New Museum of Motherhood Art Annex Opens in St. Petersburg, Florida

WANT TO VISIT THE NEW M.O.M. ART ANNEX IN ST. PETERSBURG?

You can schedule a visit for yourself (and up to six people) on any Thursday or Friday between 11-6pm or Saturday between 2-4pm. If you are not local but want to visit, we also have a “spend a night at the museum” on Air B&B on Thursday-Sat. nights.

Each visit includes a general tour of the Art Annex, a personal tour of Alexia Nye Jackson’s exhibit “Mother The Job,” the opportunity to try on our Pregnancy Vests, and a chance to view films from our library, as well as  access research materials from our extensive Andrea O’Reilly Reading Room (including Demeter Press Collection).

At M.O.M. we aim to start great conversations, feature thought-provoking exhibits, and share information and education.

Visits are by donation. Suggested contribution is $15 but there is no required specific amount. Looking forward hearing from you!

Simply write MOMmuseum@gmail.com or call 207.504.3001 (877.711.MOMS)

538 28th St. N. St. Petersburg, Florida 33713 – SEE PHOTOS BY CLICKING HERE

M.A.M.A. Mothers R Making Art

WHAT: The ProCreate Project, the Museum of Motherhood and the Mom Egg Review are partnering for bi-monthly on-line presentations featuring M.A.M.A. – Mothers are Making Art.

WHEN: The 1st and the 15th of each month words and images will highlight the joy and the challenges of being both a mother and an artist.

WHERE: Online is the place! We will host works of art about mothers and mothers-to-be; featuring academic and creative writing in order to promote women internationally and generate cultural exchanges and opportunities.

WHY: We are determined to explore the extraordinary experiences of mothers and how, by means of channeling these new and powerful energies a person can cultivate both motherhood and art. However, support is needed and awareness must be raised to facilitate this process and to finally empower it.

We strive to give voice to all women, make acceptable room for “feelings,” sensations, and interpretations without judgment; we want to make space for mothers in the arts to display their work and move a conversation about “the art of motherhood” forward. LINK to BLOG and Exhibits

@ProcreateProj  @MOMmuseum @TheMomEgg #JoinMAMA

Project AfterBirth

NEWS RELEASE
Thursday 16 July 2015

We are delighted to announce Project AfterBirth’s:

OFFICIAL EXHIBITION SELECTION

Project AfterBirth presents the first ever international open art exhibition on the subject of parenthood. The exhibition will feature unseen and rarely shown artistic responses to lived experiences of pregnancy, birth and early parenthood, in a variety of visual, performance, literary, film & digital disciplines, by 30 international contemporary artists.

The selection panel spent many days over the past two months viewing the (more than 150) works submitted from all over the world in response to the open Call For Artists, reading through all application documents and deliberating over which of the many exceptional artists and outstanding works on offer to put through.

Due to the personal and intimate nature of the exhibition’s subject, many of the works and accompanying artist statements had a deep emotional impact. This, together with the quality, quantity and variety of the submitted works, made the selection panel’s task far from easy. However, as you will agree from the list of names below, Project AfterBirth promises to be a tremendous exhibition.

Most importantly perhaps, our experiences over the last two months have confirmed how much great contemporary, innovative work has been made and undoubtedly will continue to be made on the subject of pregnancy, birth & early parenthood in the 21st century. As the first ever open exhibition on the subject, Project AfterBirth will only scratch the surface of what is out there. It is therefore crucial that the lingering taboo status of parenthood in the contemporary art world and its perceived inferiority as an artistic subject, continue to be challenged at every opportunity.

It will take more than Project AfterBirth to change things, but through the exhibition and an anticipated (funding dependent) inter/national tour, community engagement programme and research project we are in the process of developing, we hope to make our mark and, along the way, inspire other arts professionals and organisations to adopt a more inclusive approach and develop opportunities for work on the powerful subject of parenthood.

So here, then, our selection of artists for Project AfterBirth’s exhibition:

1. Alison O’Neill (UK)
2. Amanda West (USA)
3. Belinda Kochanowska (Australia)
4. Carole Evans (UK)
5. Chris Anthem (Beirut/UK)
6. Clare Archibald (Scotland)
7. Courtney Kessel (USA)
8. Csilla Nagy (Hungary)
9. Danielle Hobbs (Australia)
10. Debbie Lee (UK)
11. Eti Wade (UK)
12. Geoffrey Harrison (UK)
13. Helen Sargeant (UK)
14. Hester Berry (UK)
15. Ione Rucquoi (UK)
16. Jana Kasalova (Czech Republic)
17. Jenny Lewis (UK)
18. Josie Beszant (UK)
19. Laura James Wray (UK)
20. Lu Heintz (USA)
21. Madison Omahne (USA)
22. Magda Stawarska Beavan (Poland/UK)
23. Marilyn Kyle (UK)
24. Rachel Fallon (Ireland)
25. Rocio Saenz (Mexico)
26. Ruth Gray (UK)
27. Sacha Waters Freyer (USA)
28. Sarah Sudhoff (USA)
29. Tareg Morris (UK)
30. Trish Morrissey (UK)

Project AfterBirth’s exhibition launches at White Moose gallery, UK, from 2nd October until 13th November 2015.

