ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - The Arts Council of York County, the Women’s Art Initiative and Winthrop University Galleries have partnered to invite the Rock Hill community to engage and participate in "Airing Out the 'Dirty' Laundry," an ongoing community art movement that responds to the silencing of women, creating opportunities for all women without exclusion to share experiences through visual storytelling.
Artist, activist, community arts organizer and founder Andrea Downs will install a small selection of the more than 400 pieces that are a part of a growing
collection of women's stories. The pieces will be exhibited at the Arts Council of
York County Perimeter Gallery in downtown Rock Hill Sept. 11-Oct. 25 and in the DiGiorgio
Campus Center lobby at Winthrop Oct. 12-Nov. 20.
The installation will include information about how the public can be involved. Visual
stories created during virtual and in-person “Laundry Day” workshops are collected
and joined together on clotheslines and will be featured at these two locations and
ongoing installations.
The “Laundry Day” workshops provide a space for women to gather together, an opportunity to listen and to be heard, and to foster the love and understanding that resists hate and injustice. There are currently three “Laundry Day” workshops scheduled for the public and Rock Hill community: two virtual and one in-person. Please register at the appropriate links below to participate:
Virtual Laundry Day Workshop
Sept. 19, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Hosted by Arts Council of York County
To register: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=116844
In-person Laundry Day Workshop
Oct. 29, 7-9 p.m.
Richardson Ballroom, DiGiorgio Campus Center, Winthrop University
To register: https://tinyurl.com/CampusLaundryDay
The public can drop off their finished pieces at the DiGiorgio Campus Center Lobby, the Arts Council of York County at 121 East Main St., or mail to Andrea Downs at 613 Neill Ridge Road, Matthews, N.C., 28105.
Winthrop University Galleries will be hosting a virtual artist talk with Downs on Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. The public can participate by clicking on this link (https://tinyurl.com/WUGTalkDowns) or dialing in to +1-571-392-7650 and entering PIN: 761 856 7864.
More information about the collaborative partners can be found at the following websites:
Arts Council of York County: https://www.yorkcountyarts.org/
The Women’s Art Initiative: https://womensartinitiative.org/
Winthrop University Galleries: www.winthrop.edu/galleries
Support for this project is provided by the Arts Council of York County Small Grants Program, the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of the Coastal Community Foundation of SC, Comporium Communications, and the SC Arts Commission, which received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information about the Rock Hill project, please contact Melanie Cooper at mcooper@yorkcountyarts.org or 803/323-1966 or Winthrop Galleries Director Karen Derksen at derksenk@winthrop.edu or 803/323-2493.
