This Is What Abortion Looks Like

By Heather Whitten

This project was born from a need to make the unseen visible.
To witness what medication abortion actually looks like in real bodies, real spaces.
These images offer a more honest, human understanding of abortion.

MoM Gallery during regular museum hours: May 1st to May 29th

Gallery talk with the artist on Saturday, May 23th at 6.00pmMuseum of Motherhood-2606 Fairfield Ave S Building 7 Door B, Saint Petersburg, FL, United States, 33713

This is a production of the Saint Petersburg Month of Photography in collaboration with the Museum of Motherhood.

Milk Futures: Kinship In The Age of Technology

Curated by Zixin Shang, Master of Fine art in Studio art George Washington University, multi-media artist and curator, Zixin (Cassie) brings a background in public and studio art.

Zixin’s practice—spanning painting, installation, 3D modeling, and photography—explores cross-cultural narratives, female identity, and emotional memory.

Her curatorial vision centers on how exhibitions can serve as both structures and channels for the exchange of ideas, with a special focus on the mental and physical experiences of Asian women.

Milk Futures brings together six female artists from diverse national and cultural backgrounds. Encompassing sculpture, video, painting and performance, their work interrogates the evolving landscape of breastfeeding, kinship and the political occupation of the maternal body within public and legal domains.These works present the multifaceted nature of motherhood in contemporary life. The exhibition highlights the maternal body as a site of nourishment and care, while also exploring how kinship is precariously sustained within social spaces defined by constraint and deprivation.

This exhibition connects individual experiences with cross-cultural perspectives and confronts the viewer to reconsider: in an era of globalization and rapid technological development, are the meanings of “nature” and “family” beginning to change? When the maternal body as the very source of nourishment is strangled by legal structures and political pressure, who ultimately determines its autonomy?

Full Exhibit Launches May 10th

Support MoM

For the past 23 years, this social change experiment has grown into a living archive, educational space, and community gathering place dedicated to one of the most universal human experiences: motherhood. At the Museum of Motherhood, we believe that the stories, labor, creativity, and scientific realities connected to women, mothers, caregiving, birth, and family life deserve to be seen, studied, and celebrated.

MoM operates on a shoestring budget with a passionate team of volunteers committed to enlightening perspectives on women, mothers, and families. We shine a light on the art of motherhood as well as the science and herstory of these creators, culture makers, and change-makers. Through exhibits, educational programs, performances, research, conversations, and community events, we create space for dialogue around topics too often overlooked despite touching every human life.

Your support helps preserve stories that might otherwise be forgotten. It helps us provide accessible cultural programming, support artists and scholars, engage students and interns, and foster meaningful conversations about caregiving, identity, health, equity, family, and human connection.

At a time when loneliness, division, burnout, and economic strain affect so many families, institutions like MoM matter more than ever. We are building a future where caregiving is valued, where women’s experiences are documented with dignity, and where people of all backgrounds can come together to explore what it means to nurture life, community, and one another.

When you support the Museum of Motherhood, you are not simply funding a museum. You are investing in education, empathy, history, creativity, and social change. You are helping ensure that the invisible labor and profound contributions of mothers and caregivers are finally recognized as central to human culture and civilization.

We invite you to become part of this growing movement. Every donation, membership, volunteer hour, partnership, and shared story helps keep this important work alive.

ROCK YOUR BABY on Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 at the ArtsXchange Campus in the Warehouse Arts District (WADA) for a free, family-friendly festival celebrating mothers, caregivers, families, creativity, and community connection 11-4PM.

Hosted by the Museum of Motherhood (MoM), Mamapalooza is both a joyful community celebration and a fundraiser supporting MoM’s year-round cultural programming, exhibitions, and outreach. In its third year, the event has grown to welcome 400–500 attendees annually, bringing together families, artists, health providers, and community organizations from across Pinellas County.

LIVE MUSIC LINEUP
Petal and Bass
The Rum Syndicate
Phono Matrix
Mahray
Rainbow Portal

SPECIAL HEALTH & WELLNESS FEATURES
Free health screenings will be provided by the BayCare Mobile Health Unit, located across from the main stage, offering accessible preventive care for families during the event.

