Bad at Art Forum #9: New Art (M)others

Installing my booth for This Art Fair, Amsterdam, July 6 (2022), 25 weeks pregnant

As a 37-week-pregnant artist, I’m down to the wire on a major life shift. There are many resources for new and existing (m)other artists, compiled over a dizzying variety of dedicated websites, personal blogs, and artist publications. Where to begin? For this entry of Bad at Art Forum, I’m attempting to amalgamate those resources into one post.

Though certainly not exhaustive (please feel free get in touch by email keeleyhaftner (at) gmail (dot) com to contribute), I hope that this post can act as a general landing pad of resources for pregnant people, biological/non-gestational/adoptive mothers, transmothers and *femme/female parents who are artists embarking on this great shift… Can’t wait until I have time to engage with it! >D

*Note: Though this list was compiled with wymyn artists in mind, these resources will benefit the entire gender spectrum of artist parents, and their partners as well.

Postpartum Production by Kaitlin Solimine

PODCASTS

Artist/Mother Podcast
Enemies of Good Art (radio show / podcast)
First Day Back
Life’s Soundtrack
Mama on Palette Podcast: Art – Motherhood – Wellness
Mother Friday (radio show)
Mother Maker
My Mother is an Artist
Postpartum Production
Pratfalls of Parenting
The Art of Being a Mum
The Creative Mother Podcast
The Longest Shortest Time – Special Series “It’s a Real Mother”
Who’s Your Mama Podcast
Woman Up!

FUNDING/ADVOCACY

Fulbright Scholars program (Multiple Locations)
Kunst+Kind (Berlin)
NYFA (New York Foundation for the Arts)
Parent Artist Advocacy League – Childcare Grants for Theater/Performing Artists
Pen Parentis Fellowship for New Parents
Sustainable Arts Foundation: Supporting Artists + Writers with Families
TransCultural Exchange – funding, residencies, conferences, etc.
Why Funding the Arts and Paid Parental Leave Go Hand in Hand by Arianna Camille (article)

StayHome Gallery and Residency

RESIDENCY PROGRAMS SUPPORTING ARTIST-PARENTS
*indicates either fully-funded for parents, expressly family-centred, or of particular relevance to Art (M)others

USA RESIDENCIES

*AS220 – family-friendly “artist opportunities to live, work, exhibit and perform in our facilities” (RI)
18th Street Center (CA)
Acadia National Park Artist Residency (ME)
Artpace (TX) – residencies and exhibitions
Aunt Karen’s Farm (NY)
Brooklyn Arts Exchange (NY City, parent grant for choreographers, theater / performance artists)
Caldera (OR)
*Elsewhere Studios (CO) – fully-funded Family Residencies
Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown (MA)
*Franconia Sculpture Park (MN, sculpture specific family residency in July, kids arts camp included)
Gallery Aferro (NJ)
Headlands Center for the Arts (CA)
Hyde Park Arts Center (IL)
*Interlude Residency (NY) – family-centred mission
I-Park Foundation (CT)
*Kala Art Institute (CA) – parent artist residency
LMCC (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council) Artist Residencies (NY)
*Marble House (VT) family friendly, child programming (ages 3-14)
McColl Center (NC)
Millay Colony (VT)
*MOM (Museum of Motherhood) Art Annex Residency (FL)
*Movement Research (NYC-based artists) – Parent Artist Residency
*Penland Resident Artist Program (NC) – funded and family-welcoming
*Popps Packing (MI) – “Momm” and “Popp” Residency, two-bedroom apartment/up to 2 children
*Prairieside Outpost (KS) – “uniquely family-friendly”
Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program (NM, year-long residency, families welcome)
*Santa Fe Art Institute (NM) – Family Residency (1-2 kids, ages 2-17)
Sibyls Shrine (PA) – for Black mother artists in the Pittsburgh area
*Sitka Center for Art and Ecology (OR) – family-friendly
Smack Mellon Studios (NY City) – studio workspace/exhibitions
*SPACE on Ryder Farm (NY) – Family Residency (ages 5-12)
Spread Art (MI)
*StayHome Gallery and Residency (TN) – for women/non-binary artists and their families
*Stoneleaf Retreat (NY) – Art Mamas Residency
*The Luminary (MO) – Residency for Artist Parents
The Wassaic Artist Residency (NY)
The Women’s Studio Workshop (NY) – Parent Residency Grant (funded)
Vermont Studio Center (VT)

