Archive 2013

2013 was a year in which new venues joined continuing venues to sponsor new and exciting Violence Transformed visual and performing arts exhibits, with the Harriet Tubman House Gallery of United South End Settlements, Cambridge College and Jamaica Plain’s Connelly Library each hosting a unique Violence Transformed event.  Lesley University continued its involvement with Violence Transformed, kicking off the year by  joining in the world wide “One Billion Rising” call to express solidarity with women and to bring awareness of women’s struggles through dance.  It was also the first year in which events sponsored in the Fall of 2012 by Cambridge College and in the Winter of 2012 by Lesley University laid the groundwork for Spring “follow-ups” in 2013.   In Oct 2012, Violence Transformed joined with the City if Cambridge, Cambridge College, the Victims of Violence Program and other community organizations to launch the “21 days of Questions,365 Days of Action” Campaign to address domestic violence.   In the Spring 2013, this action was followed by the “Artists Respond to Domestic Violence”

Highlights:
At the Annual State House exhibit, Violence Transformed presented Artist Honorariums to two young singers, Carol Rogers and Kassidy deSaugus (selected for the award by Deon Mose of “Music Saves Lives”), and to SMFA students Scott Cummings, Katie Wild and Greg Lookerse for their co-curation of our first official Student Faculty Exhibit. In addition, we were similarly able to honor three of our main collaborating organizations: Ubuntu Arts, Roxbury Community College Media Arts Center and the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists.

2013

One Billion Rising

February 14, 2013

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    • Location

      University Hall Atrium, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA

      Description

      Performances: Lesley University’s  Dance/Movement Therapy Graduate Students, Undergraduate Dance Team, Expressive Therapy Graduate Students, and Conscious Kinetics

      Violence Transformed and Lesley University invited the community to rise up and join the global movement to end violence against women.  One Billion Rising, a national movement, is call to men and women to form an alliance in an act of solidarity and support for women around the world, demonstrating the commonality of their struggles and our collaborative power to take action and bring awareness through dance. In addition to dance performances and a “Speak Out,” there was a screening and discussion of Power and Control: Domestic Abuse in America

      Curators

Violence Transformed 2013: The Artist’s Voice

March 4 – April 26, 2013

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    • Location

      University Hall Atrium, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA

      Description

      Performances: Lesley University’s  Dance/Movement Therapy Graduate Students, Undergraduate Dance Team, Expressive Therapy Graduate Students, and Conscious Kinetics

      Opening Reception: March 7, 6-8pm. Harriet Tubman House Gallery, United South End Settlements, Boston, MA

      Each year, community artists and artists from throughout New England discover and demonstrate the transformative power of art and the role that creativity can play in healing the wounds of our citizens and our communities. This year, the Harriet Tubman House presented “Violence Transformed: The Artist’s Voice”. The power of art to transform violence is illustrated by the works of artists who address the fact and the impact of violence through diverse lenses. Collectively, the works of participating artists sought alternatives to violence and gave expression to themes of protest, refuge, healing, commemoration and outrage. Their responses differed not only in kind but in medium. Included in the exhibit were photography, painting, drawing, collage, graphics, printmaking and mixed media work.  This was Harriet Tubman House Gallery’s first Violence Transformed exhibit.

      Curators

      Carol Daynard and Chelsea Revelle

Photos

Violence Transformed 2013: Artists Respond to Domestic Violence

March 16-30, 2013

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    • Location

      Cambridge College, Cambridge, MA

      Description

      Opening Reception and Performances: March 23, 4-8pm

      In October 2012, VT and Cambridge College helped to initiate the City of Cambridge’s campaign to address and prevent domestic violence: “21 Days of Questions, 365 Days of Action” . . . with speeches, displays, music and artmaking activites documented in our “21 Days of Questions” album. We also sent out a call to artists, asking them for their response. The result, in March, was an exhibition of moving and evocative visual works (including the “Women Lost and Found” sculptures of Ruth Rosner, installations by Myrna Balk, paintings by Beverly Rippel, Hope Ricciardi, and others plus quilts by women of the Incest Resource Center). The opening event included musical performances by Deon Mose and by Carol Rogers and Kassidy de Saugus (the two young winners of the “Music Saves Lives” competition), stunning theatrical performances by The Survivor Theater Project, spinning and weaving with artists Catherine Tutter and Cheyenne McCarter(“Spin a Yarn, Weave a Life”) and a display of “Beacon to the Dream”: lanterns by Medicine Wheel. The entire event was wonderfully supported by The Cambridge Arts Council, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Incest Resources Inc., and Cambridge Women’s Center.

      Curators

      Hope Ricciardi, Mary Harvey and Phillip Page

Photos

Voices from the Field: Raising Awareness of Domestic Violence

March 26 – March 28, 2013

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    • Location

      Cambridge College, Cambridge, MA

      Description

      This 3-day series of interactive events by Cambridge College faculty and students was designed to raise awareness and address the issue of domestic violence. 