To keep up to date with all developments, please join the mailing list via the form below.

Project AfterBirth‘s exhibition selection panel members were:
– founders/curators Mila Oshin & Kris Jager (Directors, Joy Experiment, UK);
– Stella Levy and Julie Gavin (Directors, White Moose, Devon, UK);
– Martha Joy Rose (Director, Museum of Motherhood, New York, USA);
– Helen Knowles (Director, The Birth Rites Collection, Manchester, UK);
– Francesca Pinto (Head of Development, Photographer’s Gallery, London, UK).

#PrimeMind

A woman whose TED talk on authenticity was viewed 20 million times; a breast cancer survivor who left her career to create bathing suits with integrated prostheses; a raw food expert who saw a need for healthy airport food and did something about it; a woman who dedicates her life to speech therapy for the facially disfigured and a super model who believes Every Mother Counts and fights for worldwide maternal health. 

These are just a sampling of the extraordinary women whose essays and portraits are captured in the PRIME book. The search for engaged and passionate women started simply enough with friends and associates, but quickly expanded as many referred other inspirational woman creating a chain of connections that spread worldwide. The beauty of this organic selection process is that, from start to finish, the women of PRIME are inextricably linked. Support this project by clicking on the kickstarter campaign link. 

Also featured in the book is Mamapalooza and Museum of Motherhood founder, Martha Joy Rose. See her new Wikipedia page here.

Love & Money #Giving Tuesday

The Museum of Motherhood is supported by its founding non-profit 501c3 Motherhood Foundation Inc; serving the community and educating people since 2005 with programming, classes, events, and exhibits. Please support M.O.M. and help us establish a permanent home in a physical location in Manhattan. Any amount helps us continue our activities online and in person. THANK YOU!

Click to find out more about our CAPITAL CAMPAIGN or to MAKE A DONATION.

[LINK]

Demeter Press, The Museum of Motherhood & New Maternalisms!

The Museum of Motherhood JUST MADE A DONATION to Demeter Press! Come on friends -Please support this premier resource for Feminist Maternal Scholarship and More. Besides Andrea O'Reilly ROCKS! prhttps://www.indiegogo.com/projects/motherhood-is-not-a-liability-2014-fundraising-campaign#home

** Please see also CALL FOR PAPERS - Mother Scholars and Scholarship about Motherhood! Roksana Badruddoja's call for papers ** on New Maternalisms: http://www.mommuseum.org/2014/05/call-for-papers-new-maternalisms/

Silent No More

Contribute to our "Silent No More" exhibit about systemic "Silencing", a term used to refer to bullying, hating and demeaning others. Send your art to MuseumOfMotherhood@gmail.com to contribute something to the group exhibit.

Send a jpg image please.
Pictured here is a section of the mural featuring Lori Landau and Sara Guarda's contributions.

Story of Mum at the Museum of Motherhood

Art and Community Making with "Story of Mum" founders Pippa and Penny Best, and Suzi Banks Baum of FeMail Art at the Museum of Motherhood in NYC.

MamaBlogger365 - The Power Of A Woman by Joy Rose

Last week Mindy Stokes sent me a link to an MP3 radio broadcast of her The Clothesline Project, which brings awareness and voice to the virtually taboo topic of domestic violence. Whether praising Eve Ensler's work, or citing other feisty feminists like dear ole' Gloria, one thing is clear - there is still much work to be done.

March is Women's History Month and March 8th was International Women’s Day, a time for hope, activism and personal empowerment. Since 82% of the female population will go on to have children, events like these must also mark the value and importance of mothers and the work they do.

D. Bocanegra

Exhibits like Alexia Nye Jackson’s ‘Mother The Job‘ encourage us to actively evaluate the hidden costs of parenting, and ask questions like: how do we, as a nation, provide health care, maternity leave, paid parental leave, breast feeding and childcare at the workplace? Dylan Bocanegra's work, newly mounted in the M.O.M. lobby, focuses on mother activists like Maria Shriver and Elizabeth Taylor.

Promoting the health, well-being, information, education and connection for individuals and collectives around the area of mother studies and family, benefits everyone. To that end, ongoing groups, researchers, activists, artists, thought-leaders, social change-makers, like Jill Starishevsky, write books that empower our children to know and understand the phrase 'My Body Belongs To Me'. Jill is a child abuse and sex crimes prosecutor in the Bronx, NY, and is doing her best every day to inform and educate families on their rights, and children on how to be self-aware enough to protect themselves from these crimes.

Women in business and the newly formed Women's High NETwork have been gathering at the Museum Of Motherhood (M.O.M.), in New York City each month for incubator groups focused on personal, financial and social good. This month we move to Donnetta Campbell's 'Wings Of Change' event in Stamford on the evening of March 29th. (Some seats are still available if you want to mingle with a business-savvy, movers and shakers in the Connecticut/New York area). I'll even be speaking that day, on the subject of the 'Value Of A Woman' in the afternoon.

