Don't Shut Up Exhibit

The FIG Don't Shut Up exhibit at City College was short but full of interactions and events. If you missed it, here's some of what went on. A later post will focus on some of the performances, the panel discussion, and the artist talk.

We used Helen Redman's piece Resist for our postcard...

Helen Redman, Resist

There were two sets of community quilts in the exhibit. The four below were created by FIG and other artists.

Artists in the community quilts are listed below.

Left quilt, left row, top to bottom: Linda Litteral with Don't Shut Up, Kim Niehans with Fount, Alison Baker with Victorian Pretense, Anna Stump with Not Your Pussy, and Deanne Sabeck with Beauty Power Freedom.
Left quilt, right row, top to bottom: Moya Devine with She Revolution, MKC with We the People, Linda Weaver with The World Needs Your Voice, Patricia Law with Women With Wings, and Dani Dodge with She Persisted.
Center top quilt, top row, left to right: Michelle Haglund with I Am a Powerful Woman, Minnie Valero with Woman Create Thyself, Patricia Frischer with Heal Yourself Health World, Bobi Postelnek, and Azerly Gutierrez.
Center top quilt, bottom row, left to right: Makenna Litteral with WOWW (West Olive Women of the World), Grace Gray-Adams with NO, Helen Redman with Stand Watch, Kathi Mccord with Joan, and Grace Matthews.
Center bottom quilt, top row, left to right: Grace Gray-Adams with Girl Cowboy, Ginger Rosser with Club Fees, Grace Gray-Adams with Gotta Mind of My Own, Cindy Sanchez with Retrato De Mi Mama, and Janice Grinsell with Exquisite Pain.
Center bottom quilt, bottom row, left to right: Janice Grinsell with Donde Estas, Leah Younker with Women Are Silenced in Many Ways, Kathy Nida with The Government Made Me Do It, Grace Gray-Adams with Let It Bleed, and Kathi McCord with Julia.
Right quilt, left row, top to bottom: Linda Litteral with Protect Diversity, Joyce Rooks with Upside Down and Backwards, Andrea Vazquez and Desiree Laurence with They Tried to Buy Us, Naimen Tanha Woodward with Come to Light, and Linda Litteral with Protect Innocence.
Right quilt, right row, top to bottom: MKC with Not a Pre-Existing Condition, Linda Litteral with Protect the Environment, Khristine Schomaker with Resist, Kathleen Mitchell with What Kind of Fuckery Is This, and Maria Perry with Deeply Rooted.

The other three community quilts were from STARS, which stands for Surviving Together, Achieving and Reaching for Success, a program for girls and women between 12-24 years old who have been involved with commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. 

In the front of the gallery, Hannah Johansen set up her piece, The List, a participatory installation focusing on personal recollections of experienced sexism that women face and the sexual assaults that permeate our lives. 

Visitors could add their own stories on paper taped to the wall or to the computer list that Johansen is collecting. Narratives and specific events are shared as a means to protect the abused and shame the abuser. During our tumultuous time, women and other abused people, regardless of gender, must protect each other.

If you're interested in submitting to the list, email submittothelist@gmail.com.

Nilly Gill had a reproduction of a painting of hers.

Nilly Gill, Tell me the story, I wouldn't hurt you

The painting was posted with three of her poems, including "It must be...TheDaysOfPain&Paint", "Trapped", and "Once Upon A - time...At The Studio" (reproduced in the catalog).

Nilly Gill with her painting and poems.

Betty Bangs, Just Love

Just Love

Jessica Wheedon, Liberate

Janice Grinsell, Hostage

Janice Grinsell, Squinting into the Shadows

Kim Niehans, Ten

Moya Devine, Don't Tread on Me

Sara Parent-Ramos, 12-2am#1 and #2

Marva Whitehead, Unarmed

Kathy Nida, We Won't Go Back

Kathi McCord, I Am Not Your Lab Rat

Kathi McCord's statement

Bhavna Mehta, Sing

Grace Matthews, Elizabeth Don't Shut Up!

Moya Devine, Trumpeter

Moya Devine, Bad Actors

Anna Stump, Another Fucking Princess

Marva Whitehead, Upper Deck and Fancy Dancin' Fannies

Judith Parenio, The Epiphany

Ginger Rosser, I Just Wanted to Dance

Ginger Rosser's poster about stripper labor rights

Kathleen Mitchell, Reap (anagram)

Linda Litteral, Story Tellers: He, She

Linda Litteral, inside of He

Linda Litteral

Linda Litteral

Linda Litteral

Linda Litteral, See, Hear, Speak

Linda Litteral

Linda Litteral

Judith Parenio, La Pensativa

Judith Parenio

Dani Dodge, Die Young Stay Pretty

Dani Dodge

Sara Parent-Ramos, 12-2am#3

Sara Parent-Ramos

Helen Redman, What the F**k

Helen Redman 

Helen Redman

Helen Redman

Helen Redman

Helen Redman

Helen Redman

Divita, Disorder Doll: These Heels Are Killing Me

Divita

Divita

Grace Gray-Adams, Mother of Truth: Goddess of the Word

Janice Grinsell and Eider Fiedler de Mello, Take Me Today: Amidst the Blue Hemorrhage

Terri Hughes-Oelrich, The Law, Looking Forward

Stacy Dyson did two spoken-word performances during the opening.

