Friday, March 6, 2020, 5:30pm doors; storytelling 6pm: SOLD OUT
Regular tickets are SOLD OUT but you can still participate by Gifting A Ticket designated we will get to someone who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend, or, make a contribution to support accessibility by our Deaf and blind community.
Email Tina@korepress.org to be added to the waiting list.
Jewish History Museum / 564 S Stone Ave, Tucson 85701
Light fare potluck immediately follows; bring an offering for the table and share in the love after the stories if you can!
This event is ASL interpreted. One story will be interpreted from Spanish to English. Spanish-speaking only friends want to come: reach out and we will look into accommodation.
Save the Date for the next Motherfield on Friday, May 8, 2020.
When you purchase tickets online, your name will be added to the guest list at the door; no paper or e-tickets are issued, no refunds. If you cannot use your ticket, please let us know and we will pull from the waiting list to fill your seat.
The Motherfield is a movement of radical mothers dedicated to building community by telling the truth and listening to women. Story-coaching, knowledge, and event support is shared by storytelling alumni and staff to build a larger community of care.
Kore’s fifth listening session in the series presents six amazing mother artists, thinkers, makers, and activists. Based on Kore’s online essay series and newsletter feature, “Notes from the Motherfield,” the LIVE event presents two spoken sets by local mamas telling their unique truths in 10-minute stories about the wild, wooly, sacred, thorny, liberatory, stunning, real and sometimes painful experiences while mothering.
Help us celebrate these six superhero mamas in March:
Desiree Maultsby is a native of Brooklyn, New York. She has embraced the magic of the Sonoran Desert for the past 20 years. She has touched the lives of many through massage, energetic healing, transformational coaching, advocacy and sitting in circles with womxn. Her heart shines brightest in support of other womxn who are on a mission to discover/uncover the gold hidden in the shadows of their own wisdom. She received a master’s degree in Transpersonal Psychology focusing on Creativity and Innovation and integrates this eclectic mix of knowledge in her work as a healer, mother, partner, expressive artist and Director of Program Engagement at the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona. She lives with her husband, they have two sons, and loves moving her body to percussion and the rhythm of drums.
Michelle Renzetti is a Jersey Girl, drawn to the wide sky of Arizona. She has a Masters’ in Multicultural Education and spent most of her life teaching reading and exceptional education. Michelle is the mom of three joyful girls, and two playful pups. She is loving the Tucson community, the empowerment of activism, and the spirit of Tucson that holds each of our journeys sacred. She is grateful for her partner in love and family for nudging her to grow, while rooting down in the comfort of home. She is currently taking a pause from teaching to spread her wings as a writer. She is processing life through writing a memoir of adoption, women, and daughters. She is an inspired Fellow of the Tucson Public Voices OpEd project, putting down words, that grow actions, that activate change.
Maritza Cárdenas was born and raised in Los Angeles, and is a proud “Angelina.” The daughter of Salvadoran and Ecuadorian immigrants, her family’s experience with the Sanctuary Movement profoundly shaped her personal life and career—growing up around stories of war and the displacement and perils of Central American refugees (particularly women). The first member of her family to graduate from college and receive her doctorate, Maritza became a faculty member at the University of Arizona where she spent the last decade writing a book about the creative works, politics, and lives of Central American immigrants. Her current project examines the interconnections between disability studies and Latinx studies, focusing on how disability discourse reinforces ideologies of race, gender/sexuality and normalcy.
Natalie Brewster Nguyen is a professional performance and installation artist, writer, actor, mover, educator, musician and director/producer. She has been a sex worker for 20 plus years, since the age of 19. She is a Pro-Domme and Tantric practitioner and has worked in almost every adult industry. She is a certified yoga and acrobatics teacher as well as bodyworker. She teaches social justice analysis to community organizations and in the fitness world. She co-parents in an amazing collective of artists, activists and sex worker parents. She believes in non-punitive parenting and loving, adventurous, authentic accountability in community. She can be found at nataliebrewsternguyen.com
Najima Rainey—Mother, Musician, Bon Vivant and person about town.