INTERNATIONAL RESIDENCIES

Akademie Schloss Solitude (Germany)
*Artist Residency in Motherhood (cost-free, self-directed program you can participate in anywhere)
*Ballinglen Art Foundation (Ireland) – expressly family-friendly
Bamboo Curtain Residency (Taiwan)
*Camargo Residency (France) – family-friendly (children 6+)
Can Serrat (Spain)
*Cow House Studios (Ireland) – Parenting Artist Residency
*CreativeCollaborative Mothers (India) – one week art mother residency
*FoAM (Belgium) – Family in Residence
Franz Masereel Centrum (Belgium)
Green Olive Arts (Morocco)
Japan US Friendship Commission (Japan/USA)
Ketemu Project (Indonesia)
Nordic Artists’ Centre Dale (Norway)
*Malakta Art Factory (Finland) – expressly family-friendly
*MOTHRA Artist-Parent Project (Canada) – partners/children ages 0-14 welcome
Red Gate Residency – (China)
Residency for Artists on Hiatus (self-directed program you can participate in anywhere)
*Symposium Künstlergut Prösitz (Germany) – one-month sculpture/object/installation symposium for mother+children (childcare up to 12 yrs)
Takt Kunstprojektraum (Germany)
*Tenjin-yama Art Studio (Japan) – “groups and families”

RESIDENCY DATABASES (BOTH FAMILY- AND *NON-FAMILY-SPECIFIC)

Alliance of Artist Communities – database you can search for family-supportive programs
AIR-J – artist residencies in Japan
An Artist Residency in Motherhood
Art Rubicon
MesArt
Rate My Artist Residency
ResArtis
Re-title
Sustainable Arts Foundation: Supporting Artists with Children
The Curator Ship
Trans Artists
Example of a “DIY” parental residency by artist Lenka Clayton (2012-2015)

*Pro Tip: Many residencies are indeed family friendly but do not advertise it. Reach out to residencies of interest and be clear about your family needs as a future resident, and you may find they are extremely accommodating and welcoming.

How Not to Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents) by Hettie Judah (2022)

BOOKS

100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write by Sarah Ruhl
A Glorious Freedom: Older Women Leading Extraordinary Lives by Lisa Congdon
A Question of Balance: Artists and Writers on Motherhood by Judith Pierce Rosenburg (ed)
Bad Art Mother by Edwina Preston
Bearing Meaning: The Language of Birth by Robbie Kahn
Feminist Art and the Maternal by Andrea Liss
Five Book by The Institute for the Art and Practice of Dissent at Home
Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs by Sally Mann
Home Truths: Photography and Motherhood by Susan Bright (ed)
How Not to Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents) by Hettie Judah
How to Mend, Motherhood and Its Ghosts by Iman Mersal
How We Do Both: Art and Motherhood by Michi Jigarjian (ed) & Qiana Mestrich (ed)
Inappropriate Bodies: Art, Design, and Maternity by Rachel Epp Bullet et al.
Mamaphonic: Balancing Motherhood and Other Creative Acts, Bee Lavender (ed) & Maia Rossini (ed)
Maternal Theory: Essential Readings (2nd Edition) by Andrea O’Reilly (ed)
Mother by Elinor Carucci
Mother Reader: Essential Writings on Motherhood by Moyra Davey (ed)
Mother/Art: A Journey into Selfhood, Motherhood and Art Education through Personal Works (thesis) by Rosanna Ciciola-Izzo
Motherhood in the Art World by Claudia Sandoval Romero
Motherhood and Space: Configurations of the Maternal through Politics, Home, and the Body by Sarah Hardy (ed) & Caroline Wiedmer (ed)
Mothernism by Lise Haller Baggesen
Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art by Mary Gabriel
Of Woman Born by Adrienne Rich
Performing Motherhood by Amber Kinser et al.
Portrait of the Mother-Artist: Class & Creativity in Contemporary American Fiction by Nancy Gerber
Reconciling Art and Mothering by Rachel Epp Buller (ed)
Strong Hearts, Inspired Minds: 21 Artists Who Are Mothers Tell Their Stories by Anne Mavor et al.
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson (fiction)
The Baby On The Fire Escape – Creativity, Motherhood, And The Mind-Baby Problem by Julie Phillips
The Divided Heart: Art and Motherhood by Rachel Power
The Fruits of Labor: Creativity, Self-Expression and Motherhood by Penny Sumner
The Grand Permission: New Writings on Poetics and Motherhood by Patricia Dienstfrey (ed)
The M Word: Real Mothers in Contemporary Art by Myrel Chernick & Jennie Klein
The Mother Knot by Jane Lazarre
The Motherhood of Art by Marissa Hubers
Mums and Babies Ensemble by Duska Radosavljevic & Annie Rigby
Wet: On Painting, Feminism, and Art Culture by Mira Schor
Why Call It Labor? On Motherhood and Art Work by Archive Books
Wild Motherhood: Tending the Fire of your Creative Spirit by Morgan Nichols

