• Hannah Maclure Centre, Dundee Scotland

    February 26th through April 15th, 2016

    The Mother Load project has collaboratively developed an exhibition and series of workshops to bring together local and international arts practitioners, academics, research scientists, sociologists, caregivers and young people at the Hannah Maclure Centre in Dundee, Scotland. The focus of these efforts is to broaden the impact of this project, inviting the local community to participate in a process of critical making and discourse, community building and creative expression to investigate ways to strengthen creative networks, enabling members to thrive as individuals.

    Collaborators include:
    - Clare Brennan, Curator, Hannah Maclure Centre, Dundee, Scotland

    - Simone O’Callaghan, Digital Practice Artist and Lecturer Digital Interactive Art, Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland

    - Pernille Spence, Performance artist and Lecturer, University of Dundee, Scotland

    - Zoe Irvine, Performance and sound artist, Edinburgh, Scotland

     

    Visit #tmldundee on Instagram for up to date info

    The Mother Load: Dundee is a collaborative project which brings together local and international artists and mothers. Within this group show we share artworks that explore these social structures, works which were enabled through community and connection and work which celebrates the individuals and communities that are the very fabric.This is an exhibition of mother/artists, focused on encouraging dialogue and connection between women who balance artistic careers and motherhood. Additional artists represented in the exhibition include: Mali de-Kalo, Marina Schterenberg, Simone O'Callaghan, Pernille Spence, and Zoe Irvine.

    Through a series of workshops, performance, screenings and a public exhibition this project further seeks to understand how networked communities can be built that are dynamic enough to support personal and public personas, compassionate enough to empathise and encourage, yet challenging enough to stimulate and invigorate.

    Timeless mums and ageless bairns

    Sophia McGraw
    Kate Lynne Harwood
    Natalia Greszta
    Darcey May
    Ellaina McFarlane
    Jamie Lee Simpson

    This work is a collection of hand stitched prints from young mothers who are a part of the Young Mums Unit at Menzieshill High School. We worked with these amazing young women to explore how the practice of art can be a way to communicate, support, and build their communities. This installation is loosely based on the quilting bees of past generations, where women would share their stories, ideas and lives through community based making. These young women used objects that were significant to who they are as mothers and who they are as individuals. Stitched between the layers of cyanotype prints are written hopes each mother has for herself and her child.

    As a part of The Mother Load: Dundee, we are hosting a symposium to bring together artists and ideas around the topic of motherhood and the creative practice. This will be an opportunity to gain further insight in to the creative practice of the exhibiting artists and to discuss the mechanisms that support the balancing act between artistic careers and motherhood. It will also be an opportunity for the audience to share their experience (both their creative practice and how this intertwines with their roles as carers), discussing the challenges, ways of working and supporting. To broaden the conversation, we are also inviting international mothers/artists to join in via video link.

     

    Watch the Symposium here and the lively Q&A here

  • Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

    Center for Creative Connections, September 19th 2014 through March 31st 2015

    Curated in collaboration with Susan Diachisin and Amanda Batson

    The Mother Load project launched its first interactive exhibition in collaboration with C3 director, Susan Diachisin. Through an interactive space within the Dallas Museum of Art, visitors were invited to explore the artists from this project through their printed and QR labeled copper plates. To further engage the community in ideas explored within this project, they were invited to consider their approach to life balance through an interactive sculpture.

    Excerpt from Press Release

    "This exhibition includes a collection of fingerprints and stories of artists and their children from around the globe. An interactive sculpture provides visitors an opportunity to participate in a dialogue of nurturing life’s passions.

     

    “This installation is a great fit for the Center for Creative Connections because the nature is a form of social experimentation that involves the community in an artist’s dialogue,” says Susan Diachisin, the Kelli and Allen Questrom Director of the Center for Creative Connections.

     

    Robertson and Macellaio are eager to hear the responses and learn if the Mother Load Project can have an impact on a broader community outside of professional mothers and artists. “The Mother Load project has opened a new perspective on our practice as artists, providing a window into the lives of women, who like us, have a desire to nurture all aspects of their lives with equal passion.” says Robertson."

  • Community Engagement, Dallas Museum of Art

    For six months, this copper and concrete scale served to balance the replies of over 6000 visitors to the exhibition. Each was asked to consider - "What in your life right now do you nurture, and why?

  • Collaborative Artists

    We continue to collaborate with the amazing artists from this project, whether on lecture series, workshops,

    or artwork

    broken image

    Shira Richter

    PERFORMANCE LECTURE SERIES, With the Dallas Museum of Art, University of North Texas, Brookhaven College, Eastfield College, UNT Israeli and Jewish Studies Department

    Israeli artist and activist, Shira Richter, was the inaugural Visiting Artist for The Mother Load project. In conjunction with the exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art, Richter reached out to the local community and shared her artwork and performances with local universities and organizations.

    Link to lecture series

    Link to University of North Texas lecture

    broken image

    BIG Kids Magazine, Lilly Blue and Jo Pollitt

    SIDE BY SIDE, A collaborative workshop between BIG Kids Magazine (Lilly Blue and Jo Pollitt) and the Dallas Museum of Art, August 7-12, 2014

    This workshop, designed in collaboration with BIG Kids Magazine, used the Dallas Museum of Art collection to discover different cultures from across the globe to inspire ideas of creating imaginative worlds. It was uniquely designed to enable collaborative making between parents and their children.

    Link to BIG Kids amazing website!

    Link to blog on workshop