D. Whitefield

At the M.O.M. space we talk about hyper-local activism, working with people like owner/Gymboree Franchisee, Debra Whitefield and Barry Hanson, about the importance of exercise and body-arts awareness from a young age. Their commitment to teaching children how to interact through healthful activities reverberates throughout communities in Manhattan, Long Island and more. Their model for engagement permeates the museum, as children and families engage in dialogue, interactive play and education, before toddling off to the Gymboree space around the corner on First Avenue and Eighty Fourth St., where activities progress to a higher level of coordination and music-play from infancy on.

Learning to understand our bodies and minds in healthy ways from an early age, helps to empower us as adults. As we move through March and celebrate women in history, with events like Amy Simon's play 'She's History', coming to the Museum Of Motherhood Theatre on Saturday, March 31st, let's take time to acknowledge the people who are making history in their own ways, by doing good work everyday. I am personally grateful to each of them.

Joy Rose, The Media Mom, is the founder and executive director of the Museum of Motherhood.

The Museum Of Motherhood is the first and only facility of its kind, celebrating the “her”story of mothers around the world. We need your help -- please make your tax-deductible contribution today!Visit the Museum of Motherhood, NOW OPEN in NYC - Tues.-Sun., 10:45-6:30.

MamaBlogger365 - Love Your Girlfriends, Love Yourself by Shira Adler, Diva Mama

I’m trying to pump out this blog before one of my new favorite shows comes on. Maybe you’ve heard of GCB (Good Christian Bitches)? It’s a slightly mainstream delectable comedy on ABC about a recently widowed babe (a.k.a., the high-school “mean girl”) who has no choice but to move back in with her overbearing mama and ends up grabbing the first job she can get, as a waitress at a joint akin to Hooters. In her years away from Texas, she’s seen the light Amen, Hallelujah, and has become a nicer, more committed person (maybe because she became a mama herself). But tell that to the group of holier-than-thou ladies-who-lunch whose plastic surgeries did nothing to rid them of their old emotional scar tissue that remains from being bullied and branded hovelinas back in the day by our lead character.

So I have to ask. How many mean girls have we known (or been)? How many do we see bullying our kids today? It’s a hard issue to face. The purpose of this blog isn’t to cover bullying but in this case to talk about the significance of our girlfriend relationships. I will say it’s of particular disappointment to me to see how young girls, in this case, classmates of my daughter’s, treat each other like crap. Why is it that instead of starting out nurturing and supportive, kind and caring, young girls sometimes start out bitchy, mean, horrible, condescending and adversarial? The timeliness of the subject matter isn’t lost to me.

This weekend I helped my daughter work on a new song about why girls are sometimes so cruel. I was moved watching my 11-year-old pour her heart out in her original uptempo number (and I’m sure, a future hit) with a style that’s a cross between Taylor Swift and Joni Mitchell. Of course, like any good mother, I videotaped her on my iPhone. One day she may need the excerpt for "The Voice" or "American Idol" or maybe her Oscar or Grammy retrospective. But in this moment what I was watching through the lens was a reflection of my former self. Thankfully I’ve outgrown being hurt by bullies taunts directed at myself and others, but I really value and understand how meaningful and powerful our girlfriend relationships can be. These relationships matter as deeply to me as an adult as they do to my 5th grader.

And why wouldn’t they?

Who of us doesn’t want to connect to such a strong, meaningful bond between girlfriends/women?

Many of us were taught that the strongest ties that bind exist between family members. As I’ve grown up, and away, from my childhood roots, it’s the friendships I have with women that really connect me to who I am, and to where I want to be. You could say it’s family by choice, not birth (though I love them too). The support, connection, love and mentoring I receive from my girlfriends has never been more important than they are now.

I imagine myself tethered to a bungee cord propelling headfirst into the dizzying waters of my day to day chaos and deeper, into the dreams that lie beneath the murky surface. The hands that are grasping the end of that cord – keeping me connected to my sanity and serenity – belong to my girlfriends.

I am so grateful for their strength and their commitment, not just to their own harried and hectic lives, but to mine. On the flip side of that coin, I have some really dear friends, who have all but disappeared. I know they care about me, but they aren’t there in the same way – or in much of any way. They never make it to any of my speaking engagements, Divas-do-Lunch events, my annual Goddess party, birthday parties or even a simple girls-night-out. Yes, I know we’re all busy, and I still hold love in my heart for them, but are they really present for themselves, never mind for their friends?

Let’s face facts, we don’t have time for much in our lives, but when people find reasons to not show up it becomes clear to me, we MUST take time for each other. Just as I want my friends in my life, I offer myself in return and that’s a promise worth honoring.

I don’t think I’m asking for too much. Nowadays girlfriends can be found as readily as your next click, if you’re open to it. This is the allure of social media. It makes connection simpler. Sure, Facebook feels like a win when we reach out and connect with someone in our past (or heck, my sisters, who are across the country and only a phone call away but you’d never know it from how frequently we hit and miss each other).

