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...But Can She Play?
My friend, Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn, is the Producer and Director of an amazing upcoming documentary called "...But Can She Play?" This is one of the first documentaries about women horn players and jazz. The full-length narrative-driven feature focuses on the lives and the music of women sax and brass players who are challenging gender biases and influencing the transformation of contemporary American jazz.
Janice is working hard to raise the money to complete this project. Below is information about a wonderful fundraiser happening in Pasadena, California. Please read, attend, share and support this work if you can. Thank you so much.
From Janice:
Thanks for your support of "...but can she play?" and for your encouragement as I forge ahead with this documentary chronicling the stories of jazz women horn players. I'm only $2,800 away from getting this project to the next stage of production. I've created a partnership with The Pasadena Playhouse to help get me there, and I'm hoping you'll participate on Wed., Sept 24th for a “…but can she play?” Day at The Playhouse to help me reach my goal!
Not only will you have an opportunity to hear a trio of young female jazz musicians, led by a burgeoning So Cal jazz artists, trumpeter-composer Brina Simon, you'll get fantastic seats to see the great American musical, "Kiss Me, Kate," directed by Sheldon Epps. Purchasing tickets to this performance via this dedicated link will save you money (regular tickets are $77...our price is $75) and help me raise funds for my film ($28 of each ticket purchased is donated directly to "...but can she play?")
The deadline to purchase tickets to the "...but can she play?" Day is September 14th. Email me directly if you'd like to donate seats for a friend, wish to inquire about group tickets or to purchase a block of tickets to donate to area music and/or theater students. My goal is to have 110+ of my supporters fill these seats...or else these fabulous front section mezzanine seats will be made available to the general public, and I lose the opportunity to garner donations to the film.
This project is beyond a labor of love...it's a mission to tell a great untold story. There are now more women jazz musicians graduating from colleges and universities than ever before. And yet, America's leading jazz band, New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, has never had a female band member in its 26 year history, and band leader Wynton Marsalis refuses to institute "blind auditions," a practice that has increased the percentage of women in classical music orchestras since 1970.
What's more, women musicians have fewer opportunities to headline at festivals, grace magazine covers and get radio airtime. Women jazz musicians are less likely to be granted tenure at colleges, universities, and premiere music schools, and even fewer are teaching jazz band and orchestra in middle schools and high school. The artists in my film are forging ahead -- with several having made this year's Downbeat Magazine critics' and readers' polls -- as they challenge gender biases and preconceptions while living their dreams…out loud. This isn't just a story about gender parity, it's about economic equality in the arts.
In the same spirit of "...but can she play?", this production of "Kiss Me, Kate" challenges the traditional theatrical narrative, telling this beloved Cole Porter production through the lens of the trailblazing African American actors of the early 20th Century, starring Merle Dandridge and Wayne Brady. In this venture, the Playhouse and I share some common goals: to be deliberately diverse, to use art to change minds and attitudes and showcase AMAZING talent!
I've already purchased MY ticket! Yes, I'm contributing (more) to my own doc project. But I'm also supporting The Playhouse, and a great night of diversity, art, gender edification, and cultural enrichment -- because that's the kind of world I want to live in. Let's do it together. I look forward to seeing you Sept. 24th for our "...but can she play?" Day at the Playhouse!
Thanks for being part of this continued journey.
Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn
Producer-Director
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Thou Art Mom
An exhibition curated by artist, Susan Evans Grove, is opening on September 18th in South Orange, New Jersey. Below is all the information. If you're in the area, I hope you can make it. Lost In Living will be screening on October 2nd as part of the exhibition.
Art Moms Speak Out
Pierro Gallery of South Orange announces Thou Art Mom opening September 18 and running through October 18, 2014. This fine art exhibition is a continuation and expansion of an earlier project first organized last year for the Passaic County Community College LRC and Broadway Galleries by artist and independent curator Susan Evans Grove. This is a group exhibition of the creative work of artists who are moms. In addition to the gallery show, the project includes a collection of artists’ interviews which can be heard on the website www.thouartmom.com.
