'Go Vote Roe' hopes to inspire voters over abortion ruling

Oct. 9—After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, some women in Santa Fe looked to artistic expression to let out their frustration.

One group of artists decided to turn that work into political action with an art show meant to encourage people to vote in the Nov. 8 midterm election.

The Go Vote Roe art show brought together women artists of all ages to display their work at Chomp food hall and Desert Dogs Brewery and Cidery Taproom in downtown Santa Fe.

The show opened this weekend. Many of the artists said they were concerned the outcome of the gubernatorial and congressional races could decide the future of abortion access nationwide.

With Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham promising to keep abortion in New Mexico legal and congressional Democrats looking to codify Roe v. Wade into law nationally, the artists want to help ensure New Mexico stays blue.

Artist Jeanne Griffin, 54, said she worried the political momentum created by the Roe v. Wade ruling would die down as elections draw nearer, so she decided to organize an event that would help keep people talking about it.

"I noticed a lot of other women had done paintings and prints and beautiful pieces, but also pieces out of their rage [at] the overturning of Roe v. Wade," Griffin said. "Women artists, and even a lot of men, have done pieces, so I thought we should have a show that is through the midterms that keeps people involved and activated and ready to vote."

Griffin said she was a little girl when the Roe v. Wade ruling was decided in 1973, and never thought she would have to worry about women's rights to abortion being taken away.

"I never thought it would be overturned, and when it was, I cried," she said. "I was angry, and I was terrified. I'm still terrified because I know it won't stop there. I don't know if people will know the severity of what will happen if the Republicans take the House."

Each piece displayed for the show includes a statement from the artist and a QR code that direct people to information on voting and how they can register to vote.

Wendy Woolf, 48, said she was invited to display a large puppet of an angry uterus she made last year in response to the Texas Heartbeat Act, which was passed in 2021 and bans abortions in Texas after fetal cardiac activity can be detected, usually about six weeks into pregnancy.

"I wanted to make something for the rally that we were having, but I didn't want to just have another sign," Woolf said. "I wanted it to be something ... more monumental and just express how upsetting and frustrating it is."

The puppet initially donned a smirk, which Woolf changed to an angry expression after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June.

Woolf said she had initially planned to display her piece at Chomp for some time but was forced to move it to the Desert Dogs Brewery and Cidery Taproom after some of the establishment's food vendors complained.

"I was just told exactly, that one or more food vendors didn't want it there," Woolf said. "I'm pretty angry that they are controlling that uterus specifically. Was it too big for them? Too angry? ... Capitalism is more important than seeing the anger and the magnitude of what we are fighting for personified?"

The owner of Chomp, Ken Joseph, said he understands the message Woolf's piece is trying to convey but felt the restaurant wasn't a good place for it.

"I personally am pro-choice, but an exhibition like this really belongs in a gallery where the art can be evaluated, rather than a restaurant," Joseph said. "The particular piece that was removed was extremely large, set apart from all the other work and in a conspicuous place."

The youngest artist to add her work to the art show, Venezia Aguayo, 17, said she was inspired to incorporate abortion-rights activism into her work after she found herself protesting in Washington with her mother, Heimiri Tiaihua, the day Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Aguayo was there accepting an award for the Congressional Art Competition when news of the Supreme Court's decision broke. They were at the U.S. Capitol building when armed guards surrounded the building, as officials heightened security in response to growing protests.

"We got all cleaned up and went back to the protest," Aguayo said in a statement about her work. "That was my first experience of being in such a large movement and a very important part of our generation's history."

Aguayo said though she won't be able to vote this November, she hopes her work will inspire those that can to do it.

"I think that was one thing I could do that would be close to voting," Aguayo said. "Voicing out my ideas, and stuff like that, is the only thing I can do right now."

On the other end of the spectrum is perhaps one of the most experienced artists at the show, Barbara McCulloch, 76, who donated her painting, Dignity, to the show.

McCulloch said the painting is about the women who have faced abuse and recovered their sense of dignity. Though she created the painting a year ago, she said it is still relevant to what's going on today with abortion rights.

"It just simply ties right into it because most women pass through abortion with a diminished sense of self, for whatever reason that they went into it," she said.

McCulloch said she has hope for the outcome of the election, primarily because of a growing number of young people, like Aguayo, becoming politically active.

"I love the fact that young people are voting because they are standing up and taking responsibility for their lives and for their future," McCulloch said. "I've had the experience of seeing what happens when people are apathetic, but young people simply have to vote because their futures are at stake — whether it's climate change or women's rights."