Lake Worth, Fl--August, 2017

"Art of Women Who Resist" -- Came and Went Too Quickly

The opening of "Art of Women Who Resist--Bread and Roses" Aug. 18 at the Clay, Glass, Metal Stone Gallery in Lake Worth, FL.

Resistance comes in many forms: marches, books--and even in art in Palm Beach County, FL. A small gallery in Lake Worth stepped up to join the protest movement this summer with an strong, colorful display of locally-produced resistance art ranging from political buttons to collages, sculpture and paintings. 

Held the last two weeks of August, the exhibit, commonly known as "Art of Women Who Resist", attracted a large audience at its opening August 18. The event included food and protest songs, while outside, a few Trump supporters showed up to protest this art event. (A protest of a protest?)  The Clay, Glass, Metal Stone Gallery at 15 South J Street, Lake Worth, organized the show. The gallery is sponsored by the Flamingo Clay Studio at 216 South F St. [For more information on the art in photographs above and below, please call the gallery at 561-588-8344.]

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 "Bread and Roses" was the real title of the exhibit
 although everyone was calling it by its "resistance" subtitle. 

April next to a suffregist manniquin with a sign hanging below--"Congress, You Work for Us."

In 1912 immigrant women textile workers held a major strike in Lawrence, MA. They were  protesting a cut in pay, and carried banners demanding both living wages and dignity which said "We want bread, and roses, too".  That slogan became the name of the strike. After a long struggle through a mercilessly cold winter, the strikers won with a 20% wage increase from the mill owners. A  few pieces in the exhibition referred back to those times. One was the dressmaker's torso manniquin I'm standing next to. It carries a double message. It's draped in a  suffragette "Votes for Women" sash and sports a sign lower down saying "Congress, You Work For Us". (Shown below.) 

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Over 100 years after that strike, most artists in this exhibit focused on a very different type of political action--creating messages that reflected the resistance movement of today.  Behind these was the belief that many of the actions taken by the present administration is trying to turn back the wheels of social progress for women and minorities.

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