But I have come to really honor the new relationships, the deep bonds being created almost as quickly as every new Twitter account. I find it astonishing that some of my greatest supports are in the form of faces, names, experiences that I’ve come to know and appreciate in cyberspace. That doesn’t make them less valuable. In fact, I want to give a shout out to a few of those inspiring and empowering women I am honored to call my tweeps. There are some, like health advocate Eve (@wbcravings), Conscious Shopper (@MaiaLagerstedt) and fellow NYWICI member/inspirational author Daylle Deanna Schwartz (@Daylle) whom I know in person and others, like Sherry, (@CheckMeDaily), Lori (@StressFreeKids) and writer/author (@Melissa_Foster), whom I’ve come to know and admire from only a tweet away. Why are they so valuable to me?

Friendships, relationship with others hold the biggest and best mirrors to relationship with ourselves. If I am present for them in physical or virtual ways I am shining a bright light back onto the woman I am and the work I seek to do in the world.

So how do you feel about your girlfriends? Have you lost touch with someone or not been as open to embracing new sisters into your inner sanctum? Girlfriends are a beautiful reflection that we need to see the best part of ourselves.

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for me to appreciate just how non-hateful I am by watching my polar opposite. I am talking about my favorite hate girl Kristin Chenowith and her Texas tigresses on GCB. For next week’s episode, maybe I’ll post on FB (DivaMamaShiraAdler) or run a Twitterchat (@1DivaMama) while watching the episode with my favorite girlfriends. Anyone want to join me?

PS - Interested in Shira Adler, Diva Mama's Divas-Do-Lunch event? Click here for more info!
BIO: By day Shira Adler is a cantor, spiritual vocalist, certified pastlife regressionist, voice-over artist, producer, performer, writer/blogger and mompreneur and by night... well, she is actually the same person at night though she does admit to wearing fuzzy socks when no one can see her and hiding a secret stash of Mallomars somewhere near her writing desk for those late night pick-me-ups. In, around, and between her various work activities, she is raising two beyond-the-spectrum children as a single mom (though lovingly gives a shout out to her best friend, editor and soulmate whom she considers the bees knees). Is it any wonder her website’s tag line is One Voice Many Paths? Seriously, look up the definition of a multi-tasking Mama and you will find her picture there. But when it comes to living a life of connection, faith and consciousness Shira is the gal to call -- or if you’re fresh out of Mallomars -- she’s always happy to give you one. For more information visit: ShiraAdler.com, read her blog at Diva-Mama.com; Social: Twitter (1DivaMama), Facebook (DivaMama1), Tumblr (not really sure, but the name is cute) and LinkedIn (because doesn’t everyone?).

The Museum Of Motherhood is the first and only facility of its kind, celebrating the “her”story of mothers around the world. We need your help -- please make your tax-deductible contribution today!Visit the Museum of Motherhood, NOW OPEN in NYC - Tues.-Sun., 10:45-6:30.

Photo credit: phaewilk | MorgueFile

MamaBlogger365 - Travel Around the World in Song with Acclaimed Multicultural Children's Performer, Daria

And a "World of Music for Kids" poster give-away!

Have you ever wondered how kids around the world make music? If you’ve ever gotten a chance to attend one of DARIA’s popular WORLD MUSIC FOR KIDS concerts, you might be amazed at some of the really cool and unusual instruments used in cultures around the planet. Tibetan bowls that sing! A donkey’s jawbone with large tooth rattles from Afro-Peruvian culture. Middle Eastern percussion that dates back to ancient Egypt. Native American drums made from the trunks of trees! And all of it is hands-on fun for kids. Since March has been named “Music in Our Schools Month” by the National Association for Music Education, DARIA decided to create a poster that would share many of these unique instruments with moms, parents, caregivers and teachers across the country. Feel free to check out the special poster give-away below.

In the WORLD OF MUSIC FOR KIDS poster, you can seek and find 30 different instruments that include the unusual ones as well as ones that kids will recognize right away. There are guitars, tambourines, triangles and even a trash can and hub cap. The trash can and hub cap come from the time DARIA was chosen as the only woman Honda STOMP/PULSE performer and she actively used the trash can, lids and car parts to create the sound of a steel drum orchestra.

Other than the poster, where can you check out DARIA’s music? Her www.dariamusic.com site won a 2009 Parents Choice award as one of the best places on the web to share music with children. The site has a great songbook, an “explore the instruments” section and a CD area where you can hear selections from her award-winning kids music CD’s. There are also easy links from the site to Daria’s store on iTunes and Amazon as well.

Want to play a bit more with music? On Daria’s main site and her Making Multicultural Music blog you can find instructions on how to make a variety of these instruments at home, such as didgeridoos, guiros, shekeres, maracas and even a homemade mbira (thumb piano) or pow-wow style drum! Like animations? You can also check out her VIMEO channel for some wonderful fun, funny kids music videos, many of which are bilingual (Spanish/English, Zulu/English, Yiddish/English, etc.).

