An online series of performative programs associated with the exhibition Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020 at the University Art Museum (UAM).
During the unprecedented and challenging times we all found ourselves in during the Covid-19 pandemic, the UAM decided to rethink what “community” means in a world where suddenly the majority of human connections are being forged and sustained online. ALONE/TOGETHER, a curated series of online prerecorded programs, was created by the UAM in collaboration with artists and programming partners from Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020 (Labor). The series took place fully online, utilizing an array of social media and online apps the global community became even more familiar with in this new world of social distancing.
Many of these projects were developed from existing programs that were slated to take place in the museum exhibition, including live performances, pre-recorded video, and experimental community programs led by artists in our community. Plans evolved as our global situation did, and programming will extend past the reopening of our museum in September of 2020.
The UAM is especially eager to sustain the connections we have made with artist-mothers during Labor, many of which are now being asked to home school their children, while simultaneously serving as full-time professors, directors, businesswomen, and students. Now, we feel even more committed to sharing the voices of artist mothers and to reach out and support mothers and parents locally, regionally, and globally.
We hope these projects will inspire new concepts of community, and give our viewers, especially our artists and community mothers, meaningful and accessible art-based content to participate in during a time when they may feel disconnected and overwhelmed. It is our hope that a brief performance, a live reading, or an artist-led collaboration will inspire parents and all members of our community to experience this time in an alternative and positive way. We are confident that art will continue to play a crucial and valuable role in times of crisis by providing compassionate and community-minded avenues for creative expression. Please continue to stay tuned through our newsletter, Facebook, Instagram, and website as we share weekly updates on our reopening and upcoming events. Join us as we encourage all of the artist-mothers, and everyone in our global community to come ALONE/TOGETHER.
ALONE/TOGETHER: Pregnancy and Loss
Video premiered Saturday, September 5th/Recorded live on Saturday, August 22nd, 2020.
Recorded as a live panel discussion about experiences in the face of miscarriage, stillbirth, and vulnerabilities in pregnancy and childbirth, with artists Las Hermanas Iglesias, authors Kao Kalia Yang and Shannon Gibney, and educator, activist and author j wallace skelton. This panel was moderated by Kimberly York, Interim Director of NMSU’s Black Programs.
On Saturday August 22nd, 2020, the UAM hosted a live panel discussion about creative resources and experiences in the face of miscarriage, stillbirth, and vulnerabilities in pregnancy and childbirth. This important discussion took place on Zoom, between writers Shannon Gibney and Kao Kalia Yang, co-editors of What God Is Honored Here: Writings on Miscarriage and Infant Loss by and for Native Women and Women of Color, Las Hermanas Iglesias, artists whose work is featured in our current exhibition Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020 and educator, activist and author j wallace skelton. Through this panel, the discussion aimed to amplify information about pregnancy loss, miscarriage, and stillbirth within an intersectional and reproductive justice framework. This discussion provided an important development of community between those who have experienced loss, and will provide a meaningful conversation for any people who have felt disconnected and overwhelmed through their experiences. This discussion of loss focused on representing writers and artists response to miscarriage/stillbirth, as well as the important discussion of full spectrum reproductive justice for Black, Indigenous, People of Color and LGBTQ+ communities.
Learn more about the panel here.
Resource list and support sites for pregnancy & infant Loss and grieving & mourning.
The Virgin Mary from Immaculate Conception to Our Lady of Sorrows: A Curators’ Talk with Silvia Marinas-Feliner and Courtney Uldrich
Video premiered Saturday July 18th at 1PM MST / Recorded live on June 27th.
Please join co-curators of the University Art Museum’s inaugural retablo exhibition as part of Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020 for a virtual curators’ talk and exploration into the history of the UAM’s Mexican retablo collection (filmed live on June 27th, 2020). Co-curators Professor Silvia Marinas-Feliner and NMSU graduate student Courtney Uldrich discuss their methods of curating an exhibition in connection with motherhood, and exploring the importance of the Virgin Mary as one of the most exemplary models of motherhood. This exhibition is the first time this many retablos have been displayed at once since the 2000 exhibition El Favor de los Santos: The Retablo Collection of New Mexico State University. With a recent donation of over 200 retablos by renowned retablo specialist and conservator Gloria Giffords, the UAM Permanent Art Collection now houses 2,000 nineteenth-century retablos, the largest such collection in the United States. This discussion also includes the history of the collection at the UAM, and a behind-the-scene look at the process of accessioning the recently acquired retablos into the collection.
