Nasty Women Raise $40,000 for Planned Parenthood
Images courtesy of Wythe Moss, Hiroki Kobayashi and Tara Plath / Knockdown Gallery
With news that already sparse national arts funding may be stripped from our nation and with museums offering refuge during this year’s inauguration, things have rarely looked worse for American artists. This leaves both working artists and art enthusiasts asking, “How can we possibly keep creating, keep enjoying the healing that art provides in the next few years?! WHAT CAN WE DO?!” It’s easy to feel a deep sense of exasperation with every new headline. Anger has always been good fuel for art, but only if the artists – not the anger – are leading the charge. And lead the charge they are. Positive community arts projects are already up and running, especially in New York City. Nasty Women, an arts exhibition held at the Knockdown Center earlier this month, showed an exemplary early example of how we can be productive through our creativity. The event raised over $40,000 for Planned Parenthood.
The brainchild of Jessamyn Fiore (left) and Roxanne Jackson, the Nasty Women exhibition was created in response to a call for action to “…demonstrate solidarity among artists who identify with being a Nasty Woman in the face of recent and ongoing threats to women’s rights. Nasty Women aims to act as a catalyst for conversation, organization….also accompanied by Stay Nasty, a fundraising weekend of music, art, performance, and comedy.”
Sister events will take place in various venues throughout the spring (and perhaps beyond). Fiore and Jackson explained that, “This exhibition is an action of solidarity and presence, a statement of resistance.” Over 4,600 attendees came out in support of the 600 artists participating in the premiere exhibition. Their works hung on letters spelling out “Nasty Women”. Each was priced at $100 or higher. Enthusiastic patrons purchased every single work on display, raising $42,325 for the night’s intended beneficiary. 100% of the proceeds benefitted Planned Parenthood. The organization provides sexual and reproductive health care, education, information and outreach to nearly five million women, men and adolescents each year.
The Nasty Women exhibition will be replicated in various venues, including internationally, with cities such as Brussels, San Diego, Nashville and Cambridge (UK) set to participate this year. This idea comes at a time when other countries are feeling America’s pain. An organizer of the Brussels Nasty Women Exhibition recently noted, “The time of an open society fighting for human rights, peace, and love seems to be far behind us. Everywhere politics want to go backwards. And in such an environment, being a woman remains very difficult. The artists I admire, and who might save us from all that, are free, self determined, clever, poetical. Their qualities will protect us from devious trends, intellectual facilities and violence. For them, creating art is an act of resistance.”
Creatives are integral as part of demonstrations or civil disobedience. And we need more creativity and social commentary now than ever.
The artists who were involved in the original exhibition are ready to take on more. Sara Stryjewski, who took part in the NYC show, describes how she felt during the opening. “I saw a lot of people who weren’t willing to just sit back and let the country carry us along in a tidal wave of negativity. Everyone involved in the show was doing something else at home in an activist sense…the vibes were beautiful and inclusive and inspiring.” It gave her hope for the next few years as she summarized that, “creatives are integral as part of demonstrations or civil disobedience. And we need more creativity and social commentary now more than ever. Encouraging community and public participation is the only way we can band together as a larger unit and show solidarity. I think this is going to be a large part of cultural shifts and hopefully make a mark in history.”