Says Daria: “Music is a great way to teach children a pride in their heritage and a positive, optimistic curiosity about others.” Although March is officially Music In Our Schools Month, there are no limits to how music can be used at home or in the classroom any time of year. “It’s a beautiful way of not only encouraging positive, expressive play, but also building global citizens that can really get excited about the concept of world harmony!”

DARIA’s World Music For Kids website:
www.dariamusic.com

See, Hear, Play, Color and Make World Music Instruments Here:
http://www.dariamusic.com/cajon.php

Making Multicultural Music Blog (Sharing Diversity Through The Arts)
http://makingmulticulturalmusic.wordpress.com

DARIA's VIMEO CHANNEL
www.vimeo.com/dariamusic

Would you like to win DARIA’S

“A WORLD OF MUSIC FOR KIDS” poster?

She’s teamed up with us to give away 5 to of our MamaBlogger365 fans and friends. Click here to enter!

The Museum Of Motherhood is the first and only facility of its kind, celebrating the “her”story of mothers around the world. We need your help -- please make your tax-deductible contribution today!Visit the Museum of Motherhood, NOW OPEN in NYC - Tues.-Sun., 10:45-6:30.

MamaBlogger365 - Take Me to the River by *Dr Mama* Amber Kinser

I am feeling regimented and controlled to within an inch of my life. It’s coming at me from every angle and I’m feeling a distinct desire to run. Or drive, anyway.

What I really need is a mountaintop, solitude, and a cool breeze. Or maybe a nice sunny spot at a river. Or… wait. A river running through a mountain range and no one but me and a thermos of coffee. Plus some water because coffee dehydrates... click here to read more!

BIO: Dr. Mama (Amber Kinser) is a writer, feminist mother, professor, and speaker who lives in Tennessee. Check her out on Facebook, follow her on Twitter @DrMamaWit, and see her webpage. Kinser writes for the MamaBlogger365 series each Thursday at the Museum Of Motherhood, Mamapalooza and Mamazina Magazine.

The Museum Of Motherhood is the first and only facility of its kind, celebrating the “her”story of mothers around the world. We need your help -- please make your tax-deductible contribution today! Visit the Museum of Motherhood, NOW OPEN in NYC - Tues.-Sun., 10:45-6:30.

MamaBlogger365 - Tiger Mom? French Mom? How About Just “Mom”? by Jennifer Covello

I recently read an article in the Washington Post entitled, “What’s So Bad About American Parents, Anyway?” The writer speaks of the parenting styles of the French and the Argentines and the Eskimos and the Japanese in comparison to American parents and speaks of how we are once again looking to yet another group to figure out the parenting puzzle.

Great! Just what we need as mothers. Not only do we compare ourselves to other mothers in our own inner circles, now we have mothers thousands of miles away to compare ourselves to. What’s wrong with this picture, ladies? Can we stop the madness and just be ourselves?

Click here to read more!

Jennifer Covello
Owner, Founder, Frittabello, LLC
www.frittabello.com
www.parentingforpurpose.com
203.524.0784

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/frittabello
Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jencovello
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/frittabello

Jennifer Covello is an award-winning author and owner of Frittabello baby gifts. Her passion for motherhood is evident through her writings and her speaking on topics that impact moms and children. As a divorced mother of two children, Ms. Covello, continually searches for the lessons her own children teach her along her parenting journey.

The Museum Of Motherhood is the first and only facility of its kind, celebrating the “her”story of mothers around the world. We need your help -- please make your tax-deductible contribution today!Visit the Museum of Motherhood, NOW OPEN in NYC - Tues.-Sun., 10:45-6:30.

Photo credit: phaewilk | MorgueFile

MamaBlogger365 - Spring, Motherhood & Friendships by Stacey Battat

We are so pleased to welcome regular excerpts from Stacey Battat and Kiwi Publishing, home of the Thin Threads series of books. Want to know more? Visit www.thinthreads.com for more story samples or to buy the book!

There are days when we are truly present, and can breathe deeply and take in the beauty of the moment. We must seek out more of those moments to enrich our lives as well as all of our relationships! We have been given that “spring-like” gift this week in the North East (little though do we truly know about long-term repercussions).

Our Thin Threads of Moms & Grandma books are stories about drinking in the moments we love and recognize the small connections that ARE fresh and beautiful about motherhood!

Click here to read more!

Submitted by Stacey Battat, Creator of the Thin Threads Book Series, www.thinthreads.com.

The Museum Of Motherhood is the first and only facility of its kind, celebrating the “her”story of mothers around the world. We need your help -- please make your tax-deductible contribution today!Visit the Museum of Motherhood, NOW OPEN in NYC - Tues.-Sun., 10:45-6:30.

MamaBlogger365 - Think, Work, Visit, Connect: this week at M.O.M.

We have a great line-up of programs scheduled this week at the Museum of Motherhood, plus, our new cooperative work space is available (sign up now to reserve your spot)! Plus, keep reading for more on our MamaBlogger365 project, our Meet the Expert series, "Eat, Drink, DOULA" at M.O.M., and the La Leche League toddler meeting here on Friday!

