VERMONT MAPLE FEMINISM

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Poster Making Workshop

Burlington Vermont is located on the shore of Lake Champlain. It is quaint and feels wintery, even in the fall. At the end of October, 2018, the tour of PUSH/PUSHBACK, 9 Steps to Make aDifference with Activism and Art, ended with a bang at the University of Vermont, Burlington and the Fleming Museum. Special thanks to Jen Berger for reaching out to Guerrilla Girls On Tour and making this tour happen. Aphra Behn led a workshop at her studio the night before PUSH/PUSHBACK was presented at the Fleming Museum. 30 artists worked away for about three hours, making some bad ass activist art.

Poster Making Workshop

The Fleming Museum was packed for Aphra’s Talk – including artists Leslie Fry and Barbara Zucker. Thanks for the warm welcome, museum director, Janie Cohen. Guerrilla Girls On Tour may have said this before but the Vermont Maple Feminist audience was the best ever – and our personal favorite. 

Vermont Maple Feminists 

Amanda Martino made a great video of the talk. View it here. 

In other news, Aphra Behn made PAGE SIX.  Read her quote below:

At the beginning, people would always ask, ‘Are you saying the work of white men should go away?’People think if everyone has a place at the table, that means white men must disappear . . . This fear mongering that if we promote women, it means we’re not promoting white men — it’s just a fallacy. - Aphra Behn

We are closing out this year by being featured by Surface Magazine’s art issue – on the cover no less!

Surface Magazine Photo Shoot 

2019 is already heating up.  Stay tuned, European feminists, we will kick off our Spring 2019 tour somewhere in your neck of the world.

And PUSH/PUSHBACK, 9 Steps to Make a Difference with Activism and Art is launching as an ebook – hopefully on the eve of the State of the Union address.

NOW BOOKING WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH 2019! 

And so it begins again...

September 1, 2018

The end of summer means fall is just around the corner and I am back on the road! This year I will kick off my 2018 ART OF ACTIVISM fall tour with a stop at the Spencertown Festival of Books. 

Spencertown Festival of Books 

Spencertown Festival of Books has been held every year since 2006 at the Spencertown Academy Arts Center.  A sleepy, verdant hamlet located in Columbia County, NY, Spencertown has a Country Store stocked with homemade pastries and jams and the best BLT I’ve tasted north of Manhattan. There is not much else to do in Spencertown except to experience the Academy – a cultural and community center housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse. Each year the Academy hosts a line up of events, one of the most popular being their festival of books – a curated used book sale with some of the best looking used books around. At this year’s festival I slipped a collection of short stories by Rick Bass under my arm and headed for the cashier while my husband, Richard, grabbed up novels by Helen Simonson and Anthony Trollope and followed me. 

Me and "UN/MASKED" 

But used books are not the only thing Spencertown Festival of Books offers. Every day the festival stage features readings from writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. They even host a young writers contest and I was so happy I arrived early to catch Claudia Maurino read her excellent and moving essay, “Loss,” as the nonfiction prize winner. Read it here.

Saturday, September 1^st was my day as a featured author and I was paired with Linda Dahl, the author of the recently published “Fight Doctor.”  Now at first I thought my memoir about surviving domestic violence would not be a good fit for a memoir about boxing. But we were billed as “two formidables” and took our cues from each other, reading about struggles with finding our place as women in the world. 

 

Linda Dahl (L) and Donna Kaz (R)

It was a beautiful, sunny and, thankfully, not very humid day as a solid crowd gathered to hear us read. I so appreciated the nods of recognition from the local crowd as I read my story of being a masked avenger taking on sexism in the arts. As I began to talk about sexual abuse and assault, my thoughts suddenly fixated on my good friend Charles Harper, who I used to visit this area with back in the 80’s.  I write about Charles in “UN/MASKED” and felt him with me during the hard parts of my story. 

Of course my reading would not be complete without a banana toss and a Guerrilla Girl On Tour poster give-away. These have become my signature moves and make my readings more like parties with food and party favors. 

So thank you, Spencertown Festival of Books, for a memorable Labor Day Weekend 2018 and a great kick off of my fall tour. I could not leave without a last look through the great selection of books on sale and a slice of my friend Magadini’s blueberry pie. 

Lee Magadini

See you on the road!  For a complete list of tour stops go here. 

That’s A Wrap, 2017!

December 2017

There is always something sad about the last tour stop of the season. This year it was at Marist College where I would present “Act Like aFeminist Artist” for the last time in 2017. Marist did not disappoint! Students and faculty flooded the aisles of Fusco Recital Hall ready with questions – eager to catch a banana. (It was lunch time after all…)

The last banana toss of 2017!

