MARCH 2013 GUIDE TO NEW YORK

March in New York is full of incredible events, which is not unrelated to March being Women's History Month. As I'm headed to the UK for the month, I'll be ingesting culture elsewhere. I wanted to share all the goodness I'll be missing so that you can attend for me!

image via Sarah Lawrence College

Sarah Lawrence College Annual Women's History Month Conference ::: March 1 & 2

This year, SLC honors fallen women's historians Amy Swerdlow and Gerda Lerner, both former directors of the Women's History graduate program, in their annual conference, themed "Activism and Scholarship." Lerner is a cofounder of the program, the first of its kind, established in 1972. Full itinerary here.

Related: some of the work I've done with Sarah Lawrence, and a review I did of the 12th annual plenary panel.

image via Barnard

Barnard College Scholar & Feminist Conference: Utopia ::: March 1 & 2

Ah, the competing scholarly feminist conference! This one also sounds fantastic, with a focus on utopias that suits my interest in safer spaces: "Creating a space outside of what society makes available can be an act of survival in a culture that selectively grants and withholds the designation of full humanity." With panels ranging from prison abolition to food justice, "Utopia" promises to be innovative. Full itinerary here.

image via wolfbat

Wolfbat's Ark at House of Vans ::: March 9

Ultimate printmaker Dennis McNett (of Wolfbat Studio) has been posting some amazing imagery from past Wolfbat live events to his Instagram feed. One of New York's punk printmaking darlings, this event will probably include giant wolf heads and possibly, fire. So far, it is simply described as "An interactive performance of the Wolfbat tribe slaying the demons and storm surge sent by Hurricane Sandy."

RSVP on Facebook--but you must also RSVP by emailing rsvptovans@gmail.com for admission to this event.

Printed Matter Sandy Benefit with Live Auction ::: March 9

Pretty self-explanatory, but in case you were unawares: one of the best places to see and purchase book arts in New York is Printed Matter, Inc. Unfortunately, they were saddled with over $200,000 worth of damages during Hurricane Sandy. This is a live auction to benefit Printed Matter. Tickets available here.

image via Hyperallergic

The World's First Tumblr Art Symposium! ::: March 9

Tumblr and Hyperallergic have teamed up to bring you the world's first Tumblr art symposium, and it's hosted in our beloved borough of Brooklyn! The symposium will be part discussion and part exhibition, and registration is filling up quick. More info here.

image via A.I.R.

A.I.R. Gallery's 40th Birthday Party ::: March 19

The first "artist-run gallery for women" has just turned 40! Rescheduled due to Hurricane Sandy devastation, the party will coincide with the gallery's 40th anniversary exhibition. Stellar participants include Martha Wilson, Carolee Schneeman, and Ana Mendieta, plus attendees receive a commemorative poster by the Guerrilla Girls. More details and registration here.

Are you seeing a theme here? Yes, Hurricane Sandy relief is still needed. There are still people without heat, hot water, and homes. There are repairs to be made, mold to be removed, art projects to be restored.

I subscribe to the Hurricane Relief Resources list on Facebook which has pretty regular updates about ways to help. While there are less hubs, Occupy Sandy is still up and running.

Stay involved. Be a good neighbor. And enjoy your March.

WOMEN, THE ARTS, AND ACTIVISM: SUPPORTING THE SCENE

I’ve been involved with the Sarah Lawrence Women’s History Month Conference since 2009, planning 2010’s The Message is in the Music. This year (in its 14th year) will be my first time presenting my own work at the conference, and I am excited to be doing so with my cohorts in For the Birds. Here are the details for our panel THIS SATURDAY. I'll be presenting a slightly edited version of the paper I read at last year's Women Who Rock conference in Seattle.

SARAH LAWRENCE WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH CONFERENCE

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012
4:30pm-6:00pm
Slonim Living Room

SUPPORTING THE SCENE: CREATING AND CURATING A FEMINIST SAFER SPACE

Feminist collective For the Birds will discuss the ways that gender informs their curatorial and activist practice, and their understanding of “safer spaces,” as well as how their scholarly journeys have been reflected in their own community-building experience.

