Contact Information:
Curator – Virginia May
Phone/fax 707-773-3296 – Cell 707-338-6873 info@virginiamay.org

An Art Exhibition Titled:
“Expect Respect” – Expressing the Power, Joy and Dignity of Being a Woman
The Prescott – Joseph Center for Community Enhancement 5th Annual Women’s Art Show.

Co-sponsored in part by “Spirit in the Arts” at California Institute of Integral Studies.

Held concurrent with the 27th Annual Conference of the National Women’s Studies Association http://www.nwsaconference.org/2006.html

Dates and Hours:
June 1st to 30th – Exhibition Hours – Monday – Friday 9-4
June 10th – Artist Reception Sat June 3rd 2-5pm
Entertainment by:Indigo
Refreshments
June 15th – 3rd Thursday Oakland Art Night – 5:30 to 7:30 PM

Artist Panel Discussion – Topics include:
Painting Identity: Aboriginal Women’s Dreaming – Virginia May
Iranian Women as They Are: Debunking Oriental Myths – Aida Dargahi
Daring To Leave Messages in Art – Tomye

Location:
Prescott – Joseph Center for Community Enhancement www.prescottjosheph.org
920 Peralta St, Oakland CA – Directions by Mapquest

Information:
Expect Respect: Expressing the Power, Joy and Dignity of Being a Woman
Curated by Sonoma County artist Virginia May. My passion for exploring the role of art in community propels me to highlight the social responsibility of artists and to facilitate opportunities for women to tell their stories. The expression of our sorrows, joys, frustrations and triumphs is a vital and necessary component to creating a healthy community and a sustainable future.

Exhibiting women’s art is one way to give voice to the often silent power that resides in our hearts and homes. However this is not enough. In conjunction with an art exhibition we must breathe these voices to life with performances and panel discussions held in conjunction with the exhibition. I believe that it is through community participation we can demystify the art world, expand audiences and inspire creative expression in artists and non artists alike.

This exhibition is an opportunity to converse with women of diverse culture and creative vision who share their stories in a wide variety of artistic mediums.

Curator Biography
Virginia May has been actively pursuing a creative practice in a variety of mediums including, photography, painting, and mixed media since the 1970s. Her art work demonstrate in bold, colourful, passionate images an intuitive inquiry into the unconscious and preverbal mind revealing the beautiful as well as suffering It encourages both internal reflection and active response to numerous sociological and aesthetic issues including the experience and after effects of trauma and violence.
She has exhibited her work and taught ‘creativity’ workshops in both the USA and Australia. She received her Masters of Fine Arts in 2005 and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Transformative Learning and Change at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. She is passionate about the power of visual story telling and the role of the artist in community.