ESSAYS AND ARTICLES

6 Questions about Art and Parenthood by Leah Sandals (Canadian Art)
A Portrait of the Young Artist as a Mom by Kim Brooks
A Year in Motherhood by Leah Sandals (Canadian Art)
Are Domestic Responsibilities at Odds with Becoming Great Artists? by Siddhartha Deb & Dana Stevens
Artist Residencies Need to Start Thinking About Parents by Daniel Gerwin (Hyperallergic)
Being a Mother is Not a Problem to Solve… by Elena Marchevska (The Guardian)
Being Both: Artist/Mother by Kate Fisher
Can Women In The Art World “Have It All”? Responses To The Atlantic’s Contentious Article by Alanna Martinez, Blouin ArtInfo
Celebrating Mother’s Day Through Distinct Artistic Visions by Susan Fisher Sterling
Children in the Space – A Collaborative Photo Essay on Working Parents in the Theatre by Rachel Spencer-Hewitt (Auditioning Mom)
Children Welcome: Art By Parents… by Lori Waxman (The Chicago Tribune)
Critic’s Pick: Division of Labor Caroline Picard (Artforum)
Curator Says MOMA PS1 Wanted Her, Until She Had a Baby by Melena Ryzik (NY Times)
During the Pandemic, Artist-Parents Get Creative by Rachel Heidenry (Hyperallergic)
How Has Parenthood Informed your Writing Life? by James Parker (NY Times)
How Motherhood Affects Creativity by Erica Hayasaki (The Atlantic)
How to Be an Artist and a Parent–At the Same Time by Jillian Billard (Artspace)
I Really Discourage my Son from Becoming an Artist by Timo Feldhaus (SPIKE)
Joan Didion and the Art of Motherhood, Carribean Fragoza (Harper’s Bazaar)
Models for a New Society by Bonnie Fortune (Mythological Quarter)
Mother, Writer, Monster, Maid by Rufi Thorpe
Motherhood is Taboo in the Art World by Hettie Judah (The Guardian)
Mothers of Invention by Parul Sehgal (Bookforum)
My Practice Looks Very Different Today: 15 Artist-Mothers on Balancing Work and Family After a Year Like No Other by Sarah Cascone (Artnet)
Neo-Maternalism: Contemporary Artists’ Approach to Motherhood by Sharon Butler (The Brooklyn Rail)
On Being an Artist and a Mother by Alicia Eler (Hyperallergic)
On Motherhood, Apple Pie, and Being an Artist by Mira Schor (ed) & Susan Bee (ed)
One in Four Performing Arts Careers Halted by Parenthood by Matthew Hemley
Parental Aesthetics or How to Make Art and Have Children, Too by Lori Waxman (Immersive Life Practices)
Parenting and Labor in the Artworld: A Call to Arms by Michelle Fisher (Hyperallergic)
Photo Exhibit Brings Motherhood to Light by Lori Waxman (The Chicago Tribune)
Taking Custody: Owning the Role of Artist AND Mother by Alyssa Pelish (On the Issues)
Taking Your Child to Work, When Your Job is Making Theater by Michael Paulson (NY Times)
The Art of Having it All by Katherine Gressel (Createqity)
The Art of Reproduction by Troy Pieper (F News)
The Art World Needs More Children by Lori Waxman (The Chicago Tribune)
The Central, Yet Invisible Labor of Motherhood in the Arts by Ksenya Gurshtein (Hyperallergic)
The Open Secret of Anti-Mom Bias at Work by Katherine Goldstein (NY Times)
The Parent Trap: Art After Children by Frank Cottrell Boyce (The Guardian)
The Spacing of Parental Values by Brett Bloom (Kindling Quarterly)
Two Ailey Stars will Now Turn their Focus to Baby Steps by Gia Kourlas (NY Times)
Two Pioneering Artists Discuss Motherhood and Machismo by Tess Thackara (NY Times)
What Does it Mean to be and Artist and Mother by Alice Gregory (NY Times)
What Sally Mann’s Work Says About Art and Motherhood by Whitney Otto (Lit Hub)
Who Cares for Whom? Parenthood in the Creative Community by Christa Donner (Cultural Producers)
Who Gives a Shit? On Motherhood and the Arts by Felicity Castagna (Southerly Journal)
Why Can’t Great Artists Be Mothers? by Jacoba Urist
Writer, Mother, Both, Neither by Belle Boggs (Lithub)
Yo Mama: On Art and Working Motherhood by Christian L. Frock (KQED)
You Can be a Mother and Still be a Successful Artist by Marina Cashdan (Artsy)

