Alums Michi Jigarjian GS'09 MFA'12 and Qiana Mestrich MFA'13 read from their anthology How We Do Both: Art and Motherhood (Secretary Press, 2012).
Saturday April 18th, 12 pm
With a brunch salon discussion led by Gabrielle Mertz on actions in the underground and overground of the art world, direct and applied interventions at the intersection of art, money, and access and reading from “How We Do Both: Art and Motherhood” with editors Michi Jigarjian and Qiana Mestrich about the balance and unbalance within the intersection of life and art.
Gabrielle Mertz is a visual artist and choreographer and serves as the Director of Collaboration House. As the Founder/Artistic Director of Ondine and Company, she created multimedia dance performances and site-specific installations for ten seasons. Her work has been exhibited in the United States and Europe at the Cultural Center of Krakow, High Museum, International Dance Festival, Rialto Center for the Performing Arts, American Dance Festival, 7Stages, King Plow Arts Center, and the Performance Space, among others. She is the recipient of commissions/awards from the Cultural Olympiad, City of Atlanta, Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Georgia Council for the Arts, and Center for Puppetry Arts, among others. Her work with nonprofit/international institutions includes The Carter Presidential Center, John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Global Philanthropy, Coalition for the International Criminal Court, and Foundation for Arts & Humanities. She has taught/lectured at New York University, Bruce High Quality Foundation University, Emory University, and Image Film & Video Center.
Michi Jigarjian is a visual artist and the Co-President of Baxter Street Camera Club NY. She is a co-founder of Secretary Press and New Draft Collective and received her M.F.A from ICP Bard. Recently her work was a commission by the Maritime Foundation to install a site specific exhibition on the historic sailboat Sherman Zwicker. Her books include Writing as Practice, How We Do Both: Art and Motherhood and the three volume series Mold. Jigarjian’s work has been exhibited internationally and she is a 2013 recipient of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Swing Space Residency.
Qiana Mestrich is a photographer, author, digital marketer and mother from Brooklyn,NY. In 2007, Mestrich founded the blog Dodge & Burn: Diversity in Photography History. With interviews and profiles of photographers of color, the blog aims to provide a more inclusive version of photography history, featuring contributions to the medium by underrepresented cultures. The blog is integral to her photographic practice. She is the co-editor of the book How We Do Both: Art and Motherhood (2012, Secretary Press), a diverse collection of honest responses from contemporary artists who have walked—and are still walking—the tenuous tightrope of motherhood and making art. A second edition of the book will be released in 2015.Mestrich has worked for over thirteen years as a digital media professional in content management and digital marketing (SEO and social media). She is currently the Associate Director, Digital Content and Engagement at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York.
