International Women's Day and UNIFEM

The Power of Women in the Arts

Photos from the 2009 Conference

The Eighth Annual International Women's Day Conference
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Daniel Arts Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock

Co-sponsored by Bard College at Simon’s Rock and Berkshire Women for Women Worldwide

The Eighth Annual International Women’s Day Conference, at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, will focus on how women worldwide have struggled throughout history to have their creative expression recognized and nurtured and how their art makes a difference in their societies and in the world. Participants will hear speakers’ personal stories of the challenges they have confronted in their experience as women artists, as well as stories of their personal triumphs in their chosen fields.

The conference will be launched on Friday, March 6 at 6:30 p.m. by a special staged reading of psychologist, novelist and playwright Carol Gilligan’s adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter.” Gilligan’s adaptation was first performed to critical acclaim at New York’s Women Center Stage, featuring Marisa Tomei as Hester Prynne. Carol Gilligan will be on hand for a discussion of the play following the performance, and a reception will follow.

On Saturday, March 7

Morning Keynote and Panel (9 a.m.-noon)

Dr. Susan Fisher Sterling, Director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. will open the day’s events with an illustrated overview of the history of women in the arts worldwide.

Cultivating Women’s Creative Expression: Challenges and Triumphs will be moderated by Simon’s Rock Professor of Theater Aimée Michel. Featured speakers include:

• Karen Allen, actor and fiber artist who will discuss the evolution of her work in both of these forms of creative expression
• Veronica Chambers, noted African American journalist and author, whose most recent book, Kickboxing Geishas, examines the changing roles of women in Japan
• Carol Gilligan, ground-breaking psychologist, author of In a Different Voice and many other books on the psychology of women and girls, who will discuss the differences in the ways male and female artists are nurtured.

Lunch (noon-1:30 p.m.)

International Arts & Crafts Market curated by Barbara Cohen featuring art and crafts produced by women, including Karen Allen, Maureen Banner, Nancy Bronstein, Sue Browdy, Mary Anne Davis, Pauline Dongala, Ellen Grenadier, Wendy Jensen, Mary Kate Jordan, Anna Kronick, Cheryl Mirer, Wendy Rabinowitz and more.

Afternoon Panel (1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.)

Women’s Art: Why It Matters and What It Achieves In the World, will be introduced by accordionist Heather Fisch, and moderated by Simon’s Rock Professor of Art History Joan DelPlato. Featured speakers include:

• Dr. Marjorie Agosin, poet, human rights activist and professor of Spanish at Wellesley College, will give an illustrated talk about her extensive collection of Chilean arpilleras, handmade tapestries that were used to send political messages during the Chilean dirty war of the 1980s
• Amber Chand, a social entrepreneur whose business, the Amber Chand Collection, nurtures women craftspeople from post-conflict areas and works consciously to use art in the service of reconciliation and peace-building
• Kristin Jones, internationally recognized visual artist, will speak of her grand-scale installations on the Tiber River in Rome and her vision for an international “water theater” involving the Tiber River and the Hudson River in New York City
• Martha Richards, founder of the Fund for Women Artists as well as the internationally celebrated SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now) will discuss her work as a longtime arts activist.

Closing Event: 3:30-4 p.m.

The day will close with an original performance directed by Irina Brook, director in residence at Shakespeare & Company, who was named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2002 by the French Ministry of Culture for her work in French theater and opera.

Throughout the month of March, the associated Berkshire Festival of Women in the Arts will continue the theme by highlighting the many aspects of women’s art with events at many different regional venues throughout Berkshire County. For more information, email IWD@Simons-Rock.edu.