Art, Activism, and Reproductive Rights: Creative Workshops, Panel, and Procession 

Date: Saturday, September 30, 2023 from 1:00pm to 7:30pm

Location: Various Locations, University Park Campus

Type: Workshop, Performance, Diversity

Genre: Music, Dance, Dramatic Arts, Art & Design, Literary Arts, Cinematic Arts

Image Credit: Still from Hemorrhage, 2023, an animated film by Ruth Hayes

ADMISSION: 
Admission is free. Reservations required.

RSVP

DESCRIPTION: 
In the wake of recent laws that bar or limit access to safe and legal abortions and reproductive health services, a full day of activities will explore the potential for art to produce social and political change. The inspiring and empowering event will include creative workshops in animation, silkscreen and poster-making, DIY zines, choreography, drumming, and activist architecture; a public reading of Lisa Loomer's Roe; a panel of artists discussing the relationship between art, activism, and creating change; and a procession of solidarity and support of bodily autonomy and reproductive rights that will feature many of the items created in the workshops.

Everyone is welcome and snacks will be provided.

Along with a presentation by Dutch medical doctor, artist, and activist Rebecca Gomperts on Friday, October 27, this event is part of a series that serves as a call to action to promote bodily autonomy and reproductive rights through arts, activism, and dialogue. 

Schedule (subject to change): 

1–2:45 p.m.: CREATIVE WORKSHOPS—SESSION I  

RADICAL BOTANICALS: PHYTOGRAM IMAGE-MAKING WORKSHOP
Holly Willis, Chair of the Media Arts + Practice Division in USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, will lead a workshop drawing together ancient knowledge of the power of herbs for reproductive health with a cameraless filmmaking/photography technique.  

OUR BODIES, OUR BATTLEGROUND: ANIMATION AND PROJECTION WORKSHOP
Led by USC School of Cinematic Arts professor Lisa Mann and experimental animator Ruth Hayes, participants will create text + image animations using the ancient printmaking technique of frottage, or rubbing, and then project them onto USC architecture.  

DIY DESIGN: ZINE-MAKING WORKSHOP
Derek Christian Quezada Meneses, rare books librarian at the USC Libraries’ Department of Special Collections, will guide you through the process of creating your own zine, using a variety of mediums and techniques inspired by the rich history of independent activist publications. 

PUBLIC READING OF ROE 

Join us for an interactive public reading of excerpts of Lisa Loomer’s Roe, devised pieces, and engaged dialogue with audience based on topical themes inspired by the play, hosted by Kirstin Eggers, assistant professor of theatre practice in comedy performance at the USC School of Dramatic Arts, and directed and staged by Anita Dashiell-Sparks, professor of theatre practice.

3–4:45 p.m.: CREATIVE WORKSHOPS—SESSION II  

DIY POLITICAL POSTER-MAKING WORKSHOP
USC Roski professor Sherin Guirguis and representatives from Self Help Graphics & Art will assist participants in creating handmade stencils to silkscreen as posters with vibrant inks. 

EMPOWERING RHYTHMS: DRUMMING FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Anindo Marshall of the USC Kaufman School of Dance will introduce participants to the concept of the drum circle while teaching basic rhythms steeped in African drumming practice. Participants will learn to drum in preparation for a post-panel procession through the USC campus that settles into a drum circle at Tommy Trojan/Hahn Plaza. This workshop will require comfortable clothes to move in.

OUR BODIES CLAIMING THE SPACE: CHOREOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
USC Kaufman School of Dance professor Alison D’Amato and participants will create and perform a choreographic score as protest, investigating relationships between choreography, agency, and authority while paying homage to Lawrence and Ana Halprin’s RSVP Cycles. This workshop will require comfortable clothes to move in, and no dance experience is necessary.​​​​​​​

EXPLORING ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
Syracuse University School of Architecture professor Lori Brown and Esther Margulies of the USC School of Architecture will lead a hands-on brainstorming and ideas charrette to explore concepts of equity and justice in the design of reproductive health facilities on a contested site in Southern California. Lori will also present case studies from her work around the U.S.

5–7:30 p.m.: WHAT CAN BE DONE?—PANEL DISCUSSION, PROCESSION, AND DRUM CIRCLE  

An informative and empowering conversation will feature the diverse perspectives of practitioners in dance, visual arts, architecture, and theatre, who will share their strategies of intervention or exploration in relation to political and cultural structures around reproductive rights. Panelists will explore how different art forms provide different opportunities, as well as the different issues represented by artists and their communities. Panelists will include Paula Cizmar (USC School of Dramatic Arts, Institute for Theatre and Social Change), Nao Bustamante (USC Roski School of Art and Design), Lori Brown (co-founder of ArchiteXX/Syracuse Architecture), Marjani Forté-Saunders (USC Kaufman School of Dance), and Phung Huynh (Los Angeles Valley College), moderated by Laura Karlin (Invertigo Dance Theatre). 