Little Labors:
A video performance by Jessica Jackson Hutchins.
uam.nmsu.edu/Little-Labors
Saturday, April 4, 1PM–Forever
Filmed at the University Art Museum on the opening night of Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020, in this video sculptor Jessica Jackson Hutchins breathed new life into three of her internationally exhibited works: Sap, Deviled Eggs and Red Wine, and Lascaux Reprise, transforming these three sculptures into a performance installation. Three dancers from the NMSU Kinesiology department acted as stand-ins for mothers and children wearing, dancing, and experimenting with Hutchins’s abstract clay sculptures during an improvisational performance. By repurposing these sculptural pieces from her studio with a dance performance, the dancers turn ceramic objects into wearable sculptures using their bodies to scoff at prescribed rituals, in an effort to recreate the euphoria and pain that children and mothering bring to one’s body and creative life.
LET’S CRASH TOGETHER:
A participatory work by artist Joey Fauerso in conjunction with New Mexico State University Art Museum, Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020 exhibition.
uam.nmsu.edu/lets-crash-together
Video Available Saturday, April 18, 2020-Ongoing
Read more here.
On Saturday April 11, 2020 a live simultaneous video performance Let’s Crash Together was hosted by artist Joey Fauerso in collaboration with the UAM. We invited you to build impermanent sculptures with your children to crash collectively and over 35 families and individuals joined us from across the globe for this exciting digital event. The final recording of the “crash” has been posted on the UAM Youtube channel and is now available for you to view. This video will also be accessible through this website and our Youtube channel ongoing. The UAM hopes that you enjoy the video, which captures the moments where all those attending were able to connect virtually, and unite in this gesture of creative destruction through the collective crash!
For more information email: misage@nmsu.edu.
SHELTER IN PLACE:
A collaborative photography project by artist Joey Fauerso in conjunction with New Mexico State University Art Museum, Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020 exhibition.
Saturday, April 11, 2020 and ongoing
Read more here.
At this time when we are all being asked to stay home, we invite you to participate in the project “Shelter in Place,” a community-sourced collection of pillow forts and shelters built by confined families all over the world. Your ‘shelter’ will join a collection of images that will be displayed digitally and ultimately in print form. Your shelter can be any size, made from any material, and can be inside or outside. Send us pictures of your shelter, along with your “shelter builders,” where you live, and a title or material list if you wish, to misage@nmsu.edu, from April 11 to May 11 and it will be included in this project! As we receive submissions, they will be posted on the UAM Instagram (@nmsuartmuseum). The final piece will be a printed poster that archives the work, the date of completion to be announced.
ART practice / MOTHER practice;
ALONE / TOGETHER:
A video and writing and performance project in conjunction with the University Art Museum, Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020 exhibition.
Video available: Saturday, May 2, 2020-Ongoing
Visit video and page here.
Join the UAM for a live reading performance by ART practice / MOTHER practice, a group formed in New Mexico who meet monthly to read critical and personal writing, reflect and write about their experiences of art and motherhood, and create a supportive community for each other. In collaboration with the UAM, group founder Mira Burack has asked for short essay submissions from the ART practice / Mother practice group. Since artist/mothers are masters of trying to negotiate isolation/togetherness all the time, the artists were asked to reflect on their personal experiences within this climate. On Saturday April 18 at 1 PM, the readings will be performed by the artists through zoom. This meeting will be recorded, and the final product will be a video displayed on UAM.NMSU.EDU
Reading of Lenka Clayton MOTHERS’ DAYS:
A video of the live reading in conjunction with the University Art Museum exhibition, Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020.
Video available: Saturday, May 9, 2020, 1PM, MST
On April 25th we asked you to join us in the live online reading of Lenka Claytons’s Artist Book Mothers’ Days, a 388-page book, published by An Artist Residency in Motherhood especially for Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020. For this event, fifteen volunteer readers read aloud from the book to create a collective chorus of the daily lives of mothers from around the world. The UAM hopes you enjoy listening to and watching the recorded reading of this interactive event.
Patty Chang’s List of Fears:
In conjunction with the University Art Museum, Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020 exhibition.
Ongoing
uam.nmsu.edu/patty-changs-list-of-fears
Add your fears to the List by clicking here.
Patty Chang has opened back up her fears list for us all to express our collective fears during this COVID-19 crisis. The fears can be about anything- they can be personal, global, societal, mundane or profound, everything is valid. Sit down for 5-10 minutes and list all fears that come to your mind without editing out anything. Just write down quickly any thoughts that come to your head. Let it all out
More programming events associated with ALONE/TOGETHER will be announced as they are scheduled. Please check our website and social media outlets regularly.