There will be an opening event on Thursday, September 18 from 7-9pm. A Screening of Mary Trunk’s film Lost in Living and a Panel Discussion will take place on Thursday Oct 2, 7pm at the Pierro Gallery. Gallery hours are 11am-4pm Monday-Thursday, and 1-4pm on Saturdays. Call 973-378-7754x2223 to schedule free group tours. A free drop in tour is scheduled for Wednesday, October 8, at 2pm.
Evans Grove is an artist who has two teenage sons and a full time job. She has continued to make art and pursue a career as an artist throughout her children’s lives. As she began interviewing other Art Moms for this project, common themes began to emerge. Grove found it comforting to hear from others who had experienced what she had. Likewise she hopes the project will inspire other artists to persevere with their own creative pursuits through the toughest parenting years and allow young artists considering their future family planning a chance to hear some truth.
Of the fifteen artists in the exhibition, three work in mixed media, four are sculptors, two work in graphite, two in video and related media, two are painters, one is a printmaker, and one is a photographer. Each of these women has struggled in different ways at different times to pursue an art practice while tending to the needs of family. These Art Moms represent Every Woman in their diversity of support systems, resources, and demands on their time.
This exhibition is a small sampling of the work being made by Art Moms throughout the world. It is the offshoot of the “Thou Art Mom” project which will continue to grow. For more information and the introduction of new Art Moms, visit www.thouartmom.com.
Exhibiting Artists include: Francesca Azzara, Alaine Becker, Thea Clark, Donna Conklin King,
Nancy Cohen, Kate Dodd, Michelle Doll, Susan Evans Grove, Eileen Ferara, Megan Klim, Jennifer Krause Chapeau, Norene Leddy, Ann LePore, Sarah Wallace Petruziello, Adrienne Wheeler
CONTACT: Sandy Martiny smartiny@southorange.org; 973-378-7754-2223
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The Mother Load
The Mother Load is an ongoing collaborative project launched by Lesli Robertson and Natalie Macellaio that engages with women who lead the creative life of an artist while also being a mother. Documenting the words and work of women from across the globe, this project explores the balance of nurturing one’s life and one’s art.
Upcoming Exhibition- On September 19th, The Mother Load project open its exhibition at the Center for Creative Connections (C3) at the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, TX, co-curated with Susan Diachisin, The Kelli and Allen Questrom Director of the Center for Creative Connections. Opening Night Reception is September 19th from 7 to 9pm.
Visiting Artist for The Mother Load- Israeli artist Shira Richter, will be visiting for the first two weeks of October. In conjunction with the DMA exhibition, Shira will engage with the local community through workshops and lectures on the topic of motherhood, art, and culture.
Richter creates Visual Performance Lectures (VPL) as a part of her artistic practice. VPLs are a style of presentation that synthesizes storytelling, cinema art, photography, research, and stage performance. During each lecture, artworks are presented that relate to the topics of gender, feminism, politics, economics, religion, anthropology, sociology, medicine, and popular culture. Richter is a passionate and animated speaker who uses humor to connect to the audience and communicate how the seemingly specific subjects of art/motherhood are relevant to many disciplines. Her lectures raise consciousness regarding the fundamental roles that Motherhood and Art play in our lives and how this is often overlooked in current Western patriarchal/capitalistic societies. This dynamic is changing, thanks to many brave individuals, groups, and initiatives like The Mother Load. Each lecture is specific to the venue, with issues relevant to the location that are incorporated into the narrative.
DVD's are available for sale. Please visit the website here. Screenings continue for the film and we are more than happy to work with organizations, schools, women's groups, arts groups and anyone else who would like to sponsor a screening. Please click here for a screening guide. Or contact Mary Trunk directly at marytrunk@sbcglobal.net. Streaming and global screenings are in the works. Thank you for your continued support. Please share this newsletter and if you haven't liked the facebook page, you can go here. And if you are not a subscriber of this newsletter please join by clicking here. This is the best way to get all the most current news about the film.
House Parties have been popping up all over where small groups are screening the film in living rooms and having lively discussions about the film. We offer a House Party Kit that includes the DVD of the film, an Extras DVD with an hour and a half of extra footage, a 23 page discussion guide, postcard invitations and a totebag. Mary Trunk can also be available to skype after the screening and answer questions. So please check out the House Party Kit here.
As always many, many thanks for your incredible support and please feel free to email anytime if you have questions or comments, you'd like to share something in the newsletter or share your work. We love hearing from you.
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