Life Is Art Is Motherhood Is Art exhibition

CRS (Center for Remembering & Sharing) presents “Life Is Art Is Motherhood Is Art,” an exhibition of five artists who are mothers — Daniela Kostova (Bulgaria), Aline Müller (Brazil), Quynh “Alex” Nguyễn (Vietnam), Katie Heller Saltoun (USA), and Satomi Shirai (Japan). Curated by CRS co-founder Christopher Pelham, the exhibition will be on view at Tenri Cultural Institute of New York from July 21 – 26, 2025.

This exhibition highlights the inspiring works being created worldwide by mother artists and examines the multifaceted relationship between motherhood and art-making. Through their diverse photography and 2D works, they invite you to consider the challenges that working mother artists face and reflect on motherhood and child-rearing as fundamentally creative acts, inseparably intertwined with art-making, deserving of our loving attention, respect, and support.

EXHIBITION HOURS
Monday, July 21 – July 26, 2025 (closed July 25)
Mon – Thu 12 – 6 pm, Sat 12 – 3 pm

TENRI GALLERY LOCATION
Tenri Cultural Institute of New York, 43A W 13th St, New York, NY 10011
212.645.2800

In addition to the above gallery hours, the exhibition will be on view during several receptions and salons being held in conjunction with the exhibition.

July 21 7 pm
Opening Reception & Artist Salon featuring live music by mother artist Eunbi Kim + Q&A

July 23 7pm
This Is a Movement Artist Salon featuring live music by mother artists Goussy Celestin and Amma Whatt + Q+A with artists and Niama Safia Sandy, co-founder, This Is a Movement

July 24 7 pm
Artist Salon featuring live music by mother artists Layale Chaker (violin) and Maeve Gilchrist (harp) + Q&A

July 26 3 pm doors / 3:30 pm program starts
Closing Reception & Artist Salon featuring live music by Sita Chay (violin) and Rema Hasumi (keyboard) + Q&A with the exhibition artists + talk by mother artist and author / peacemaker / philanthropist Le Ly Hayslip on Lessons Not Learned from the American War in Vietnam

“Being an artist is to experience a vigorous, experimental life of the mind and of the senses. Parenthood is another enriching experience: primal, haptic and life-affirming. Why are the two still seen as incompatible?” — Jeffrey Boloten and Juliet Hacking, Forward to How Not to Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents)

How often do you ask a man how he balances work and parenting responsibilities? How frequently do you assume that a mother has no time for making art or that motherhood and child-raising are not only not creative but less worthy subjects for art? Of course, it’s hardly shocking to announce that pregnancy and childcare require time and energy and that women supply the bulk of it. But this alone does not explain the relative paucity of mothers and women in general represented in galleries and museums. You might be surprised to learn that more women than men graduate from art schools today. They hope you will also be excited to learn that many obstacles facing female-identifying artists can be remedied.

While the asymmetry between parenthood and the world of work is an issue for parents in any profession, the art world – with its informal, often temporary forms of relations – can be a particularly precarious environment in which to make one’s living. Artists rarely receive contracts of employment nor benefits such as maternity leave, pay rises and pensions. Opportunities such as exhibitions and artist residencies come rarely, and even once in a lifetime. Does one have to choose between creativity and family?

— Jeffrey Boloten and Juliet Hacking, Forward to How Not to Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents)

Despite societal demands, stigmas, and limitations that restrict a mother’s creative expression in the public realm, mothers nevertheless exercise their creative faculties constantly. Just as creating a compelling work of art starts with seeing without judgment what others have overlooked and channeling one’s creative response into form, nurturing a child requires seeing the child as he/she/they are and responding authentically and imaginatively. Both are intuitive processes of receiving and giving. Both are creative exercises of unconditional love.

“…Motherhood and artistic practice have to be mutually enriching…. …Little does society know that these things actually can work really well together.” — Catherine Rickets, from Artist/Mother Podcast: 160: The World Needs Art that Only Mothers Can Make with Catherine Ricketts, Nov 4, 2024

They aim to bring greater visibility to their inspiring art and life-making work, as well as to the creative and life-affirming contributions of mothers who are not professional artists. These contributions are often ignored, undervalued, and erased. They envision a society where the value of inspiration, creation, mutual care, and unconditional love is recognized and integrated into every aspect of life, without discrimination.

The exhibition will next be on view at Gallery Maronie in Kyoto, Japan, during Kyotographie from April 13 to May 10, 2026.