The panel will be followed by a procession through the USC campus, culminating in a drum circle at Tommy Trojan, where the art created throughout the day will be shown, projected, performed, and used as a call to action. 

Bios:  

Lori Brown is a Distinguished Professor at the Syracuse University School of Architecture and a registered architect in New York who co-founded and leads ArchiteXX, an NYC–based organization dedicated to gender equity in architecture that works to raise awareness of women in architecture, create support and mentoring networks, and take design actions broadening the exposure of architecture in the world. Her books include Feminist Practices: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Women in Architecture and Contested Spaces: Abortion Clinics, Women’s Shelters and Hospitals.  

Nao Bustamante is an internationally known artist, performer, and USC Roski professor who resides in Los Angeles. Bustamante's precarious work encompasses performance art, video installation, visual art, filmmaking, and writing. The New York Times says, “She has a knack for using her body.” Bustamante has presented in galleries, museums, universities and underground sites all around the world. She has exhibited, among other locales, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London; the New York Museum of Modern Art; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Sundance International Film Festival; Outfest International Film Festival; El Museo del Barrio Museum of Contemporary Art; First International Performance Biennial; Deformes in Santiago, Chile; and the Kiasma Museum of Helsinki. 

Paula Cizmar is a professor of theatre practice in dramatic writing at the USC School of Dramatic Arts and an award-winning playwright and librettist whose work combines poetry and politics. Her work is concerned with the ways cultures tell stories, and with those who are left out of the discussion. Her honors include two NEA grants; an international residency at the Rockefeller Study Center in Bellagio, Italy; and the TCG/Mellon Foundation’s On the Road grant. She has had her work selected for Sundance, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and EnVision at Bard.  

Alison D’Amato is an associate professor of practice at the USC Kaufman School of Dance whose scholarly and choreographic work investigates generative and indeterminate notation in order to investigate relationships between choreographic authority, inscription, agency, and archival practices. Her dances and scores have been presented in Los Angeles at Anatomy Riot, Pieter PASD, The Hammer Museum, and HomeLA; in New York at Movement Research, the Tank, AUNTS, Waxworks, Dixon Place, and BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange; and in Philadelphia, the UK, and Poland.  

Anita Dashiell-Sparks is a professor of theatre practice; serves as associate dean of equity, diversity, and inclusion for the USC School of Dramatic Arts; and has taught acting, movement, and critical studies at USC for over 18 years. As an actor based in New York and Los Angeles, she has performed on Broadway in Night Must Fall, starring Matthew Broderick; and The Sunshine Boys, starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. In addition to acting, teaching, and directing, she is a trained and certified Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) practitioner by SEED and NADOHE.

Kirstin Eggers is an assistant professor of theatre practice in comedy performance at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. She is also co-founder of the Arts in Action program “Cancer & Comedy” in collaboration with USC Norris Adolescent and Young Adults Cancer Center and serves as performance coach for the award-winning USC Dornsife Trial Advocacy Program. Eggers has been a working actor and writer for over 20 years, with extensive commercial, guest, recurring, and series regular television appearances. Off-camera, she has performed sketch and improv at the Groundlings, UCB, and Comedy Central Stage, and accepted invitations to appear at comedy festivals nationwide.

USC Kaufman School of Dance artist in residence Marjani Forté-Saunders is an independent artist, co-founder of LOVE|FORTÈ A COLLECTIVE, and one of two directors of the Alkebu-Lan Cultural Center of Northwest Pasadena. She is a proud recipient of the 2017 Outstanding Performance Bessie Award as one of 21 Black womyn and gender-nonconforming artists of the collective Skeleton Architecture. Her latest collaborations include working alongside Sundance Award–winning director Kahlil Joseph as a choreographer on Sampha’s PROCESS short film and the Pantene Pro-V “Strong Is Beautiful” commercial campaign. 

Sherin Guirguis is a professor of practice, art, and design and Chair of Foundation at the USC Roski School of Art and Design. Guirguis’s work investigates narratives and histories that have often been forgotten, marginalized, and/or erased. She has had solo museum exhibitions at the Craft Contemporary Museum of Los Angeles and the American University’s Tahrir Cultural Center, Cairo, and her work is in the permanent collections of museums such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Minnesota Museum of American Art, Orange County Museum of Art, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, and Las Vegas Museum of Contemporary Art.  

