About the Exhibition

The A2AC is proud to host guest curators Lee Nowell-Wilson (Baltimore), Alana DeRiggi (Ann Arbor), and Gina Balibrera (Ann Arbor) in this multidisciplinary exhibition featuring 11 visual artists in conjunction with 12 writers, who turn their gaze inward toward their personal journeys of Motherhood. This exhibition aims to broadly capture relationship questions, the “inner” and the “surrounding,” while building a collective display of the many layers of maternity.

Curatorial Statement

This exhibition aims to broadly capture questions of the relationship between the inner and the surrounding through the lens of the maternal figure. This space, the maternal interior, is an inner sphere that carries a palpable weight. Not only is Interior Space a thematic pillar in art history, but it also contains an intricately personal wrestle. We sometimes resist its connotations and closed doors while simultaneously craving its privacy and a space’s innate commitment to our nondisclosure agreements. (I mean, if only our walls could talk, right?)

The exhibition explores what the expansion of one’s maternal body does to the expansion of our space and, therefore, the expansion of our art. As patterns, color, and light subtly shift along a wall, the perspective seemingly revealing that of the onlooker and that of the artist – or as an object is layered and stacked, becoming both a weighted burden and a lifted trophy – how can that spatial relationship speak to the brevity of human life and our need to make sense of home as mothers?

Within this interior sphere and this exhibition, we see ideas of memory, loss, loneliness, pattern, the table as a concept, and much more weaving themselves as strong threads into each piece. This exhibition builds a collective display of many layers of maternity. Not one piece says it all, and not one piece is supposed to.

Gina Balibrera

Alana DeRiggi

Lee Nowell-Wilson

Opening Reception

Friday, May 5, 5 pm – 8 pm

Ann Arbor Art Center
117 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor, MI

Join us for the opening celebration of the multidisciplinary exhibition Maternal Interior, featuring work by 11 visual artists and 12 professional writers in the A2AC Gallery. In partnership with the A2 Gallery Hop event that evening. Bring new diapers, wipes, and formula to donate to Rise Wellness Collaborative’s free pantry.

Artists and Curators will be in attendance.

Free

A2AC Author Series

Thursdays, May 18, May 25, & June 1 at 7 pm

Ann Arbor Art Center
117 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor, MI

The new A2AC Author Series features the 12 writers from the Maternal Interior exhibition in the A2AC Gallery. Each Thursday evening presents six authors from the show, reading selections of their work. This includes poetry, essay, and fiction.

Free with RSVP | Donations accepted at the door

Thursday, May 25, 7pm

• Julie Buntin
• Alana DeRiggi
• Katie Hartsock
• Ellen Stone
• Jacinda Townsend
• Michelle Yang

ADD TO CALENDAR

RSVP HERE

With support from

Thursday, June 1, 7pm

• Julie Babcock
• Gina Balibrera
• Jaimein Delp
• Julie Kim
• Emily McLaughlin
• Onna Solomon

ADD TO CALENDAR

RSVP HERE

With support from

Curator & Artist Talk

Sunday, June 11 at 11 am

Ann Arbor Art Center
117 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor, MI

Join us in the A2AC Gallery for a conversation with curators Gina Balibrera, Alana DeRiggi, and Lee Nowell-Wilson and A2AC Exhibitions Director Thea A. Eck. Learn how the show was created and dive deeper into the diverse theme of motherhood percolating through the artwork and writing pieces.

Diaper, Wipe, and Formula Drive

May 5- June 25

Ann Arbor Art Center
117 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor, MI

Throughout the exhibition, the A2AC will be a donation drop point for new baby diapers, wipes, and formula to help stock the Rise Wellness Collaborative’s free pantry in Saline. The formula crisis continues to impact many families and babies. Not only is formula still hard to find with continuous recalls, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) only covers select formula brands, making it even more challenging for low-income households to feed their babies with the formula best for their children. It is Rise Wellness Collaborative’s goal to limit barriers to support and supplies so that caregivers and their baby is well cared for.

Drop your donations at the A2AC during normal business hours starting May 5th.

In need? Stop past their location in Saline, MI.