On November 21st, 2015, we successfully held our first all-inclusive feminist arts festival at the gallery. The concept for the festival originally came out of a conversation with Jacob and a new friend Ally Hollier. We were discussing the way that victims of sexual assault feel as though they no longer have a voice or any power. We were wishing that we had a way to give people who feel this way a platform, when we realized that we did. We reached out to friends and aquantinces over Facebook and quickly found plenty of people who wanted to contribute and support the event. We opened the subject matter up to all feminist-related issues. In the end, we heard perspectives from our event speakers ranging from burlesque dancing and discovering self-love to testimonies of sexual assault. The artwork featured depictions of the female figure to screenshots of cringe-worthy OKCupid messages.
During the event, we had the back of the gallery filled with female-fronted vendors: Le Trove Vintage, Mojo Hand Vintage, Rock Paper Scissors, Emerge Juice, and Mortar & Pestle.
Photo by Fiona Cook of Photo Lafayette
Photo by Fiona Cook of Photo Lafayette
Photo by Fiona Cook of Photo Lafayette
Photo by Fiona Cook of Photo Lafayette
Photo by Fiona Cook of Photo Lafayette
Self portrait series by Ally Hollier
Photo series by Nikki Cavalier
Photo by Erin Gray. Installation piece by yours truly!
Photo by Fiona Cook of Photo Lafayette Tapestry by Kat King
Photo by Fiona Cook of Photo Lafayette. OkCupid Screenshots by Sam Howat.
Photo by Fiona Cook of Photo Lafayette. Painting by Jack Budd.
Photo by Fiona Cook of Photo Lafayette. Illustrations by Gabrielle Guidry.
Benjamin Babineaux speaking at La Fete du Fem
Nadia Rasha Khansa reading her poem
Naughty Lola performing
Over all, the festival was a great success. We raffled off items from local businesses and raised more than $250 for Hearts of Hope. I think it was a great night which we were able to discover new perspectives, feel empathy for one another, and become more aware and sensitive to subjects that are often not talked about enough. We hope to have more projects like this in the future.