Ruth Hayes animates in film, video, and pre-cinema formats exploring materiality and chance occurrences in crafting and projection, and taking essayistic and experimental approaches to address autobiographical, political, and experiential themes. Her most recent film, Hemorrhage, animates rubbings and appropriated imagery and text to protest the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the evisceration of women’s rights. Ruth earned her MFA in experimental animation from CalArts and is faculty emerita at Evergreen State College, where she taught in broadly interdisciplinary courses that integrated animation into the visual, media, and performing arts; the humanities; and the sciences. 

Phung Huynh is a Los Angeles–based artist and educator whose practice includes drawing, painting, public art, and community engagement. Exploring cultural perception and representation, Huynh challenges beauty standards by constructing images of the Asian female body vis-à-vis plastic surgery to unpack how contemporary cosmetic surgery can whitewash cultural and racial identity. The professor of art at Los Angeles Valley College has had solo exhibitions at Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills and the Sweeney Art Gallery at the University of California, Riverside, and her paintings and drawings have been exhibited nationally and internationally.  

Laura Karlin is a teacher, choreographer, movement activist, and the founder and artistic director of Invertigo Dance Theatre. Since establishing Invertigo in 2007, Laura has created over 40 pieces for the company, including eight full evening-length works. Her work for Invertigo has been presented at venues including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ford Amphitheatre, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Broad Stage, and LACMA. When she isn’t in the Invertigo office or rehearsal room, Laura can be found teaching Invert/ED and Dancing Through Parkinson’s classes, practicing sustainable gardening in her home, or in the world camping and traveling.

Lisa Mann is a professor of cinematic practice at the USC School of Cinematic Arts’ Expanded Animation program, where she teaches stop motion and cinematic installation. Her art practice encompasses site-specific installations and media projections that explore homelessness, guns and children, domestic labor, and motherhood. Her most recent installation advocates for gender equity in birth control. Mann was awarded a My Town grant from the NEA and a Rockefeller Media Arts Fellowship. She organized the SCA symposium, “Breaking the Glass Frame: Women and Animation,” to explore solutions to sexual harassment, bias, and lack of diversity in the animation industry.

Esther Margulies is the assistant director of graduate programs in landscape architecture and urbanism, associate professor of practice, and liaison of diversity and inclusion at the USC School of Architecture. As a licensed landscape architect, founder of The Office of the Designed Landscape (OotDL), and practice leader at nationally recognized firms, she has led multidisciplinary integrated teams on public-realm and private-sector projects including urban transit, park, and mixed-use projects. Her work has included award-winning cultural preservation, urban storm water, K-12, planning, higher education, and park projects. 

Beginning her musical and dance career in her homeland of Kenya as a vocalist, dancer, and percussionist, Anindo Marshall enjoyed a successful solo career in Europe as a vocalist. Today, Marshall is a certified Dunham Technique instructor, a member of the Katherine Dunham Certification Board, and lecturer at the USC Kaufman School of Dance, who teaches at schools worldwide including the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Dance Dimensions, Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Occidental College, Loyola Marymount University, UC Irvine, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. 

Derek Christian Quezada Meneses is a rare books librarian at the USC Libraries and member of the Los Angeles Preservation Network. 

Since 1973, Self Help Graphics & Art has fostered the creation and advancement of new art works by Chicana/o and Latinx artists through experimental and innovative printmaking techniques and other visual art forms. Rooted at the intersection of arts and social justice in the community, the organization provides a home that fosters the creativity and development of local artists, establishes international collaborations and nationwide partnerships, and creates worldwide cultural exchanges. 

Holly Willis is the co-chair of the Media Arts + Practice Division in the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where she teaches classes on digital media, post-cinema, and feminist film. The Los Angeles–based writer, filmmaker, and photographer is the author of Fast Forward: The Future(s) of the Cinematic Arts and New Digital Cinema: Reinventing the Moving Image, as well as Björk Digital. She is also the co-founder of Filmmaker Magazine  and served as editor of RES Magazine  and co-curator of RESFEST. She writes frequently for diverse publications about experimental film, video, and new media, while also exploring experimental nonfiction and poetry. 

Related Event:  
Rebecca Gomperts Discusses Art, Activism, and Reproductive Rights 
Friday, October 27, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. 
Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108 
For more info, click HERE

Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Patrick Corbin (Dance), Anita Dashiell-Sparks (Dramatic Arts), Sherin Guirguis and Amelia Jones (Art and Design), Evan Hughes and Lisa Mann (Cinematic Arts), and Esther Margulies (Architecture). Co-sponsored by the USC interArts Council.


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