      March 26: “Voices from the Field” presentations by Dr. Katherine King, Prof. Willy Drinkwater and Cambridge College alum Caitlin Piccuirro, on the impact of domestic violence, which was followed by a special interactive music therapy presentation by SoulWorks Rhythm TM. 

      March 27: “Mother’s Day,” screening of a documentary by Dr. Nan Hocking-McDonough that gave voice to the silencing and suffering her mother endured, which was followed by a discussion.

      March 28: “Battered Women, Folklore and Domestic Violence,” a presentation by Dr. Massomeh Namavar that explored domestic violence through clinical work with incarcerated women, Persian folklore, art and storytelling.

Imagining Ubuntu: The Youth Speak

Opening Reception: April 9, 5-8 Pm

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    • Location

      Towne Art Gallery, Wheelock College, Boston, MA

      Description

      Since its inception in 2007, Violence Transformed has enjoyed the participation in and partnership with Wheelock College’s Department of Juvenile Justice and Youth Advocacy and the Ubuntu Arts Project pioneered by Dr. Ann Tobey. In 2013, Ubuntu Arts once again inspired groups of Boston-area youth to consider the meaning of Ubuntu in their lives and to translate that understanding into collaborative works of art. These photos attest to the continuing vibrancy of Ubuntu arts and the quite amazing creativity of youth who are truly able to imagine a world without violence.

      Curators

      Ann Tobey and Ubuntu colleagues

Violence Transformed 2013: Discovering the Transformative Power Of Art

Opening Reception: April 23, 3-5pm

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    • Location

      Doric Hall, Massachusetts State House, Boston, MA

      Description

      Every year, the State House of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts hosts a Violence Transformed Exhibit in Doric Hall … the starting place for all tours of the State House by visitors throughout the world and school children from the Greater Boston Area. We estimate that as many as 3,000 people view Violence Transformed’s Annual State House exhibit, which each year features works by artists from throughout New England, representing many of our participating venues, and curated by community, student and faculty artists. Violence Transformed 2013 was no different. This year’s exhibit in Doric Hall featured works representative of other Violence Transformed 2013 exhibits as well as outstanding performances curated by Hope Ricciardi. These included: the amazing young voices of Carol Rogers and Kassidy de Saugus (winners of the Mose Music Management “Music Saves Lives” competition) who also performed at the Cambridge College opening in March; the guitar expertise of Judge Milton Wright and the harmonica wizardry of our own Ron Wilhelmsen; original choreography by the Elders Group of Prometheus Dance, and, once again, an original Spoken Word Performance by the young artists of the Urbano Project in Jamaica Plain.

Violence Transformed 2013: The Student and Faculty Exhibit

May 3 – June 1, 2013

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    • Location

      Resnikoff Gallery, Roxbury Community College’s Media Arts Center

      Description

      With visual works curated by SMFA Graduate Students Ivor Scott Cummings, Katie Wilde and Greg Lookerse, sculptural installations by Mass Art Students working with artists Ekua Holmes, Khalid Kodi and Bianca Martinez, and wonderful chairs created for Violence Transformed by Gail Bos and the 4th grade students of Mather Elementary School, this was quite an exhibit …. and a wonderful opening.

      Curators

      Ivor Scott Cummings, Katie Wild and Greg Lockerslee

Make Your Mark: A Journey Through Imagery

May 1 – 31, 2013

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    • Location

      The Jamaica Plain Connelly Library, Jamaica Plain, MA

      Curators

      Gloria Carrigg and Gail Bos

Workshop In Visual Journaling by Mardi Reed

May 13, 2013 from 6:00 – 8:00pm

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    • Location

      The Jamaica Plain Connelly Library, Jamaica Plain, MA

      Curators

      Gloria Clarrigg and Gail Bos

      Workshop Leader

      Mardi Reed

      Visual journaling is a process that uses mark making as a form of expression. Through a series of exercises, participants were introduced to a wonderfully simple form of art-making: gesture marks and contour lines that can capture an individual’s personal style. These marks, made on scrap paper or in personal journals, can capture your unique response to the inner and outer worlds.  In this supportive and engaging atmosphere, participants followed a process that draws upon creative energy to encourage growth and healing, foster well-being and imagine alternatives. Art making can be a breath of fresh air in your life and has the potential to effect change and transform environments.

      Mardi Reed, the workshop leader, is an award winning artist who combines painting, visual journaling, and spontaneous drawing. She has lectured and taught extensively. Her master’s thesis on visual journaling won an award from Mass College of Art.

Photos

Idols in the Mirror: Postcards from the Scene of the Crime

May 26 – December 31, 2013

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    • Location

      Museum of the National Center for Afro-American Artists

      Curators

      Barry Gaither

      Artist

      Rene Westbrook