Oklahomans turn to art as activism, outlet after Roe v. Wade overturned
Marilyn Artus spent much of the past five years celebrating the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote.
After pouring so much work, time and passion into her collaborative art project "Her Flag" — a statement piece she created with 36 artists to commemorate the 1920 adoption of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — the Oklahoma City artist said it was especially frustrating this year to see women losing other essential rights.
"I feel like the ground's just fallen out from underneath me. Honestly, I am still reeling from it, and then the daily news is just nightmarish," she said.
"This is just an epic, horrible moment to have our bodily autonomy taken from us. So, I think it's a time to not bury our feelings about this and just really let it out — and then figure out how to move forward."
Since the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade that women have a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus is viable, some Oklahomans who disagree with the ruling have turned to art as a form of activism, from expressing their feelings through photographs to organizing a benefit concert for abortion assistance funds.
"We created a space for people to let their emotions out — and they were really powerful," said Artus, one of the organizing artists of RAGE for Our Daughters, an Oklahoma pro-choice art exhibition and movement.
Pro-choice Oklahomans express RAGE for Our Daughters in exhibit
The photographs lining the walls of the Little D Gallery in the Paseo Arts District depict more than 120 Oklahomans screaming, gritting their teeth and otherwise expressing their rage about the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
"I knew that people were angry and needed a place to express it, and the idea that we could alchemize people's rage into art, it felt like something that I could do. I've felt for a long time that I don't have the power to influence even one vote in the state Legislature," said Mulhall artist Angie LaPaglia, another of RAGE for Our Daughters' eight women organizers.
"What we discovered through this process is that people needed a place to dump their feelings — and we say rage, but rage is different for different people. For some women — and it wasn't just women, but it was mostly women — who came in, their rage was a scream. Some people just stood there and cried. There was a teacher who crossed her arms and gave us a teacher glare. There was a singer-songwriter who she couldn't scream; all she could do was sing. ... It ended up being really just a safe space for people to respond to what was happening with their fears, their despair, their anger, their anxiety, all this range of emotions.
"And it became something different than we ever imagined that it would be."
Artists begin work on photo exhibition following Supreme Court leak
The work on the RAGE for Our Daughters exhibit started back in spring with the leak of Supreme Court’s initial draft majority opinion to strike down Roe v. Wade. In a group text, one of the organizing artists, Edmond resident Kiona Millirons, wrote that she was so angry she felt like screaming her head off — and wondered if they could make art out of women doing just that.
"We all rallied around it, and the first thing we did was schedule four small photoshoots in Oklahoma City. People responded to it (and) it took on a life of its own. We were reached out to by women in seven other cities around Oklahoma, from Ponca City to Lawton to Kingfisher ... to Tahlequah to Tulsa," LaPaglia said.
"So, we went on the road ... and people made themselves pretty vulnerable to us. The stories they shared and the emotions they shared, just even in the act of being photographed, was something we didn't necessarily anticipate. But it has become the driving force behind the movement."
RAGE for Our Daughters quickly became more than just a photo exhibit: At the opening reception earlier this month, movement artist Morgan Smith performed an original dance piece inspired by the project, LaPaglia read a collaborative poem she penned from about 60 responses gathered on a private Facebook page, and more than 100 people gathered outside the gallery to participate in a "scream-in."
"We immediately saw other organizations who are doing the legal work, organizations who were doing the education and abortion access work ... and the gap that we feel like we have filled is just a place for people to respond honestly to what's happening," LaPaglia said.
"We believe that art has the power to rise above the din of political discourse and shine a light on the truth — and the truth is that, in the reddest state in the nation, there are an overwhelming number of Oklahomans who are standing up and saying, 'No. We don't want to stand for this, and you leaders, you don't represent me.' I think that's a big myth that maybe the state senators and other government leadership has told themselves is that they're representing Oklahomans. And here are hundreds of Oklahomans standing up and saying, 'No.'"
Screams of RAGE for Our Daughters inspire Oklahoma musicians
The RAGE for Our Daughters exhibit, which will be on view through mid-September, also includes stop-motion video of every scream and a spot where gallery visitors can express their reactions and hope for the future.
"One of us was smart enough to say 'Hey, what if we recorded the screams of the people who are having their portraits taken today?' ... And there were musicians who were inspired by that and reached out and said, 'What if we made music that incorporated a track of the screams?' So, we have four musicians — bands or singer-songwriters - who created original music out of the screams," LaPaglia said.
Some of those musicians will perform at a second reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 2 at Little D Gallery during the Paseo Arts District's monthly First Friday Gallery Walk.
"We're encouraged by the response ... and our challenge is to take that momentum and turn it into positive action. And that's what we intend to do very quickly," LaPaglia said.
Oklahoma musicians to play Bans Off Our Bodies fundraising concert
An all-woman lineup of five Oklahoma musical acts will be performing a Bans Off Our Bodies abortion fundraising concert at 7 p.m. Aug. 21 at Beer City Music Hall.
Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Roe Fund, a Tulsa-based nonprofit working to provide abortion access to Oklahomans, and Indigenous Women Rising, a New Mexico organization that raises money for Indigenous women to travel and get access to safe abortions.
"It's hard to feel like there's anything one can do with the current state of the law as just an individual, so I'm happy to be given the opportunity to show up and play to support something like that," said OKC musician Penny Pitchlynn, whose band LABRYS is headlining the show.
"Not that I have a huge platform, but I have some sort of platform, at least locally. ... When people don't have a voice … if you have one, I feel like you should use it."
Along with LABRYS, Bans Off Our Bodies will include local acts stepmom, Nia Mone, Maddie Razook and Keathley.
"It's important to give people a space to process and feel their feelings. Whether it's a protest song or just a vibe, I think it's probably helpful for people to not feel alone. To be able to relate to someone else expressing something about the human experience is what community is for," said Pitchlynn, a Choctaw musician who also plays with the Oklahoma punk band BRONCHO.
Whether celebrating or raging, Artus said she has faith in the power of art to make a difference.
"Art's been a driver towards social change since cave paintings," she said. "Art can be so powerful ... and I think absolutely there's a place for political art - and there's a place for art that's just beautiful, too. We desperately need that kind of art as well, especially right now."
RAGE FOR ART DAUGHTERS EXHIBIT
When: On view through mid-September.
Where: Little D Gallery, 3003A Paseo.
Reception: 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 2.
Information: https://www.facebook.com/rage.for.our.daughters.
BANS OFF OUR BODIES CONCERT
Featuring: LABRYS, stepmom, Nia Mone, Maddie Razook and Keathley.
Benefiting: Roe Fund and Indigenous Women Rising.
When: 7 p.m. Aug. 21. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Where: Beer City Music Hall, 1141 NW Second.
Information and tickets: https://beercitymusichall.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Pro-choice Oklahomans turn to art as activism after Roe is overturned