Mayra Palomino, Mayra Palomino, originally from Jalisco, came to the United States with her family eight months ago, pregnant with her third child and going into labor. She crossed the border after the cartel threatened her family, was picked up by the Border Patrol, and her husband was taken to prison where he remains without a sentence. She and her two daughters, ages 3 and 6, were taken to Tucson Medical Center where she gave birth after two weeks. Mayra has been sharing her story of recovery and healing for eight years, transforming her own life and the lives of others.
Mayra Palomino originaria de Jalisco, llegó a Estados Unidos con su familia hace ocho meses, embarazada de su tercer hijo y casi dando a luz. Se cruzó la frontera huyendo del cartel. Fue apresada por la patrulla fronteriza y su marido fue llevado a la prisión, donde todavía sigue sin sentencia. Ella y sus dos hijas, de tres y seis años, fueron llevadas a Tucson Medical Center donde ella dio a luz después de dos semanas. Mayra lleva ocho años predicando sobre su camino desde la adición hasta la salvación, transformando su propia vida y a los demás. Después de pasar por siete pérdidas, ella ve a sus tres hijos como milagros y una fuente de inspiración. Ahora se encuentra preparándose para volver a México e iniciar una nueva vida. Se aceptan donaciones por este medio: https://www.gofundme.com/f/welcome-to-tucson
Mayra’s Translator
Eva Karene Romero has done migrant advocacy in Tucson for eight years, and continues to use her skills to promote Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) through her role at Sol Grant Partners, her role at the Cooperative Extension of the University of Arizona, as president of the board of the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona, as the host of Artistories on KXCI Community Radio, as the co-director of Kuña–a documentary about gender violence in Paraguay–and as the author of Film and Democracy in Paraguay (Palgrave, 2016).
Eva Karene Romero ha brindado ayuda al migrante durante los últimos ocho años, y continua usando sus habilidades para promover la Inclusión, Diversidad, Equidad y el Acceso (IDEA) mediante su rol en Sol Grant Partners, su rol en la Extensión Cooperativa de la Universidad de Arizona, como presidenta del consejo directivo de Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona, como la conductora de Artistories en KXCI (estación de radio comunitaria), como la co-directora de Kuña—documental sobre la violencia de género en Paraguay—y como la autora de Film and Democracy in Paraguay (Palgrave, 2016).
Thanks to Lisa Bowden, Motherfield creator and curator; to alumni storytelling mamas for story support—Stephanie Troutman, Molly Burke, Charlie Buck, Sarah Tarver-Walhquist—to our emcee, Tenecia Philips; to Letty Moran and Maggie Johnson / ASL interpreters; to Eva Romero and her Spanish translation team; and to Tucson’s Jewish History Museum, our hosting partner!
Listen to a recent interview with Lisa Bowden on KXCI’s Artistories about Notes from the Motherfield LIVE here.
Tickets here
The concept of the motherfield was coined by Joy Harjo on her blog long ago and refers to the imaginal colliding that happens in the motherfield––where only truth exists—somewhere between grief and beauty, the ineffable and mundane, boundlessness and numbing routine lies a sacred, and profane space. We speak, and listen to, these stories to keep the narratives about mothering complicated, to pierce the veil of perfection and silence, and to make manifest our invisibilized labors. We see you, we hear you, we appreciate you!
See more Motherfield info, bios, and links to videos of the stories here: October 25 2019, August 16 2019, April 12 2019.
Consider becoming a sponsor of the Motherfield and support this powerful storytelling program and the intersectional feminist work of Tucson’s Kore Press Institute. DONATE here.
KPI is a nonprofit working at the nexus of arts and justice dedicated to radically connected communities, to amplifying women’s voices, publishing, and social justice education. Kore Press is one of the four remaining feminist presses in the country that has lasted over 20 years. Kore’s award-winning work has impacted communities locally and nationally for 27 years.