Pregnant Butch by A.K. Summers

SMALL PRESS, COMICS, & ZINES

Artists Raising Kids Compendium by Andrew Simonet (ed)
Being and Artist and Mother by Laura Weinstein
Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History (in That Order) by Bridget Quinn, illustrated by Lisa Congdon
Chlorine Gardens by Keiler Roberts
Cultural ReProducers: Propositions, Manifestos, and Experiments by Christa Donner (ed)
Happy Happy Baby Baby by Keiler Roberts
Miseryland by Keiler Roberts
Powdered Milk by Keiler Roberts
Pregnant Butch by A.K. Summers
Propositions, Manifestos & Experiments by Temporary Services
Sunburning by Keiler Roberts

MOTHER MAGAZINES/PUBLISHERS:

Feminist Publishing on Mothering, Reproduction, Sexuality and Family by Demeter Press
Literary Mama
Procreate Project Zine Archive
Maternal Art Magazine
M/E/A/N/I/N/N/G Magazine, Issue 12 (founded by Susan Bee & Mira Schor)
MUTHA Magazine

(M)OTHER ART/ART (M)OTHER INDEXES

A.M.M.A.A. – The Archive for Mapping Mother Artists in Asia
Artist Parent Index – a searchable database of artists making work about reproduction and child rearing
Birth Rites Collection – “contemporary artwork dedicated to the subject of childbirth”
Studies in the Maternal – an international, peer-reviewed, scholarly online journal
The MOMTRA List – “successful women artists and writers who have children”

Loie Hollowell, “Milk Spout” (2020)