FAMILY & COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Mamapalooza will feature trusted partners providing support for new and expecting families, including free newborn and postpartum supplies and connections to local services such as:
St. Anthony’s Hospital, BayCare
Healthy Start Coalition of Pinellas County
Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County
Postpartum Support International – Florida Chapter
Lactation Loop
Pink Fitness Florida
Southern Alchemy Wellness / Southern Birthing Wellness
Unlimited Pediatric Therapy

COMMUNITY SPONSORS
We are proud to be supported by:
Pinellas Community Foundation
Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County
Rays Rowdies Foundation
Unlimited Pediatric Therapy

SUPPORT THE MUSEUM OF MOTHERHOOD – PUT MoM on the MAP IN PINELLAS – WITH A HOME OF OUR OWN!
Mamapalooza is a fundraiser supporting MoM. Guests can give back by purchasing raffle tickets, buying merchandise, or becoming a museum member. Event entry is FREE.

Enjoy live music, hands-on activities, community resources, wellness services, and a welcoming space for all ages in one of St. Pete’s most vibrant arts districts.

Come celebrate families, support local culture, and experience a day full of music, meaning, and community connection. EVERY DAY IS MOTHERS’ DAY! (FREE to ALL)

SUBMIT TO THE JOURNAL OF MOTHER STUDIES

MoM’s MISSION

The Museum of motherhood is the first and only institution devoted to elucidating the art, science and history of women, mothers and families inclusive of all reproductive identities.

Our mission is to start great conversations, create compelling exhibits and share information and education that informs and inspires lives while acting as social change agents, community connectors and culture builders.

Together we increase well-being and-celebrate the most creative act in the world.

*Help us put MoM on the map in St Pete

Join us for the Grand Opening Reception: Friday, April 10 | 7–9:30 PM I Hear from young moms and community stakeholders! Join us for libations and conversation.

Where: Gallery at the Museum of Motherhood 2606 Fairfield Ave S in The Factory Building 7 St Pete

Please join us at MoM with Healthy Start. This lovely mix and mingle will feature stories (and results from the researchers and the mothers themselves), with refreshments, presentations and conversation. This will be followed by Second Saturday Art Walk April 11 5-9PM on April 11th.

Objective Young moms in Hillsborough County were asked to draw journey maps and accompany them with photos (photovoice) to share their story and participate in a novel method that prioritized uninterrupted narratives/storytelling.

How: The exhibit includes the hand-drawn journey maps from ten moms and their accompanied photos, as well as an interactive audio portion where participants can scan QR codes and listen to some portions of their story. 

Activities include: A table with “letters and advice for young moms” allowing visitors to write letters to young moms, which can then be distributed by Healthy Start/Healthy Families home visitors.

Curated by Mahir Rahman, NASM-CPT, AFAA-CGFI, graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Florida, and a research intern with Healthy Start Hillsborough, has been leading a journey mapping and photovoice project with young mothers in the Tampa Bay community and across our programs. University of South Florida Website

Come and enjoy an immersive, audio-visual exhibit amplifying the real stories of pregnant and parenting adolescents in our community. Through powerful visuals and firsthand voices, this experience brings their journeys, challenges, and resilience into focus.

Questions call: 877-711-MOMS (6667) Lv message. We will call you back!

 Museum of Motherhood, St. Petersburg (2606 Fairfield Ave South, St. Petersburg, FL 33712)

Visit the exhibit now through the end of April.

SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OUR MOM CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS, ORGANIZERS and SPONSORS

Thank you all so very much for joining us for The Museum of Motherhood’s Annual International Academic & Arts Conference | Reproductive Identities & Resistance: Mothers and Others in Culture, Community & Collaboration. We couldn’t have done this without you!

A special thanks to our event sponsors, USF & St. Anthony’s Hospital BayCare Health System, and to our marketplace vendors: The Entourage Lab, PSI, and MoM bookstore. Thank you too, Dr. Aurelie Athan for your ongoing work. Congratulations on being awarded ‘The Joy Award’ 2026.