Our MamaBlogger365 project continues online, where we welcome writers who share their stories about reframing motherhood. This week, we are so grateful to:

• Kate Fineske, with her report from the daily tattle battle;
• Shira Adler, Diva Mama, who found herself among the masters, in more ways than one;
• Kimberly Dark, whose monthly "Mommy Queerest" column looked squarely at our cultural concept of what is sexy and what it means for women;
• The Ukulele Cowboy Society for sharing their music with us;
• Joy Rose, for her thoughts on the value of women on International Women's Day;
• *Dr Mama* Amber Kinser on reproductive wrongs;
• And mom-rocker Jax Resto, with her latest installment of her work-in-progress, The Journey, the story of her own rock band.

Have something to share? Write us at mamazinamag@gmail.com!

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Our Meet the Experts series continues in March, featuring speakers, activities, mom and baby groups, and support groups. We're located at 401 E. 84th St. in New York (Tues-Sun 10:45-6:30, call 212.452.9816 l 877.711.MOMS for info). Click here for our full month's calendar of events.

Meet this week's Experts:

Wednesday: Circle Of Life, a grief and loss group (open to all, led by BirthFocus) and BirthFocus's Meet the Doula at 1 pm, with Elizabeth Mangum-Sarach. Come enjoy sample Prenatal & Mama Rub Down Massage - Licensed massage therapist at M.O.M. from 4-6 pm (10 min for $15, 20 min for $20). At 7pm EST, our own Joy Rose, The MediaMom™, kicks off her weekly show on MingleMediaTV, straight from the Museum Of Motherhood in NYC.

Friday: Sara Lise Raff, Arts Education Consultant answers questions 10:45-noon.

FEES – All programs include regular day-pass fee of $15 per adult, kids free, students $13, unless otherwise noted.

Disclaimer – Our ‘Meet The Expert’ series demonstrates our intention to be a community gathering place and offer great information to spark conversations. Volunteers, artists, experts and just plain folk are invited to sign up to participate at M.O.M. This is not intended to replace medical advice or to offer anything more than an opportunity to connect and inspire.

For more information about each of these programs, visit our Meet the Experts page!

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NEW! Cooperative work space available Monday 1-4 pm and Wednesday 6-9 pm, with the opportunity for additional hours:
• Share cooperative workspace in a female-friendly environment that nurtures your business and empowers your personal vision.
• Access to group bulletin board (online and onsite)
• Shared table space with WiFi access / or private desk rental
• Opportunity to network and blog cooperatively through our sister sites: Museum Of Motherhood, Mamapalooza, Mamazina Magazine and even Working Mother Blog.
• Opportunity to interview about your project, passion or business on MediaMom.com, featured on MingleMediaTV.com; between 300-3,000 viewers per show.
• Networking and discounted vendor & exhibitor opportunities
$10 per hour for co-op workspace / $40 Monthly storage (optional)
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED and space is limited; apply by e-mailing MOMmuseum@gmail.com.

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PLUS! This Thursday, join us at 6:30 for “Eat, Drink, DOULA”, hosted by BirthFocus: At BirthFocus we understand the process involved in choosing the right doula to join women and their families on a most intimate experience, the birth of a baby! Our FREE “Eat, Drink, DOULA” open houses – held weekly at various locations throughout the city – give pregnant women, and their partners, a chance to learn more about our doula practice and to connect intimately with several doulas through one on one interviews. We lovingly refer to these events as “speed dating for doulas” as each expecting couple will have a chance to meet with 4-5 doulas, of varying experience levels, throughout the event. Please register for the open house of your choice and know that we are very much looking forward to meeting you! RSVP to 917-414-5595 or birthfocus@gmail.com.

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And! La Leche League toddler meeting, Friday morning at 10: La Leche League is an international, nonprofit, nonsectarian organization dedicated to providing education, information, support, and encouragement to women who want to breastfeed. All breastfeeding mothers and pregnant women interested in breastfeeding are welcome to come to our meetings or call our Leaders for breastfeeding help.

Toddler Meetings are Special Meetings for older nursing babies, 9 months and older. The issues around feeding and nursing change and grow with your baby. This is a drop in meeting, no need to pre-register.



The Museum Of Motherhood is the first and only facility of its kind, celebrating the “her”story of mothers around the world. We need your help -- please make your tax-deductible contribution today! Visit the Museum of Motherhood NOW OPEN in NYC - Tues.-Sun., 10:45-6:30.

MamaBlogger365 - The Journey, an excerpt - part 7 by Jax Resto

When mom-rocker Jax Resto last checked in... local celebrity guitarist Jeri Jay was en route to meet Jax, Raven and Sam... (Need to catch up from the beginning? Click here for an archive of posts that chronicle The Journey by Jax Resto.)

Our first rehearsal: There were moments when I wasn't sure this day would come...

