FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Editors: For additional images, go to the Faulconer Gallery web site at http://web.grinnell.edu/faulconergallery/includes/files/AdditionalExhibImages/WakeUpLittleSusie.htm

March 22, 2002

Contact: Dann Hayes, Director of Media Relations, 641-269-4834 or
Karen Fischer, Faulconer Gallery public relations assistant, 641-269-4663

Life-sized sculptural exhibit, "Wake Up Little Susie," opens at Grinnell College

GRINNELL, Iowa -- Grinnell College's Faulconer Gallery presents the mixed-media sculptural installation, "Wake Up Little Susie," created by Cathleen Meadows, Kay Obering, and Kathy Hutton in response to the book by the same name by historian and scholar Rickie Solinger. The installation will be on view in Herrick Chapel, April 5 - 28, at Grinnell College.

The piece consists of life-size sculpted figures placed on a 16 x 16 foot chessboard. The figures represent the various social and political forces which manipulated the lives of black and white single mothers in the years between World War II and the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that legalized abortion. Women and children are depicted as the pawns in this game, symbolizing the fact that their choices are severely limited by race and social position.

Accompanying the installation are innovative text panels that use historical documents, photographs, and quotations to enrich the viewer's understanding of each element on the board. As the viewer walks around the board and reads the panels, the complex web of forces affecting each woman becomes more apparent.

The presentation of "Wake Up Little Susie" will engage audiences, both as a work of art and as an exploration of social and political issues, said Lesley Wright, director of the Faulconer Gallery. In particular, the viewer is challenged to consider the relationship between religion and social justice in regards to reproductive rights.

Solinger will be on campus April 10th and 11th to discuss the creation of the piece and her collaboration with the artists, as well as her new research on women and poverty.

The opening reception for "Wake Up Little Susie" is April 5th, in Herrick Chapel, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The exhibition and its related programs are sponsored at Grinnell College by the Faulconer Gallery; Gender and Women's Studies; and the Center for Religion, Spirituality and Social Justice.

Herrick Chapel is located on Park Street, on the campus of Grinnell College. Viewing hours are 4 to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call 641-269-4660. The exhibit is free of charge and open to the general public.

Events associated with the exhibition are as follows: (note: all events are on the Grinnell College campus)

April 5
o Opening Reception: "Wake Up Little Susie," comments by Lesley Wright, cirector of the Faulconer Gallery from 4:30 - 6 p.m., Herrick Chapel

April 5-7
o Film: "From the Back-Alleys to the Supreme Court and Beyond," by Dorothy Fadiman. Cultural Film Series, 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m., Sunday, Alumni Recitation Hall (ARH) 302.

April 10
o Brown Bag Talk, Rickie Solinger, historian and author of "Wake Up Little Susie," will discuss her collaboration with the artists of the exhibit currently on view in Herrick Chapel, 12 p.m., Forum South Lounge.

April 11
o Convocation Lecture "Nine Ways to Look at a Poor Woman," by historian Rickie Solinger, will present her new research on the complex relationship between women and poverty in the United States, 11 a,m,, Herrick Chapel

April 12-14
o Film: "Jane: An Abortion Service," by Kate Kirtz and Nell Lundy, 1996. Cultural Film Series, 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m., Sunday, ARH 302.

April 17
o Brown Bag Talk
The Rev. Dr. Michael Smith, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church and The Rev. Dennis Haas, former Chaplain of Grinnell College, discuss activism and access to reproductive choice in the 60s, 12 p.m., Herrick Chapel

April 19
o Brown Bag Talk, Francine Thompson, director of Health Services, Emma Goldman Clinic, Iowa City, will discuss access and choice today in Iowa as it relates to race and class, 12 p.m., Herrick Chapel.