There was also a dance performance by Blythe Barton Dance, Brittany Taylor, Cecily Holcomb (skirt), and Lauren Christie.

Below are selections from the opening.

Divita and friends in from of Gray-Adams' Mother of Truth

Curator and artist Linda Litteral with her piece Story Tellers: He, She.

Artists Janice Grinsell and Eider Fiedler de Mello with their piece Take Me Today.

The next post will focus on the panel discussion and artist talk.

Don't Shut Up Panel Discussion Thursday

If you haven't seen the newest FIG exhibit, Don't Shut Up, yet, stop by City Gallery AH314 at City College. The gallery is open and staffed by artists in the show from 5-7 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday through the closing date, July 26.

We've planned events for this Thursday, July 13, when the gallery will be open at 5 pm, and then we will head up to room AH306 for a panel discussion focusing on how women can support each other and work to end gender oppression. Arts and culture writer Alex Zaragoza will moderate the conversation with Marva Whitehead, artist; K-B Gressitt, feminist writer and former Women Studies lecturer; Ann Hoiberg from NOW, and Laura McLean, Program Manager for STARS. The audience will be able to ask questions as we try to figure out how to improve the world in which we live.

Community quilts by STARS participants. STARS stands for Surviving Together, Achieving, and Reaching for Success, and is a program for teen girls between the ages of 12-24 involved with commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. 

The following Thursday, July 20, the gallery will be open at 5 pm, and an artist talk and walkthrough will begin at 6 pm. We encourage you to come listen to the participating artists.

Catalogs of the show are available at the exhibit, panel discussion, and artist talk. They cost $10 and all proceeds will be donated to STARS, as will proceeds from sales of our Feminist Artist Coloring Book, featuring work from the artists of FIG. The coloring book is $20 and can also be found on Amazon.

Upcoming Exhibit: Don't Shut Up!

Women are silenced every day in every part of the world, from simple interruptions to acts of violence. On July 8th, FIG (Feminist Image Group) will kick off Don’t Shut Up, a month of female-led art and activism at City Gallery focused on raising women’s voices.

Resist, Helen Redman

FIG asked its members to address personal experiences with sexism, backlash, physical and verbal abuse, discrimination, and rape, in whatever medium and genre they felt comfortable. FIG and invited artists will participate in the exhibition, harkening back to the feminist resistance art movement of the 1960s. An activist quilt featuring 40 blocks from all over the United States, The Healing Quilt, will be on display. The opening reception will also feature a political postcard writing station by Lori Lipsman and spoken-word performance by poet Stacy Dyson.

Finally, a show about speaking up wouldn’t be complete without a panel discussion and artist talk. On Thursday, July 13, from 6-8 pm, arts and culture writer Alex Zaragoza will moderate a conversation featuring a carefully assembled group of artists, activists, domestic violence survivors, and human trafficking aide workers. The talk will focus on how women can support each other and work to end gender oppression. Panelists include artist Marva Whitehead, artist and City College student Emily Jaworski, feminist writer and former Women Studies lecturer K-B Gressitt, NOW representative Ann Hoiberg, Program Manager of STARS (San Diego Youth Services) Laura McLean, and President of No Silence, No Violence Jessica Yaffa.

The Epiphany, Judith Parenio

An artist talk and walkthrough of the show will take place on July 20 from 6-8 pm. Participating artists will be on hand to explain their art process and the inspiration behind their works.

FIG artists include Grace Gray-Adams, Moya Devine, Dani Dodge, Nilly Gill, Janice Grinsell, Terri Hughes-Oelrich, Hannah Johansen, Linda Litteral, Grace Matthews, Kathi McCord, Bhavna Mehta, Kathleen Mitchell, Kathy Nida, Kim Niehans, Judith Parenio, Sara Parent-Ramos, Helen Redman, Ginger Rosser, and Anna Stump.

Invited artists include Marva Whitehead, Emily Jaworski, Divita, Betty Bangs (Haydee Ferrufino), Berenice Straubinger, and Jessica Weeden.

The exhibit takes place at City Gallery, AH314, San Diego City College, 1508 C St, San Diego, CA 92101.