kennedy Heights Art Center’s Executive Director
Ellen Muse-Lindeman, the project, which was inspired by work created by women in
Art4Artists, is a way to showcase individual women’s voices.
“They’re beautiful works of art, so in talking about the exhibit, I just really saw not only how much the books are able to be enjoyed in terms of their artistic expression, but also how they can really serve as a springboard for discussion on a whole range of issues related to women and women’s lives,” Muse-Lindeman says.
Each art book showcases women’s hopes, dreams and curiosities, and contains responses to themes like “Voices Swimming in My Head,” “Odd Jobs for Odd Women” and “Wrinkles.”
The mission at Kennedy Heights Arts Center is to present visual art that sparks conversation, but it’s also to bring diverse groups of artists together, Muse-Lindeman says.
To that end, KHAC facilitated a project with teen girls, who used mixed-media methods like sewing, collage and painting to reflect themes like self-awareness and relationships. Their work will be displayed alongside the books made by Art4Artists.
Following one of the teen art sessions, Muse-Lindeman says she spoke with a participant who gained self-confidence as a result of the project; and that’s something she hopes finds it way into the lives of future participants this spring, as the arts center will continue its work in the community to provide similar opportunities for at-risk girls from
Cincinnati Public Schools,
The Children’s Home of Cincinnati,
Lighthouse Youth Services and
The Family Nurturing Center.
“She realized that she always was frustrated making visual art because she felt she’d have to make it look a certain way, and she really came through this experience understanding that art is really an expression of one’s self, so there really isn’t a right or wrong or a good or bad,” Muse-Lindeman says. “She really embraced that through the project, in terms of not feeling so self-conscious, but really of being proud of what she accomplished.”
Do Good:
• Attend the opening reception for
WomenWorkBooks Saturday, March 8 from 6-8 p.m., and if you can't make it, check out the exhibit during gallery hours. It runs through April 19.
• Meet the artists, and attend a panel discussion April 5 at 2 p.m. Call 513-631-4278 to schedule a personalized tour and hands-on activity if you have a group interested in attending.
•
Support the Kennedy Heights Arts Center.
By Brittany York
Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a project manager for Charitable Words. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.