Thank you for taking the time to read this. I am writing you today to ask for your support of women and art, and to invite you to participate in a small, tangible act of protest.
THE POINT: “She’s Still Here” is a new collection of women’s protest art that I recently created. My goal: to finish the “She’s Still Here” collection in time for the January 19, 2019 Women’s Protest March. My hope: that the artwork can be reproduced and carried at the march. It’s a small act of resistance intended to raise Hunan and Equal Rights awareness for all people.
THE INVITATION: Sponsors are needed to help bring this vision to life. Please consider sponsoring in one of the following ways:
Full Sponsorship for $200.00* – You will own an original piece of art and all proceeds will go toward helping reproduction and distribution of high quality copies of the “She’s Still Here” Collection to freely give to friends, neighbors and community members at any Women’s March on January 19, 2019. Note: Please check out the images and chose one that you want to own/sponsor. Get back to me as soon as you have made a choice. Your immediate purchase guarantees ownership of your favorite.
Support Sponsorship for $60 to $100 – You will receive a full color, full-sized reproduction of one poster as a gift.
You can sponsor via PayPal HERE or mail a check directly to Martha Phelps Studio at 76 Dewey Street, Ashland, Oregon 97520
All seven pieces are complete and can now be viewed on my studio website.
If the timing of request isn’t a fit for you, please consider sharing this along to people in your circle who might love to sponsor the art, the idea and the action. Your personal note of endorsement sent to others would mean the world to me.
THE MESSAGE: Like you, I vote. Like you, I find myself wishing I could do more to help those around me in need. Since art is my means, I chose to focus a body of work specifically on women’s issues. These issues are surprisingly current. The issues, shockingly, have been “current” for decades.
Women are 51% of the US population (49.6% globally) and yet…women’s equality is among the most persistent human rights challenges around the world. Globally, women are disproportionally impacted by poverty and restricted in accessing resources, education and training that could help us rise up. Our rights continue to be curtailed by gender-based discrimination and we face higher rates of violence, sexual exploitation and risk of trafficking.
In the United States, women are living with a political administration that is increasingly dangerous. The #MeToo movement has yielded reckoning around sexual misconduct and gender equality, but the gains are still difficult to measure. American women are contending with attacks on their reproductive freedoms and loss of healthcare. We continue to face lack of education. Job discrimination and pay inequality persists (women earn 80 cents for every dollar earned by a man — and 60 cents if she’s a woman of color). While it’s heartening that the most recent election yielded a historical number of women elected into public offices – we still only hold 21% of House, Senate and Governor’s seats in a country where women are the majority. We need more roles in leadership.
Until women live free of violence and poverty, and lead half the world’s countries, gender justice needs to addressed. So long as women continue to live in fear and are shut out of rooms where decisions are being made about their lives and the lives of future generations, women and their allies will continue to gather, march and protest. Women are entitled to safety, inclusion, and fairness. We are entitled to love ourselves unapologetically. No matter how ordinary or different, we are entitled to dignity and equality.
If you made it this far, thank you. We all have our passions. If mine has just intersected with yours in some small way, that’s fantastic. I wish you love and hope as we all continue learning and living in peace.
Your friend, Martha
* This is a community service not-for-profit project.
martha phelps studio ~ creative on purpose 