Like mother, like child: Exhibit showcases art made in collaboration with children

Mothers share a lot with their children time, DNA and certainly food but a new exhibit is showcasing shared art making.

The exhibit Like Mother, Like Child showcases the work of the artist mother's group at MAWA Mentoring Artists for Women's Art, which was done in collaboration with their children.

"Many women have felt in their lives that they've had to choose between being a mother and being an artist and this group is for women who refuse to choose," said Shawna Dempsey, MAWA co-executive director.

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The group, which has been operating for about five years, works with women who feel the pressures of parenting by giving them a space to explore art and support each other.

While the pieces in the new exhibition are all different and unique, they are connected by family and by love, Dempsey said.

A piece by Colleen Leduc in collaboration with her two children is a reproduction of the MAWA space created with an old MAWA file box.

"It's the faade of MAWA, the brick second floor, the first floor, windows looking into the airy white space. But inside the space if you look through the windows are artworks by Colleen's children," Dempsey said

"It has that Ukrainian doll effect of looking in, looking in, looking in."

Pieces by Brenna George and her two children, Oona and Marshall, combine sketches from mother and children. The art shows that it's hard to tell where the mother's art ends and the children's begin, Dempsey added.

Artist Melanie Unrau reimagined her son's drawing of a crime-fighting frog in embroidery.

Dempsey said the exhibit showcases the importance of the mother's group and a safe space to explore being an artist.

"I think they find a real sense of understanding here, they feel at home here, but they also feel validated as creators, as artists," she said.

"It's a place where they are taken seriously both as parents and as artists."

The exhibition continues until May 28.

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