As I clicked through my presentation I thought about all the places I have been lucky enough to visit this year – from Decatur to Carbondale; Missoula to Poughkeepsie. Every tour stop guaranteed me a few interactions with ass kicking feminists - boots on the ground activists, pushing back against patriarchy and #45. Every one inspired and filled me with new strategies to push back against the status quo.

 

Marist College Crowd

Thank you, Marist College, for a great wrap up to the year, especially Dr. Angela Laflen, director of both the writing program and the women’s center. My visit to Marist was the perfect end to a year that began with tears and fears for our country and a women’s march for the history books. Now as the year comes to an end, I know “we got this,” – feminist faith is something that will jettison me into 2018.

Act Like A Feminist Artist 

Stay tuned for “PUSH/PUSHBACK, 9 steps to create change with Activism and Art” – my new talk for 2018 making tour stops in Pennsylvania and beyond.

See you on the road.

Love,

Aphra

From Los Angeles to Pomona and onward to next season...

And that's a wrap!  

"Act Like A Feminist Artist - a Guerrilla Girl Unmasks" 

2016/17 tour made stops from the US to the UK. 

Audiences from New York to Los Angeles to London to Flagstaff, Arizona found out what it's like to be a feminist masked avenger Guerrilla Girl! 

WRAPPING UP IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 

The 2016/17 tour came to a close in May when I headed to Southern California and had the privilege of speaking to the volunteers at Peace Over Violence in Los Angeles. These are the women and men who answer the LA Rape and Battery Hot Line, lead seminars in ending violence in classrooms and educate via sharing their own personal experiences. It was a very special evening for me to be back where I began my journey - in 1989 I began my training at Peace Over Violence as a volunteer on the Hot Line. You can read about how Patti Giggans of Peace Over Violence was a pivotal influence for me to wind up as an activist artist in UN/MASKED, Memoirs of a Guerrilla Girl On Tour. Thank you Patti and PEACE OVER VIOLENCE!

After Los Angeles I headed east to Cal Poly Pomona for a talk/reading/book signing and a poster making workshop. Feminist energy flowed as the 20 women in the workshop came up with great posters addressing the gentrification of our cities, body image and Trump. 

Cal Poly Pomona Activist/Artists

Here are a few drafts of the Cal Poly Pomona posters

I flew back to New York City just in time for the annual ASJA conference (American Society of Journalists and Authors.) If you write nonfiction, you should check out ASJA. It is an amazing organization with a lot of resources and support for writers. 

 

WHAT'S NEXT?  - "ACT LIKE A FEMINIST ARTIST" will be a part of the Women in Theatre Festival in NYC. For info click here.

NEXT SEASON IS SHAPING UP - Stay tuned - the 2017/2018 Tour will include stops in Florida, Wisconsin, Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

I'll be back in June with more announcements: Where you can find my new column on art and politics and the very first stop of the 2017/18 season. 

How the Guerrilla Girls Used Ape Outfits to Expose the Art-World Patriarchy

WORD UP:  Read Aphra Behn's interview by Nicole Disser in today's BedfordandBowery.com

"“You know, after a while, wearing that rubber gorilla mask is really hard,” said Donna Kaz. She was describing one of the stranger realities of her double life. For the last 20 years, Kaz has worked as an artist/playwright deftly navigating the New York City theater world– this was the serious, successful woman I met at a coffee shop in Midtown last week. But for the rest of it, she’s donned a gorilla mask, deterred neither by sweat nor fear of suffocation. (Hell, even furries, the most diehard animal-suit lovers, agree that wearing such restrictive headgear can be punishing.)"

MORE HERE:

http://bedfordandbowery.com/2016/09/how-the-guerrilla-girls-used-ape-outfits-to-expose-the-art-world-patriarchy/

Saint Patrick, pray for the activists.

March 14, 2016

SETON HALL UNIVERSITY

Dear Diary,

In 2004, Guerrilla Girls On Tour! appeared at John Carroll University - a private, coeducational, Jesuit Catholic university located in University Heights, Ohio. Weeks before our show the University received emails protesting our booking, namely because we were pro-choice co-sponsors of the March For Women’s Lives held in Washington, D.C. the same year. John Carroll’s PR department decided that in order to quell the protests they would issue a statement, explaining to concerned students and citizens that Guerrilla Girls On Tour! is “wholesome and fun, with a decidedly Christian message.”

Guerrilla Girls On Tour’s mission is to advocate for equality and justice, two basic principles of Christianity. Our message, however, is that reproductive rights are human rights.  Unlike the Roman Catholic Church we are pro-choice and support Planned Parenthood.

So, what’s a Guerrilla Girl On Tour! to do when booked, twelve years later, at another Catholic University (Seton Hall) and, four days before you are to appear, discover that the University has “lost” your paperwork and demands you sign a brand new contract with new stipulations which are impossible to follow? (They wanted, among other things, for us to provide our own insurance in the amount of three million dollars and to list Seton Hall as an additional insured).

