#INTLMOTHERARTISTDAY is PWTF's annual celebration of mother artists! Once a year, join PWTF and PAAL on Instagram, Facebook, and/or Twitter by celebrating yourself, a parent-artist you know, and/or a mother artist who inspires you. We’d also love to know your insight as an ally or parent to the reality of being a mother artist. Thank you for supporting parents, for celebrating with us, and for looking out for ways to change the way the world for the better for mother artists everywhere.
Each year we hope to flood the internet with powerful words, hashtags, and images that reminded us of the diversity, solidarity, raw truth, and beauty to the mother artist reality. #IntlMotherArtistDay has been celebrated throughout the US, Ireland, parts of the UK, and more!
#IntlMotherArtistDay
How do you water yourself?
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On August 2, 2022, International Mother Artist Day celebrates the beauty of motherhood while acknowledging and destigmatizing mental illness, providing community resources for mental health and breaking down barriers to essential healthcare for mother artists. Celebrate mother artists on #IntlMotherArtistDay2022 and help us to uplift the joys and struggles of motherhood.
Are you a mother artist? Do you have mother artists in your life? Share a photo and/or a story of a mother artist who inspires you. Or, share how you water yourself to nurture your mental health in motherhood. We’d love to hear how you make space for your mental health. Tag @PAALTheater and @PhillyWomensTheatreFest on social media with #IntlMotherArtistDay #IntlMotherArtistDay2022
** International Mother Artist Day is inclusive of all woman-identifying and gender fluid artists as well as trans/queer parents who may not identify with the term mother**
Each year on International Mother Artist Day, PWTF partners with the Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL), to flood the internet with powerful words, hashtags, and images that remind us of the challenges, beauty, diversity, and raw truth of the mother artist reality. We encourage you to post yourself, post your partner, post your best friend, or a parent artist you admire. There is power and joy in solidarity. #IntlMotherArtistDay
International Mother Artist Day is a collaborative effort begun in 2018 by the Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival (PWTF) and the Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL).
Thanks to PAAL's National Director of Community and Justice Initiatives and Chief Rep for Philadelphia, Tamanya Garza, for compiling research about mental health in motherhood and crafting all text based on her caregiving experiences and work as a caregiving advocate and to Peter Andrew Danzig, LSW, MSS, MA, CPT for reviewing all text and resources, providing expert feedback and credible community resources. (www.peterandrewdanzig.com).
Graphics created by Juliana Luber with the guidance from Tamanya Garza, Autumn Blalock and Christine Petrini
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#IntlMotherArtistDay 2020
Celebrating BIPOC Mamas
On August 2nd, we aim to #AmplifyBIPOCMamas. Share your own photo and story, or a BIPOC woman+ you admire using the hashtag #IntlMotherArtistDay and tag @PAALTheatre and @PhillyWomensTheatreFest, and we will re-post on our social media platforms.
In 2020, PAAL & PWTF are turning our attention to the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous & Person of Color) mother-artists of the world. We encourage theatres, families, friends, colleagues, communities and the BIPOC mother-artists themselves to share a photo of themself or a BIPOC mother-artist who inspires them, using the hashtag #IntlMotherArtistDay. These women and caregivers not only navigate the world of parenting and art-making, but they also face barriers that white parents do not, like pay inequality, being left out of child and healthcare decisions that disproportionately impact them, lack of representation in the companies and nonprofits they work within, and a lack of representation in their industries. Learn more about these barriers below:
Thanks to PAAL's Chief Rep for Philadelphia Tamanya Garza for the idea to authentically honor the experience of BIPOC mamas by focusing on both the joy of being a mother artist and the very real barriers faced by the community.
**International Mother Artist Day is inclusive of all woman-identifying and gender fluid artists as well as trans/queer parents who may not identify with the term mother**
Being able to find a home for Hear Me War in a space dedicated to the support and exposure of female artists has been an invaluable artistic experience. In working with the Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival, we have found a space of comfort, acceptance, and an unrelenting persistence in finding the truth within our story
- Sarah Galante, Hear Me War Playwright &Performer
WOMEN'S PLAYWRITING COOPERATIVE
The Women’s Playwriting Cooperative is a program designed to develop and produce the work of an emerging Philadelphia-based woman playwright. Because the goal of the Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival is to create opportunities, mentorship, education, and a home for women artists and their powerful stories, we are providing space, staff, marketing, resources and artistic support to the selected playwright through a series of rehearsals, revisions, and performances. Over the course of the year-long development process, The Women’s Playwriting Cooperative will facilitate staged readings, as well as a full rehearsal process, an invited dress rehearsal, and a performance slot in our annual festival.
MOTHERHOOD IN THEATRE FORUM:
Breaking the Silence
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This event occurred in 2018 and was part of a series hosted by PAAL- Parent Artist Advocacy League and was co-hosted by PWTF.
Motherhood in Theatre: Breaking the Silence is a forum to publicly identify obstacles, needs, lack of provision, and potential solutions for both employers and freelance artists. It is the official launch of PAALtheatre.com and co-hosted by Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival.
Step one of shifting culture is to become vocal. In a research of female leadership in the theatre, a culture of silence resonated as the predominant obstacle in creating the opportunities necessary for a healthy work-life balance for parents.
We want to create a safe space for mothers to share. If your child needs to be with you during this time, they are welcome. If you need to breast feed an infant, you are welcome. Child care will be provided. Reservations for childcare are required with a pay what you can rate.