Kate Wadkins, Sarah Lawrence College
Lauren Denitzio, Parsons the New School for Design
Sarah Hanks, CUNY Graduate Center
Roz Hunter, Sarah Lawrence College

For the full details, conference description, & schedule, click through the jump.

VIDEO: ZINE CULTURE AT SARAH LAWRENCE

It's like our own version of LIVE! TONIGHT! SOLD OUT!!

Last Tuesday night, I rode the Metro North up to Bronxville to visit Sarah Lawrence for a zine reading hosted by Kate Angell. Kate, a frequent collaborator and friend, recently established a zine collection at my alma mater, and organized the zine reading as a celebration.

I read the introduction to International Girl Gang Underground and one of my favorite pieces from the zine by contributor Katie Crutchfield. My dear friend Cynthia took this video so I could share it with you. I intended to also read my piece "This is a Thank You Song..." but wanted to leave enough space for the other speakers.

Kate and her librarian-partner-in-crime Charlotte Price (who recently moved to the Music Library at Sarah Lawrence) made delicious baked goods, which I thought looked enticing placed next to Stephen Duncombe's Notes from Underground and Cindy Crabb's Doris collection.

ZINE READING AT SARAH LAWRENCE

Flyer by Charlotte Price

I'm excited to announce that I will be reading from International Girl Gang Underground and related materials with fellow zine author and Sarah Lawrence graduates Cynthia Schemmer and Annie Soga.

Kate Angell, advocate for feminist/queer librarianship, has recently established a zine collection at Sarah Lawrence. We'll be celebrating the collection with an inaugural zine reading, also organized by Kate, on Tuesday, February 21st:

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2012

@ SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE
in the Esther Raushenbush Library Pillow Room
7pm

Readings by

CYNTHIA SCHEMMER
(Habits of Being zine, MFA Creative Nonfiction)

KATE WADKINS
(International Girl Gang Underground zine, MA Women's and Gender History)

ANNIE SOGA
(an educator at the Children's Museum of Manhattan, reading from a zine about Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls)

FREAKIN' OUT: THESIS PRESENTATION

LAST NIGHT I presented my thesis with my cohorts and was super proud to do so.

5:30pm @ Slonim Living Room

Sarah Lawrence College

Free & Open to the Public

The Women's History Graduate Program Presents:

Class of 2011

Thesis Presentations

Rosamund Hunter: The Source of Hip: Race, Politics and Masculinity in Cold War America

Hana Kabashi: Women's Work: Experience, Progress and Change in Kosovo, 1989-2001

Alexandria Linn: "Do You Want A Man Or Not?": Sexuality, Deviance and Proper Womanhood in Relationship Self-Help Books from 1980-2010

Alexandria Lust: TLC: the Political, Musical, and Artistic Complexities of Hip Hop Feminist Thought, 1991-2002

Sheelagh Lynch: Easter Lillies: Hidden Heroes of the Irish Revolution

Lisa Merolle: "...And Do Righteous Deeds": Women, Islam, and Grassroots Organizing in the United States

Thea Michailides: Performing Panethnic Identities: South Asian Women Leaders, Coalitions and the Re-Conceptualization of Citizenship

Chandeen Santos: Rebels in Paradise: an Oral History of the Goa Expatriates

Steven Sharper: Radical Perspectives on Sex, Rape, and Race

Elsa Sjunneson-Norman: Legal Morality, Stripped Down: Obscenity Law, Gender Discourse and Burlesque in America

Monica Stancu: Discovering the Voices of Roma Women: Roma Women's Activist Movement in Post-Communist Romania

Nydia Swaby: "Woman Radical, Woman Intellectual, Woman Activist": The Political Life of Pan-African Feminist Amy Ashwood Garvey

Katherine Wadkins: "Freakin' Out": Remaking Masculinity through Punk Rock in the 1970s

After the jump, check out some videos I took of Roz Hunter's and Nydia Swaby's presentations. Two of my truest collaborators and friends, they did a really excellent job.

FREAKIN' OUT

Finally. After footnote fudge-ups, six superfluous copies made and fifty excess dollars spent...

IT. IS. FINALLY. DONE.

MILEMARKER

Self-portrait within 24 hours of submitting my Master's thesis. The final product rung in at 96 pages; and so starts the beginning of the end.