We look forward to sharing more of your work, distilling images and video – soon come. Until then, remember… MoM loves YOU!

LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER

This week I wrote about love. While museums are not generally in the business of ‘love’, the Museum of Motherhood is. While we are not always perfect, our aspirations are consistent. Our values are written into the fabric of the museum. We are women supporting women.

When I started the Museum of Motherhood in 2003 in Dobbs Ferry, New York I was a lupus survivor, recent kidney transplant recipient, mother of four children (under 12yrs), and newly divorced. My compassion for other people in my situation, was enormous.

Even more than that – I wanted to create CHANGE: social change, cultural change, and economic change. It was visceral for me because I was caught in the whirlpool of each of those problematic issues.

From women’s healthcare to the inherent creativity of M/otherhood– I initially vacillated between the work of Jane Adams (and Hull House), and resources for artists.

Many years later and many beautiful people down the road, MoM has morphed & changed, of course. Every Student, Intern, Volunteer, Friend, academic and community member who has invested time in MoM has helped to shape her.

No doubt she will continue to grow and change. Such is LIFE! However, we’re currently at a crossroads. While I continue to navigate major health issues, the team is continuing the awesome and important work of MoM. But we need help. We need people to take my place. All kinds of initiatives from a bonafide Executive Director in training to social media helpers to onsite docents. Some jobs pay. Some are volunteer. Either way, we hope you’ll consider getting involved!

I am confident that with LOVE as her core value, MoM will continue to succeed as a place of kindness, tolerance, and education in this world. ~ Martha Joy Rose

SUPPORT MOM – SO SHE CAN SUPPORT YOU

For the past 20 years, since 2005, the Museum of Motherhood (MoM) has been bringing together scholars, mother-artists, change makers, and community members for the Annual Academic & Arts MoM Conference. 

We have welcomed participants from around the world to join us in person and on Zoom as they share research, expertise, creative projects, and a passion for the issues, obstacles and health-related topics affecting women, m/others and families. This year is no different!

JOIN US for this year’s theme of Reproductive Identities and Resistance: Mothers and Others in Culture, Community and Collaboration. Advance registration required.

Academics, Artists & Activists

This year’s conference theme is grounded in Aurélie M. Athan’s concept of reproductive identity as a lifelong meaning-making process regarding how individuals orient themselves to reproduction, parenting, and caregiving, and the “if/when/how/who” associated with reproductive decision-making. Find out more here.

As a concept, reproductive identity is fluid and resists pronatalist and patriarchal mandates that dictate narrow expectations about reproductive outcomes and parenting. It centers an individual’s lived experiences and associated meanings about all aspects of reproduction, including being childfree, pregnancy, infertility, abortion, pregnancy loss and grief, adoption, and extended family systems of caregiving.

The various and ever-changing meanings associated with reproduction (or reproductive potential) across the lifespan is paramount to understanding reproductive identity as a concept with emotional, spiritual, financial, familial, cultural, and political influences and implications. As a conference theme, we welcome work that shares interdisciplinary, feminist, holistic, developmental, and narrative inquiry with reproductive identity as a concept.

ATTEND the MoM Conference -2026

Join us for The Museum of Motherhood’s Annual Academic and Arts Conference March 27-29, 2026.

The conference Reproductive Identities & Resistance: Mothers and Others in Culture, Community & Collaboration will feature the work of mother scholars, artists, and world changers with panels, art, and student presentations in addition to scholarly work presented by individuals around the world.

The conference will be hosted live and in-person on Friday and Saturday at The Edge on USF St Pete campus in St. Petersburg, Florida. Sunday is reserved for remote access only.

REGISTER HERE

We invite critical reflection and collective inquiry into how maternal, reproductive, and care-centered identities are formed, challenged, and transformed across contexts, relationships, and life stages. We seek work that explores these identities not only as individual journeys, but as deeply social, political, and communal acts.

REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE

Campus Map Here

SEE FULL SCHEDULE HERE

WOMEN’S HISTORY IS EVERYONE’S HISTORY

WOMEN SHAPE St PETE: Did you know, Sarah Williams is considered the ‘Mother of the City of St Pete’ after she persuaded Peter Demens to bring the Orange Belt Railroad to downtown St. Petersburg, instead of Gulfport. In 1887. Peter Demens, Russian railroad man, and John Williams worked together to bring the Orange Belt Railroad to what would become St. Petersburg, Florida. (named after Peter Demens’s hometown in Russia.) . Considered “Mother of the City,” Williams had two sons and even more husbands. (Founded 1888, incorporated 1892 (population approximately 300 people).

Women’s History Month is an essential acknowledgement that corrects an imbalance in how our national story has traditionally been told. For generations, the achievements of women—in science, politics, education, caregiving, civil rights, the arts, and industry—have been overlooked or minimized. Dedicating a month to women’s history ensures their contributions are recognized as central, not peripheral, to the American story.

We cannot change the future (for the better) without understanding our past. Women’s History Month encourages a more accurate and inclusive understanding of democracy itself—one that acknowledges both progress made and work still to be done in building a fair and equitable society.

To that end, The Museum of Motherhood (MoM) maintains a robust calendar of exhibitions, public programs, conferences, and partnerships that continues to deepen our role as a vibrant, community-centered, educational and cultural institution. Together we explore m/otherhood as a social, cultural & artistic force. Learn more at MOMmuseum.org.

FILM FESTIVAL ROCKS EQUITY IN SARASOTA AND STREAMING

FILM FESTIVAL SARASOTA: March 5 – 10 with a Spotlight on Diverse Voices: ​Reel Equals International Film Festival Shines in Sarasota in a community collaboration with the Museum of Motherhood and the internationally recognized educational & arts conference with two decades of impact. In person and streaming: ThroughWomensEyes.org.

TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL ACADEMIC & ARTS CONFERENCE MoM & USF

March 27-29The Annual International Academic and Arts MoM Conference 2026 in partnership at USF, St Pete features panels and presentations focused on reproductive identities, maternal experiences, and the intersections of motherhood with art, policy, healthcare, education, and social justice. Offered both in person and online, the conference is designed to be academically rigorous while remaining accessible to students, professionals, and community members alike. Open to the community with advance registration: JourMS.org

NEW ART EXHIBIT COMING. SAVE THE DATE

NEW EXHIBIT: Mapping Resilience- Stories of Young Motherhood

When: April 6 – 26, 2026 

Where: Gallery at the Museum of Motherhood 2606 Fairfield Ave S in The Factory Building 7 St Pete

Official Opening Reception April 10^th 7-9:30PM (Stakeholder Day): Please join us at MoM with Healthy Start. This lovely mix and mingle will feature stories (and results from the researchers and the mothers themselves), with refreshments, presentations and conversation. This will be followed by Second Saturday Art Walk April 11 5-9PM on April 11th.

Objective Young moms in Hillsborough County were asked to draw journey maps and accompany them with photos (photovoice) to share their story and participate in a novel method that prioritized uninterrupted narratives/storytelling.

How: The exhibit includes the hand-drawn journey maps from ten moms and their accompanied photos, as well as an interactive audio portion where participants can scan QR codes and listen to some portions of their story. 

Activities include: A table with “letters and advice for young moms” allowing visitors to write letters to young moms, which can then be distributed by Healthy Start/Healthy Families home visitors.

Curated by Mahir Rahman, NASM-CPT, AFAA-CGFI Graduate Student, Applied Anthropology University of South Florida Website

SUBMISSIONS FOR A ZINE AS PART OF MOM CONFERENCE

SHOUT OUT~!

Our friends at Sunday Assembly be eatin’ nearby on March 14th in Gulfport during the day. Second Saturday Art Walk in the evening at MoM and beyond.

When I was a little girl, adults sometimes dismissed my voice. When I was a young woman I was told to ‘be nice’ and ‘smile’. Oftentimes other people in positions of power tried to convince me what I was experiencing was not real– even though I knew it was.

