Mothering Me

Mothering Me is an annual exhibition celebrating artists who are mothers and exploring what it means to create art while navigating motherhood. This year’s exhibition, hosted by the Cultural Arts Center, features 60 artists making work throughout Indiana and Kentucky. In 2022, Marcia Holloway Ross curated the first Mothering Me exhibition to foster community and connection between mothers creating art. 

When her second child was well into toddlerhood, Ross reintroduced a more defined creative practice into her life, and realized that the parameters in which she could make work had dramatically changed. The impulsivity that had previously fueled her process was now an impracticality in the face of snacks, nap schedules, and her own exhaustion. 

She wondered how others were navigating this territory. “The bonds formed and support shared with other mothers since becoming one myself has buoyed me through times of uncertainty and loneliness,” says Ross. “I wanted to find that community for my art practice. I was curious how other artists/mothers were balancing both identities and I longed to find a supportive way for us to feel seen in that journey.”