*SELECTED (M)OTHER ART/ART (M)OTHERS

*Artist Parent Index – a searchable database of artists making work about reproduction and child rearing
Alice Neel, “Mother and Child” (1982)
Aliza Shvarts, “Untitled (Senior Thesis)” (2008)
Amy Wong, “Breastmilk Watercolours” series (2017)
Awol Erizku, “Beyonce” (2017)
Carmen Winant, “My Birth” (2018)
Carrie Mae Weems, “Untitled (Woman and daughter with makeup)” from Kitchen Table series, (1990)
Clarity Haynes, “Birth Alter” (2020-21)
Heji Shin, “Baby” (2016)
Judy Chicago, “Pressing Himself Against Her, The Shadow’s Invasion Drained her Very Soul” (1982) from Birth Project (1980-85)
Lena Simic, “Friday Records” (2014)
Lenka Clayton, “Maternity Leave” (2011)
Liss LaFleur & Katherine Sobering, “The Queer Birth Project” (2022)
Loie Hollowell, “Milk Spout” (2020)
Las Hermanas Iglesias, “Commiserates” (2012)
Louise Bourgeois, “Maman” (1999)
Manjari Sharma and Irina Rozovsky, Talking Pictures (2016-17)
Mary Ellen Mark, “Tiny, pregnant, Seattle” (1985)
Mary Kelly, “Post-Partum Document” (1973-1979)
Maternal Fantasies (collective, Berlin)
Mother Art formed by Suzanne Siegel (1973)
Najja Moon, “Your Mommas Voice in the Back of Your Head” (2021)
Nan Goldin, “Ectopic Pregnancy Scar” (1980)
Sally Mann, “Immediate Family” (1992) and “At Twelve” (1988)
The Hackney Flashers (collective, United Kingdom)

EXHIBITIONS

Always On: Art and Motherhood, SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA, 2021
Artist Residency in Parenthood, 107 Projects, Sydney, Australia, 2016
Broodwork: It’s About Time, Otis Ben Malz Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, USA 2011
Complicated Labors, UCSC Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery, CA, USA, 2014
Division of Labor, Glass Curtain Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA, 2014-15
Extended Self: Transformations and Connections, the Hyde Park Arts Center, Chicago, IL 2019
Firsts and Starts, Roman Susan Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2018
Home Truths, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, USA 2014; The Foundling Museum and The Photographer’s Gallery, London, UK, 2013-2014
Labor: Motherhood & Art in 2020, NMSU Art Museum, Las Cruces, NM, 2020
Making it Work: Art & Parenting, Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS, 2022
Maternal Metaphors I and II, RoCo, Rochester, NY, 2004 and OU Art Galleries, OH, USA, 2006
Mommy, Yale Union, Portland, Oregon, USA, 2015
The Mother Artist Project, 2014-18
(Mother), Gallery Fu, Yokohama, Japan, 2016
Mother of the Year, Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Austria, 2015-16
Mothers, WomanMade Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA, 2010
New Maternalisms Redux, FAB Gallery, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, 2016
Not Knowing, Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2017
Painting at Night, Auer Center for Arts & Culture, Fort Wayne, IN 2021
PostPartum Party, Rhombus Space, Brooklyn, NY, USA, 2014
Project Afterbirth, White Moose Gallery, Barnstaple, UK, 2015
Re:Production, Goleb, Amsterdam, 2017
Repeat Pressure Until, Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY, 2016
Separation Anxiety, Wignall Museum, Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA, 2010
The Camille Diaries: New Positions on M/otherhood, Life, & Care, Art Laboratory Berlin, 2020
The Great Mother, Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Milan, Italy, 2015
The Let Down Reflex, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario, Canada 2017; the Elizabeth Foundation Project Space, New York, NY, USA, 2016
Various Exhibitions, StayHome Gallery, Paris, TN, 2020 – ongoing

COLLECTIONS AND CATALOGUES

Invisible Spaces of Parenthood, Andrea Francke (ed)
Live Art and Motherhood: A Study Room Guide by Emily Underwood-Lee (ed) & Lena Simic (ed)
Maternal Metaphors by Myrel Chernick et al.
Mommy Reader by Yale Union
The Mums and Babies Ensemble: A Manual by Duska Radosavljevic et al.
Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment by Sarah Milroy et al.