Now, more than ever before, I remind my friends, children and family that speaking up and out, and that speaking truth (from my experience) is as important as listening to other people’s perspective. Whatever the case, it is never acceptable to promote people, parents, politicians, or posses whose aim is to suppress. oppress or make invisible another human or segment of the population either through force, finances or purposeful distortion of factual evidence.

M. Joy Rose 03/12/26

Refusing to Disappear/ Refusing to be Disappeared

Its Black History Month! Even though the ‘Black History Matters’ mural was removed by state crews on August 29, 2025 and the on year ago that the Smithsonian Institute was mandated to review and change exhibits deemed to be promoting “divisive, race-centered ideology” by the current political administration.

Facts are not ideology. Black history is real. The only people who can tell the story of the families, experiences, histories and realities of Black Americans are the ones whose lives were impacted. We are fortunate in St Petersburg, FL that Carter G. Woodson African American Museum is on mark for big plans for future development and we are encouraged and lifted by their successes. Carter Woodson championed Black History month because of his singular devotion to “Negro Life and Culture,” and the formation of an organization whose goal was to make Black history accessible to an audience beyond college campuses and academic texts. His passion resulted in the formation of  Negro History Week in 1926, which eventually came be what we now know as ‘Black History Month‘.

ORDER TICKETS NOW: Through Women’s Eyes – Film Festival

This spring, MoM will be visible in partnership with REEL EQUALS International Film Festival Spotlight on Diverse Voices: ​Reel Equals International Film Festival Shines in Sarasota: ThroughWomensEyes.org

2026 REEL EQUALS: Through Women’s Eyes International Film Festival

REEL EQUALS 27th Annual Festival In-theater screenings, Sarasota, Florida March 6-8 Virtual screenings March 5-10 Featuring 25 films from 11 countries!

March 5 – 10 (in person and streaming)

Buy tickets: HERE

Opening Night Celebration, Friday, March 6 th

College of Art + Design auditorium.

Reel Equals 2026 festival themes include:

An entertaining opening night film that uses comedy to address a universal topic, human anxiety, opening a door to a mental health issue everyone knows about.

The need for diverse stories; female filmmakers from 12 countries reveal topics ranging from stand-up comedy to elephants in India, motherhood to the war in Ukraine. We examine how media portrayals shape beliefs and opportunities; films reflect and reveal how influential media is on creating the ways we talk, think, and act and underscore the need for diverse voices in visual media. Changemakers; narratives that challenge stereotypes and elevate inspiring lives are central to the festival.

Feb/March Press Release

MoM will be at Localtopia this Saturday, Feb 14, 2026. Our location at The Factory will be closed during the day and reopening 5-9PM For Second Saturday Art Walk – Karaoke is for lovers. Come sing with us!

Download our most recent Press Release

Press Release

HOLD THE DATE– MoM Conference 2026 is coming March 27-29th

EVERYONE MUST PRE-REGISTER –SPONSOR A STUDENT/ARTIST 

Donations optional but you must let us know you’re attending!

Your PAID registration free includes breakfast & lunch Friday and Saturday, light snacks in the afternoon, and access to all panels, workshop, and the keynote address. Those registering with no payment are welcome to attend and BYO..

QUESTIONS? CALL US and LV a MESSAGE – We’ll CYB: 877-711-MOMS (6667)

2026 Scheduled Dates: 

• January 14th Board Meeting and Kick-off for 2026 New Year Goals & Implementation
• January 20th Implementation of 6 month strategy
• February 14th Localtopia
• March – Women’s History Month
• April – Q2 Board Meeting
• March 26 Leadership workshop with dinner for all team
• March 27-29 MoM Conference 
• May 3 is MaMaPaLooZa
• June 2nd Board Building Party – Barbara & Mary B-Day
• July – Pride & Q3 Board Meeting – vote in new members
• August – Hang on in The Factory to continue the good work
• September – Mini-Conference Maternal Mental Health

MoM Membership Cooperative

We are delighted to invite you to become part of something special at the Museum of Motherhood—our Cooperative Membership Store & Shared Creative Space.

