On Saturday, March 31, 2018, LIFE Center Stage hosted a free Women’s Art Exhibit at Rest Stop Rejuvenate 21 Maple Ave. Rockaway, NJ 07866. The Art Exhibit featured artwork from 12 community artists, Andrea Grillo, Anna Zibit, Arianne Peterson, Caitlin Lodato, Ellen Avigliano, Kimberly Rose, Joanne Labato Stone, Jyoti Godhani, Megan Stypulkoska, Sherin Hanfy, Tabitha Booth and Vicky Mulligan.
This event is part of an international celebration of women artists called SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now Day). “Women artists are creating change in their communities and around the world,” said Martha Richards, the co-founder of SWAN Day. “This day of celebration will help people imagine what the world would be like if women’s art and perspectives were fully integrated into all of our lives. The long term goal of SWAN Day is to inspire communities to recognize and support women artists as a basic element of civic planning.”
The SWAN Day Art Exhibit will be on display for the month of April, it is intended to increase access to the arts and bring women artists into the spotlight in our community.
Vicky Mulligan, founder of LIFE Center Stage is proud to be participating in SWAN Day. “At the SWAN Day Art Exhibit in Rockaway the community will be given a chance to see artwork created by 12 women artists, they will be able to talk with the artists about their process and their work, helping to incite creativity and inspiration within all of us.” LIFE Center Stage provides programs through the expressive arts to revitalize community engagement, socialization, and generate creative cooperation for individual and community growth, we focus on artistic development, youth leadership and drug prevention.
SWAN Day is an annual event facilitated by WomenArts (www.womenarts.org) taking place on the last Saturday of Women’s History Month (March) and the surrounding weeks. The idea for SWAN Day grew out of a collaboration between Martha Richards of WomenArts and Jan Lisa Huttner of Chicago’s WITASWAN (Women in the Audiences Supporting Women Artists Now). For more information about SWAN Day events happening around the world, please visit www.WomenArts.org/swan/.
WomenArts (www.WomenArts.org) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women artists get the resources they need to do their creative work. Its emphasis is on women in film, video, and theatre. The WomenArts website provides free networking, advocacy, and funding information services to approximately 2,000 visitors a day.