Alberto Aguilar, “Rest Area (Museo Picasso Barcelona)” (2011), from Cultural Reproducers website

OTHER RESOURCES/WEBSITES/ONLINE PROJECTS

Artist/Mother Community – crit groups, exhibition opportunities, mentoring, etc.
AtHomeStudios – meetings for home studio artists, Ireland
Aviatrix Atelier – Berlin-based parent-friendly network
Both Artist and Mother – clay art (m)others
Center for Parenting Artists – resource sharing (funding, legal, etc.)
Cultural Reproducers – creative platform for parent artists
Desperate Artwives – “a space for activism and motherhood”
ESME – showcasing creative work by solo mothers
*Extended Practice – resources for artist mothers
How We Do Both: Art and Motherhood
Mam Triban – mother artists in Wales
MaMSIE (Mapping Maternal Subjectivities, Identities and Ethics) – “the maternal from scholarly, artistic or practice perspectives”
MOMTRA
Mother House (studio integrated childcare, United Kingdom)
Mother Makers – “a network for exchange and dialogue for mothers trying to find their way back into their art/design practice after having children”
MUTHA Magazine
Parenting Artists / Parents in the Arts SG (Singapore)
Pen Parentis – critical resources for working creative writers raising kids
Performance and the Maternal – “seeks to better understand the condition of the maternal through a study of maternal performance”
Prams in the Hall – parents in theatre
(Pro)Create Anthology
Procreate Project – platform for (m)other art prizes, studios, etc.
Project Afterbirth (United Kingdom)
*Spilt Milk – opportunities for artists who identify as mothers
the egg, the womb, the head and the moon – an online, collaborative, 9-month art project (2014)
The Mother Artist Network
The Mother Load Project – site for (m)other artists to connect
The Mothership Project – networking and events for artists with children (Ireland)

Artbound, Artist and Mother, Season 9 Episode 7

FILM/VIDEO

Artist and Mother – ArtBound (Season 9, Episode 7)
Lost in Living
Motherhood in the Art World
Raising Films – advocacy for parents in the UK Film Sector
Who Does She think She Is?

ARCHIVED EVENTS

Artist/Mother/Practice – ELF and Martina Mullaney (roundtable, United Kingdom)
Colloquy: Parenthood in the Art World (panel, MOCA Los Angeles)
Enemies of Good Art (UK, event series 2011)
Making it What We Need (workshop, Chicago, IL)
Mapping the Maternal Colloquim and Events (colloquium, Alberta, Canada)
Motherhood and Creative Practice Conference (conference, United Kingdom)
M/Other Voices Foundation – maternal theory/resources (Netherlands, 2019)
Project!! WAKAKA! – art and family project (2010-11)
The Feminist Art Project’s CAA Day of Panels: Motherhood (panel, Chicago, IL* VIDEO)
The Hown’s Den – exhibitions for artist parents (inactive since 2015)
The Institute for the Art and Practice of Dissent at Home – “a critical intervention into family life” (2010-2017)
The Last Art Taboo, National Textile Society Symposium (lecture, Washington, DC * VIDEO)
The Mothernists (conference, Netherlands * with VIDEO)
The wild (survival) guide of an artist-parent (workshop, AIR Gallery, New York)
Tracers Takes on Feminism: Motherhood (panel, Threewalls, Chicago * with VIDEO)
Wah-wah, shh, chomp, munch, nom, burp, poot, slurp, yum, toot, mwah. But who’s holding the baby? (workshop and panel, EFA Project Space, New York)

**Sources**

Alexxa Gotthardt https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-photographs-capture-joy-pain-pregnancy
ArtConnect https://www.magazine.artconnect.com/artist-opportunities/art-residencies-for-artist-parents
Austin Kleon https://austinkleon.com/2020/05/10/5-great-books-about-art-and-motherhood/
Christa Donner (et al.) https://www.culturalreproducers.org/p/home.html
Kate Fisher – https://bothartistandmother.com/resources/
MOMTRA – https://hellomomtra.wordpress.com/
Rachael Grad, https://rachaelgrad.com/blogs/art-blog/books-on-motherhood-and-art
Salomé Gómez-Upegui https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-women-artists-shaping-way-motherhood
Statera Artst and PAAL – https://stateraarts.org/parent-artists