Half an hour in, we are minus an integral member—the guitarist. Jeri Jay is on his way. I'm still not sure how I feel about letting a guy into our girl band, even one who dresses like a girl. But I am eager to move forward. I've spent so much time these past few weeks putting together a band, I've barely had time to just play music.

Despite the Speedy Gonzalez cartoon short that ran through my mind after Jeri told me he would be right over, realistically I know it will probably be another half hour before he arrives.

I walk into the spare room of our house, which we refer to as the “drum room.” Now equipped with full PA, and speakers, thanks to Samm, it has suddenly evolved into a rehearsal studio.

I look over at Samm, who stands in the left corner of the room, hip cocked, holding her bass, looking like a superhero. I feel compelled to give her a superhero name. Beautimus.

“Wanna try running through some songs before Jeri gets here?” the golden superhero asks.

I grin at her eagerness. At the name I've mentally given her. My silliness. Something.

Raven plants herself in front of the microphone in the center of the room, and looks at Beautimus, “Do you know 'Alone?'"

Beautimus responds with an unsuperhero-like blank expression.

Apparently our desperate search for female players ultimately overshadowed our initial plan to hold more formal auditions where the players came prepared. It turns out that, though we each know many songs, there aren't many we all know.

Click here to read more!

Bio: Jax Resto is a wife, mom and business owner by day, mom rocker by night. In 2010 she performed with Band of the Year at the Mamapalooza Festival in NYC. She left the band shortly after to start her own band of rockin' moms Female Band Invasion. But her mom rock band took an interesting turn. Visit www.reverbnation.com/femalebandinvasion.

The Museum Of Motherhood is the first and only facility of its kind, celebrating the “her”story of mothers around the world. We need your help -- please make your tax-deductible contribution today! Visit the Museum of Motherhood NOW OPEN in NYC - Tues.-Sun., 10:45-6:30.

MamaBlogger365 - The View From Here by Amy Brozio-Andrews

The view from here

Amy Brozio-Andrews is the social media coordinator for the Museum of Motherhood. She's an occasional amateur photographer.

The Museum Of Motherhood is the first and only facility of its kind, celebrating the “her”story of mothers around the world. We need your help -- please make your tax-deductible contribution today!Visit the Museum of Motherhood, NOW OPEN in NYC - Tues.-Sun., 10:45-6:30.

MamaBlogger365 - The Value of a Woman on International Women's Day by Joy Rose

The Museum of Motherhood is working with the International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org) to raise awareness against human trafficking.

Today is International Women's Day. A time for girls, women and mothers -- and of course, the people who love them -- to come together and raise awareness about the issues we face. One of the nearest and dearest to my heart is a mother's value. In purely economic terms, in North America, the job of mother has been calculated to have around a $115,000 salary annually, give or take, yet still, real pay for real labor equals zero, while worldwide statistics note that approximately 1 women around the world dies every 90 seconds from maternity related causes.

Last week at the United Nation's 56th Annual Commission On The Status of Women, I heard reports from all over the world, about women farmers fighting to own a piece of the agricultural pie where female ownership falls well under 10%, and rural African mothers and girls working to close educational gaps as they struggled for the basics of physical safety and water.

Today we'll gather, on the Internet and in person, to celebrate International Women's Day. Let this be a time for hope, activism and personal empowerment. Since 82% of the female population will go on to have children, a day like this must also mark the value and importance of mothers and the work they do.

Exhibits like Alexia Nye Jackson's Mother The Job demonstrate through mixed media images, film, art and statistical comparisons, that the job of mother is the great unpaid labor force of a capitalist society. We need to actively evaluate the hidden costs of parenting, and ask questions like: how do we, as a nation, provide health care, maternity leave, paid parental leave, breast feeding and childcare at the workplace? Where is economic reward for working mothers, returning to the workforce, after time spent away raising children? And is there support for some of the more difficult psychosocial ramifications of motherhood?

Promoting the health, well-being, information, education and connection for individuals and collectives around the area of mother studies and family benefits everyone. To that end, ongoing groups, researchers, activists, artists, thought-leaders, social change-makers and women in business have been gathering at the newly opened Museum Of Motherhood (M.O.M.) in New York City -- the first and only facility of it's kind, dedicated to exploring, collecting and disseminating information and education about women, mothers and families.

On Monday, I asked our Day Of Maternal Activism participants to create signs for some of the issues they cared about. Here we are, being everyday activists! I encourage everyone to reflect on how they'd like to see change happen in their lives and then 'be the change you want to see in the world'.

Please see our ongoing fundraising efforts with the International Justice Mission here.

And, to read this article in full, go to MomsRising.org.

Joy Rose

Founder and Executive Director

The Museum Of Motherhood is the first and only facility of its kind, celebrating the “her”story of mothers around the world. We need your help -- please make your tax-deductible contribution today!Visit the Museum of Motherhood, NOW OPEN in NYC - Tues.-Sun., 10:45-6:30.