Was the University playing politics? Did they wish to censor Aphra Behn’s scheduled talk at Seton Hall entitled, “Act Like A Feminist Activist?” Was someone afraid of the “F” word?

Statue on campus of Seton Hall University 

Guerrilla Girl On Tour!, Aphra Behn’s talk, is about her early work as a member of the Guerrilla Girls. In 1997 Aphra led the GG’s foray into  addressing gender parity in theatre. The contents of Aphra’s talk would be deemed by any layperson, priest or nun to be anything but controversial.

Universities are supposedly institutions of free speech. Censorship is in direct opposition to the search for knowledge. What was going on at Seton Hall?

After summarizing and submitting the content of Aphra’s talk to the Dean she was able to proceed with her talk as scheduled The students and faculty who attended were open to ideas. During the Q and A one student asked if Guerrilla Girls On Tour! believed in LGBTQ rights. Yes!  Absolutely, we do. Another asked about transgender rights. Yes! Yes, again. Transgender people are discriminated against in all aspects of their lives and deserve equality on a range of issues.

In the end the Seton Hall talk was an eye opener. The search for knowledge continues, even in places with policies that attempt to thwart free speech. Our experiences as activists and artists and feminists teaches us that we are enriched as human beings by sharing our ideas. We are reminded that there are women and men on the front line of the fight for equality, working for the free and open exchange of concepts, even within the sacred walls of colleges and universities where ideas are supposed to flourish.

Yes, Guerrilla Girls On Tour! certainly are fun; some of us are even wholesome. Our message remains: the end of sexism will mark a more peaceful, just and equal world.

Love,

The GGOT’s

2016 TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED

Aphra Behn's "Act Like a Feminist Artist: 

what no one told you about starting a grassroots movement"

March 9 – Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ at 1:15PM

March 14 – Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ at 4PM

April 19 – North Seattle College, Seattle, WA at 1PM

April 20 – Reed College, Portland, OR at 8:15PM

For more information check each college's web site closer to the date.

See you on the road! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

Reporting from the Front: The Tenth Women Playwrights International Conference in Cape Town, South Africa—Part 2

A special three-part series, Aphra Behn from Guerilla Girls On Tour reports on the recent Women Playwrights International Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. - See more at:

http://howlround.com/reporting-from-the-front-the-tenth-women-playwrights-international-conference-in-cape-town-south

We Came! We Saw! We Threw Bananas! WE WERE THEATRE!

Check out Aphra Behn's guest blog post on the Women and Hollywood blog:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/guest-post-we-came-we-saw-we-threw-bananas-we-were-theatre

PHOTOS of WE ARE THEATRE by Miriam Berkley

Dana Berger performs "Who’s The Man" by Mary Steelsmith 

 

Alysia Reiner performs "Chopping Cabbage" by Sophia Romma  

Yvette X performs her own "Bridge to Baraka" 

Drae Campbell in "A Rejection in Full" by Mila Golubuv

Gael Schaefer performs "She" by Caridad Svich

Honor Molloy performs her own work "Not Published, Not Produced" 

Annie-Sage Whitehurst performs "I Am Estonia" by Jyl Lynn Felman 

 

Sarah M. Duncan performs her own "PSA"

Taifa Harris performs Theresa Rebeck's "Why Can't We Do That In The Theatre?"

Guerrilla Girl On Tour Anne Sexton as Machoswine in "Oh, the joys of being a woman playwright"

WE ARE THEATRE CURTAIN CALL 

Wow - Ljublana, Slovenia, that was HOT!

Watch live streaming video from ggontour at livestream.com

Check out our entire performance above! Plus we included the post-event Q&A session.

The audience was lovely and Tammy the Tummy was outrageous! Gorka - what a pro! Now, POTICA!!!

(actually party-ca!)
- Maya Deren

Preview of The SHOW!

Watch live streaming video from ggontour at livestream.com

We've been hard at work prepping for the performance and live stream today! Check out the clip above - Size Two Pants - our sassy parody of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. Below, see some images of the show in action. We go LIVE at 2 pm EST, so check back then on our online channel: http://www.livestream.com/ggontour







Potica!
- Maya Deren

Live, from Slovenia! Guerrilla Girls On Tour - If You Can Stand The Heat

Watch live streaming video from ggontour at livestream.com

Today, at 2 PM EST, join us LIVE in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The show, "If You Can Stand The Heat: The History Of Women and Food", is laugh riot of funny feminists aping on the stage. We twist Lady Gaga, bananas and potica into a yummy mush of comedic madness.

On stage are the dynamic duo Julia Child and Aphra Behn. I'm the mouse monkey, in true Maya Deren fashion, shooting and streaming the video live.

And, joining us live today is a class from Purdue University! Welcome!

So watch and interact with us live! I'll be watching the social streams and chat box as we perform.

banana-na-na!
- Maya Deren