What is Feminism Now? Art and Activism

Grant Recipients

• Melissa Tombro, Associate Professor, English and Communication Studies (School of Liberal Arts)
• Sandra Markus, Professor, Fashion Design (School of Art and Design)
• Kim Cunningham, Assistant Professor, Social Sciences (School of Liberal Arts)
• Katelyn Burton, Assistant Professor, English and Communication Studies (School of Liberal Arts)
• Leslie Blum, Assistant Professor, Communication Design (School of Art and Design)

Project Description

The What is Feminism Now project consisted of regional artists and activists addressing the vitality of work on behalf of women’s, trans, and queer empowerment through responses to the question: "What is feminism now?"

This project was interdisciplinary and inclusive. Professors from two different schools and four different departments  worked with a diverse team of community activists and artists to create:

• a school-wide symposium
• a series of classroom visits
• a student open mic event

The collaborators shared their current work with the FIT community in a panel discussion addressing the modern place of feminism in art and activism. The panel allowed students, faculty, and staff to engage in dialog about the overlap of art and activism: how they relate to the complicated historical roots of the term "feminism" and the various ways it is currently employed in the public sphere.