Art, Activism & Equity Symposium

Thanks to Liz Perry for sending me the info about this event. I have had the good fortune to meet a number of the presenters. I am going to attend to hear Faythe Levine and Liz Perry’s presentation. I have had the opportunity to get to know Liz over the past 3 years – she is an absolute expert in blogs and new media and a great person to talk with. Liz is also one of the forces behind Pittbsurgh Signs Project (I will post more on that I promise).

Lots more info about this event is located here.

A quick list of reasons I think you should attend this event:

• Guerrilla Girls – Liz Perry was raving about this group – it is my understanding they do all of their presentations in guerrilla suits.
• Heather Arnet – she runs the Women and Girls Foundation and she is a great person to get to know
• LUPEC – Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails – they have been improving drink knowledge around Pittsburgh for years now

Art, Activism & Equity Symposium

Co-presented by the New Hazlett Theater, Greater Pgh Arts Council & Women and Girls Foundation
April 18, 2008–April 19, 2008

The New Hazlett Theater, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council and the Women and Girls Foundation present a dynamic symposium, Art, Activism & Equity, as part of the “Women in the Arts” Festival on April 18 and 19, 2008. The festival celebrates the accomplishments of women in the arts in Pittsburgh and connects the local arts community with national resources, trends, and philosophies.

The symposium in April will explore solutions regarding Southwest Pennsylvania’s embarrassing record of women’s compensation rates, build networks among Pittsburgh’s emerging and established arts leaders while celebrating our region’s unique strengths as a center for individual accomplishment. The program will also explore politics and feminism and will encourage local action, connection to resources and coalition building.

FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2008
2:00 to 9:00 PM

Registration and Welcome Reception – 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM

Opening Remarks – 2:00 PM to 2:15 PM
Jane Werner, Executive Director, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

Opening Presentation – 2:15 PM to 3:45 PM
Guerrilla Girls, featuring Frida Kahlo, on the history and work of the Guerrilla Girls in exposing sexism, racism and corruption in the art world, politics, film and pop culture.

Workshops – 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Workshop A
Crafting Your Life: Craftivism & Creating Community
Crafting Your Life will be a visually led discussion about alternative ways to structure your life, create community and use your creative skills towards personal exploration or direct action. Faythe will share examples and lead an interactive discussion about craft, activism and community and they ways they can overlap from the home to the gallery and the street, to the hands of corporate CEO’s. New media artist Elizabeth Perry will lead a discussion called Web Hacks for Artists, sharing online strategies and exploring ways artists use new web-based tools for communication, collaboration, and community-building, Elizabeth will draw on her own experience and share easy ways to use blogs, wikis, syndication and more – for creative expression and conversation with other artists and new audiences. Her sketchbook journal may be found at www.elizabethperry.com/woolgathering, where she has been blogging since 2002.

Presenters:
Faythe Levine, Director and Author of “Handmade Nation: Documenting the rise of DIY Art, Craft & Design” and Elizabeth Perry, writer, new media artist and fellow at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University.

Workshop B
Guerrilla Girls
Getting active and initiating change. Limited to 30 people.

Reception – 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Hosted by Women and Girls Foundation

Panel Discussion – 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
The quest for equality is still critical. Conversation will explore today’s feminist movement in the arts, in politics, in business and across generations.

Moderator: Sylvia Rhor

Panelists:
Heather Arnet, Women and Girls Foundation
Vanessa German, Slam poet and visual artist
Chelsa Wagner, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Nancy Washington, Vice Chairperson, August Wilson Center for African American Culture

Performance – 8:30 PM
Selected works by Vanessa German

SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2008, 10:30 AM to 9:00 PM

Registration, Welcome Reception and Resource Expo Exhibit – 10:30 AM to 12:15 PM

Opening Remarks – 12:15 PM to 12:30 PM
Sara Radelet, Executive Director, New Hazlett Theater
Focus of the day will be on identity and equity both locally and globally.

Opening Presentation – 12:30 PM to 1:00 PM
Melissa Swauger, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Carlow University, will present the Implicit Association Test, demonstrating that we all have subconscious discriminations whether we know it or not.

Panel Discussion – 1:15 PM to 2:30 PM
Women Making Change! Today women in PA make 70 cents for every buck a man earns. This panel will talk about how we can work together to CHANGE this!

Moderator: Heather Arnet, Women and Girls Foundation

Panelists:
Selena Schmidt, Chief of Staff for City Council President Doug Shields
M.J. Tocci, Fulcrum Advisors
Audrey Murrell, University of Pittsburgh, Katz School of Business

Mini Catapult Workshop – 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM

Presenter: Heather Arnet, Women and Girls Foundation
Catapult is a new project of the Women & Girls Foundation that matches trained, volunteer coaches with women who want to become more skilled and confident in their use of negotiation to improve their professional situations. The program grew out of a desire to support women seeking to negotiate salary increases, but good negotiation skills can support you in improving many other meaningful job-related issues, including benefits, promotion, title change, and/or work responsibilities.

Reception – 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Featuring drinks created by the Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC).

Performances
Autumn Ayers – 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM
Nicole Reynolds – 6:45 PM to 7:45 PM
Soma Mestizo – 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Resource Expo
The main lobby will feature “resource” booths with information for artists and audience members to secure funding, get involved locally and globally, and spur their own projects.

Resource Expo Presenters
E-Magnify women’s business center at Seton Hill University,
Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council,
Handmade Arcade,
The Idea Foundry,
Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC),
The Pennsylvania Center for Women, Politics, and Public Policy at Chatham University,
Women and Girls Foundation