Tomorrow night, 11 women will step out of the Appalachian foothills’ shadows to share original poems, songs and stories as part of Women Speak.
“Not that males don’t have valuable contributions, but I think often women’s voices are overshadowed,” said Becky Code, who will share a poem and story. “This is a forum for women to find their voices.”
This is the third year that a night has been devoted to the verbal performances of local women. The Women of Appalachia Project’s event, which is co-sponsored by Ohio University’s Multicultural Center and Women’s Center, will take place at 6 p.m. tomorrow in the Baker Center Theater.
The Women of Appalachia Project hosts the spoken-word night in conjunction with a women’s art exhibition in the Multicultural Art Gallery that continues until June 14. All of the artwork embodies the full woman, debunking stereotypes of women and Appalachia, said Kari Gunter-Seymour, the exhibit’s founder and curator, who has lived in Southeast Ohio since she was 4 years old.
“I am truly Appalachian. We all live here and respond to this area and are inspired by this land,” she said. “We have such a diversity of personalities and lifestyles.”
Women of all ages are invited to share their work, and their pieces range from motherhood to connection with nature, said Colleen Carow, a local singer and songwriter who will present two songs and one poem.
Although the show is juried, with two judges choosing the art that will be displayed, the show is about creating a safe space for women to share their stories. The goal is to reach out to the audience through art, Gunter-Seymour said.
“It blows my mind, the capacity we have to feel as human beings,” Carow said. “(Through my art), I would like to connect to other people.”
Art is a form of self-expression and release for Code, who teaches at Ohio University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. While she studied biology in college, she dreamed about writing.
“I’m not planning on writing a Great American Novel, I just enjoy the freedom of this kind of writing,” she said. “It enables me to express myself in a way that writing scientific papers can’t.”
The expression goes one step further when the pieces are read aloud because it gives a face to the story, Code said.
Building on this connection, the show tries to raise awareness about an underreported issue each year. This year, that issue is domestic violence, rape and neglect, though many of the pieces do not revolve around this theme, Gunter-Seymour said.
“I hope that students, community members and artists walk away with the feeling of, ‘Oh my gosh, there is someone else who feels this way’,” she said. “They are not alone.”
jc543108@ohiou.edu
@ThePostCulture