MamaBlogger365 - Mommy Queerest by Kimberly Dark

Looking Sexy in the Face

I should've known better. But this is part of what I do in hotel rooms: watch a little television. I don't miss not having a television at home, but down-time in hotel rooms warrants some guilty pleasure. So, today I watched the Fuse top 100 sexiest music videos of all time. Well, I caught the top 60 - and that took much of the day. I muted through the commercials and some of the songs, and I also did some dancing. But what else do you suppose happened to me while I watched? Think about it for a moment - before I tell you, I'll share the backdrop for this sexy video extravaganza.

I'm in a downtown hotel room in State College, PA, as the sounds of drunken revelers drift up from the street. February 25 is no holiday, but here at Penn State, it's known as State Patty's Day - a day of drinking and debauchery that now has much of downtown State College closed down - yes, bars close rather than selling alcohol on this day because students can be so destructive, so irresponsible in their behavior that even the business owners who stand to profit from such revelry would rather not support the inevitable injuries, sexual assaults, harassment and general dreadful behavior that will result on this day. It's a parent's nightmare, of course. They're young and foolish and looking for attention and affirmation. The mother-part of me wants to scream "Go home!" and "For Gawd-sakes, put on a sweater!"

Why State Patty's Day? St. Patrick's Day - a good "drinking holiday" in America - normally falls during spring break. And some students a few years back felt cheated out of reveling with their friends, so they instituted State Patty's Day - the last Saturday in February - as make-up day.

I am here, on this of all days, to participate in an event that happens each year at this time - the brilliant Cultural Conversations festival, led by Dr. Susan Russell. This festival offers theatre, music, dance and film surrounding a topic of cultural importance. This year's theme is Difficult Differences and the offerings include Dr. Carrie Sandahl's documentary, Code of the Freaks, about the representation of disability in Hollywood, and my solo show Dykeopolis: Queer Tales and Travels in our Times.

The week also included five student plays, an art display on racial and cultural differences, plus a town hall event on "growing up gay in the USA." And, then there's Body Language, one of the most amazing efforts this festival undertakes each year in which a performance results from Dr. Russell's months of work with local middle and high school students. This year, their show was called LGBT Citizens and Allies Asking and Telling. The Body Language shows are stunning -- this is the second time my work has been invited to Cultural Conversations and the previous Body Language performance I saw focused on body image and the bullying that comes from body bigotry.

This brings me back to the results of watching five hours of music videos - something a lot of young people do on a routine basis.

Click here to read more!

Kimberly Dark is a mother, professor and an award-winning writer and performer. Her favorite son is a senior at UC Berkeley and she’s grateful that traveling to perform allows her to spend time with him often. www.kimberlydark.com.

Photo credit: Sil kobieta 2 by mzacha | MorgueFile

The Museum Of Motherhood is the first and only facility of its kind, celebrating the “her”story of mothers around the world. We need your help -- please make your tax-deductible contribution today! Visit the Museum of Motherhood, NOW OPEN in NYC - Tues.-Sun., 10:45-6:30

MamaBlogger365 - Finding Yourself Amongst the Masters by Shira Adler, Diva Mama

I need beauty in my life.

I need it for inspiration, for relaxation and for rejuvenation.

I need beauty to satisfy my creative soul and soothe the savage Mama’s-over-tired-can-you-please-leave-me-alone-for-more-than-10-minutes beast. More often than not, I get no such respite.

But this weekend with the bizarrely perfect near 60 degree late Winter weather in the East, the muses beckoned and my honey, hearing the siren song, set plans in motion, providing all of us with a much needed soulfully satisfying family excursion.

Before going any further, I’m only a tad bit ashamed to admit something that precious few know about me; I have never been to one of the world’s greatest museums: New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. My formative years were spent in Pennsylvania and California. What’s a girl to do? I’m not from here!

Click here to read more!



BIO: By day Shira Adler is a cantor, spiritual vocalist, certified pastlife regressionist, voice-over artist, producer, performer, writer/blogger and mompreneur and by night... well, she is actually the same person at night though she does admit to wearing fuzzy socks when no one can see her and hiding a secret stash of Mallomars somewhere near her writing desk for those late night pick-me-ups. In, around, and between her various work activities, she is raising two beyond-the-spectrum children as a single mom (though lovingly gives a shout out to her best friend, editor and soulmate whom she considers the bees knees). Is it any wonder her website’s tag line is One Voice Many Paths? Seriously, look up the definition of a multi-tasking Mama and you will find her picture there. But when it comes to living a life of connection, faith and consciousness Shira is the gal to call -- or if you’re fresh out of Mallomars -- she’s always happy to give you one. For more information visit: ShiraAdler.com, read her blog at Diva-Mama.com; Social: Twitter (1DivaMama), Facebook (DivaMama1), Tumblr (not really sure, but the name is cute) and LinkedIn (because doesn’t everyone?).

The Museum Of Motherhood is the first and only facility of its kind, celebrating the “her”story of mothers around the world. We need your help -- please make your tax-deductible contribution today!Visit the Museum of Motherhood, NOW OPEN in NYC - Tues.-Sun., 10:45-6:30.