Brooklyn Museum Celebrates Women's History Month

In celebration of Women's History Month and the first anniversary of the opening of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, the Brooklyn Museum presents a series of public programs, including discussions, music, and films focusing on women in the arts. Highlights include a panel discussion titled Funding a Revolution moderated by Carol Jenkins and featuring women who are making historic strides in philanthropy; a dialogue with artist Ghada Amer; and a film from Women Make Movies.

"We must measure the emancipation of women on a centuries old yardstick," said Dr. Elizabeth A. Sackler, public historian, arts activist, and benefactor of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. "One hundred fifty years ago in this country, it was rare for women to receive any formal education and to own property, or to have basic rights within a marriage. One hundred years ago women had to fight, and fight hard, for the right to vote. Twenty-five years ago, even after all the successes of the women's movement, the Equal Rights Amendment was left un-passed, in the dust. So, you see, the yardstick is alive and well." "Yes," she concedes, "the glass ceiling is higher but not shattered. It is necessary to pull out the bottom bricks of the patriarchal wall to move this country away from the male elitism that keeps prisoners of us all--men and women alike."

Lecture: "Independent. Jewish. Frankly Feminist. Where Do We Go From Here?"
Saturday, March 8, 2-4 p.m.
Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Forum, 4th Floor
Susan Weidman Schneider, founder and editor-in-chief of Lilith magazine, discusses the feminist movement over the last three decades as it relates to Jewish women.

Panel Discussion: "Feminisms: Race, Gender, and Generation"
Sunday, March 9, 2-4 p.m.
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd Floor
Artist, cultural historian, and MacArthur scholar Dr. Amalia Mesa-Bains leads a panel of women artists including Carrie Mae Weems, Magdalena Campos Pons, and Thenmozhi Soundaraji, in a discussion on the issue of historical and contemporary feminisms. Questions of both a cultural and political nature will be addressed: Where were women of color in the first wave of feminism? Why have many younger women found themselves at odds with the term? What definitions of feminism are shared and which are exclusive to race and class? What have been the driving concerns for women of color in feminist art?

Artist Dialogue: Ghada Amer and Maura Reilly
Saturday, March 15, 1-2:30 p.m.
Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Forum, 4th Floor
Contemporary Egyptian artist Ghada Amer discusses her work and her new exhibition Love Has No End with Maura Reilly, curator of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.

Panel Discussion: Funding a Revolution
Saturday, March 15, 3-5 p.m.
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd Floor
Dr. Elizabeth A. Sackler celebrates the first anniversary of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art with an invitation to a panel discussion by women who are making history in philanthropy. The afternoon event titled Funding a Revolution is presented with an eye on social agendas. Moderator Carol Jenkins, President of Women's Media Center and a Board Member of the African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF), leads philanthropic activists Jennifer Buffett, NoVo Foundation, President and Co-chair; Barbara Dobkin, Women's Funding Network, Board Member, Jewish Women's Archive, Founding Chair; and Helen LaKelly Hunt, Women Moving Millions, Co-chair, The Sister Fund, President and Founder; as they discuss their methods and goals.

Film: These Girls from Women Make Movies
Sunday, March 16, 2-3:30 p.m.
Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Forum, 4th Floor
Acclaimed feminist media organization Women Makes Movies presents the film These Girls (Tahani Rached, 2006, 68 min., NR) that follows the story of a band of teenage girls living on the streets of Cairo, by widely acclaimed Egyptian director Tahani Rached. A discussion follows the screening.

Music: Queen Esther
Sunday, March 16, 3-5 p.m.
Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion
Rooted in Texas but nurtured on the stages of New York, Queen Esther performs "proto-blues rock-and-roll filtered through 70s R&B."

Lecture: "Harriet Tubman, Warrior for Freedom"
Saturday, March 29, 2-4 p.m.
Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Forum, 4th Floor
Recipient of the 2007 Richard Wright Literary Excellence Award, author Beverly Lowry discusses her recent book, Harriet Tubman: Imagining a Life, about the only woman to lead an armed rebellion during wartime.

Panel Discussion: Beyond the Waves: Feminist Artists Talk Across the Generations
Sunday, March 30, 3-5 p.m.
Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Forum, 4th Floor
Presented with feminist cooperative gallery A.I.R., this panel features feminist artists and critics Carolee Schneeman, Mira Shor, Brynna Tucker, Susan Bee, and Emma Bee-Bernstein, and explores connections between generations of feminist artists.

Gallery Talks: The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago and Ghada Amer: Love Has No End
Throughout March
Museum Guides and Student Guides give gallery talks in the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.

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