This is more than a retail visibility opportunity. It’s a living, breathing community where artists, educators, healers, organizers, and makers gather to share their talents, connect with the public, and support one another in a values-driven, cooperative environment.

Welcome to MoM’s Cooperative Space

Bring your art, expertise, objects, ideas, and meetings into a shared home where creativity and care are centered. By joining, you’ll collaborate in a vibrant real-world space while engaging with MoM’s audiences during events like Second Saturday Art Walk, Sunday Assembly, and MaMaPaLooZa Festival—as your schedule allows as well as during weekly hours.

What Participation Looks Like

• Join MoM with a $30 annual membership
• Sign up for 3-hour (short) or 6-hour (long) shifts—or more—during a 40-hour week
  (See Events & Calendar at MOMmuseum.org)
• Greet visitors warmly and direct them to MoM’s signup portal
• Share and sell your work, services, or expertise
  You keep 100% of your sales
• If selling work by others, simply direct buyers to the item’s QR payment code and log the sale in the receipt book

What MoM Provides

• One six-foot table, chairs, easels, and working space
• Storage under tables (bring a labeled tote if you’d like to leave items onsite)
• The option to leave onsite:
  • An 8 × 10 display with QR code
  • A notebook or portfolio of your work
  • Up to ¼ of a six-foot table of objects and one easel when you’re not present
    (Tables are shared among four cooperators)
• Promotion of you and your work through MoM social media using graphics and info you provide

Why This Matters

By managing the space while you’re in it, you help keep MoM accessible, welcoming, and alive—while gaining visibility, community, and a meaningful place to share what you do best. If you believe in collaboration over competition, community over isolation, and creativity rooted in care—we would love to welcome you.

Welcome to MoM’s Cooperative Space. Please bring your art, talents, objects, and meetings. By agreeing to join this initiative you can expect:

Collaborate on a shared real estate for exhibiting and meeting clients and be part of our general audience on Second Saturday Art Walk, Sunday Assembly, MaMaPaLooZa Festival as per your availability with your great talents in exchange for a basic level MoM membership and an agreement to manage the space while you are in it.

How To Participate

Fill out online form online to participate in the Cooperative Membership Store [Click Link Left]

Contact Jamika Rollins regarding your participation: Scheduling@MOMmusem.org

877-711-MOMS (6667) (Lv a message and we will call/text you back)

2606 Fairfield Ave S St Petersburg FL Building 7

DOWNLOAD AGREEMENT PDF

MoM Needs Volunteers and Docents

The Museum of Motherhood is more than a museum, it’s a gathering space, a conversation starter, and a love letter to motherhood in all its forms. We’re looking for a friendly, curious, people-loving human to help welcome our community into the space.

Volunteerism is the heartbeat of the Museum of Motherhood. Our work is powered by people who give their time, skills, care, and creativity to help preserve stories, spark dialogue, and build a more humane future for families. From greeting visitors and supporting events to research, archiving, and advocacy, volunteers make it possible for MoM to keep its doors open, its programs vibrant, and its mission alive. Simply put: we keep going because our community shows up.

What you’ll do:

1. Greet visitors with warmth and make them feel at home the moment they arrive
2. Move through the museum, offering gentle, engaging introductions to exhibits and artworks
3. Spark curiosity, conversation, and connection throughout the space
4. Support our Mom Shop by sharing the stories behind our merchandise and assisting with sales
5. Invite visitors to deepen their relationship with the museum through memberships and events
6. Educate clients about available programs and assist with application processes when necessary
7. Maintain accurate records of client interactions and service provision in accordance with privacy policies

You might be perfect for this role if you:

• Love art, culture, storytelling, and community spaces
• Enjoy talking with people and making them feel seen and welcomed
• Are comfortable engaging visitors in a relaxed, authentic way
• Believe in honoring motherhood, caregiving, and lived experience as powerful cultural forces
• Bring positive energy and openness into shared spaces
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail for record keeping and coordination tasks

This is a role for someone who loves people, ideas, and meaningful work and wants to be part of a mission-driven, creative environment.

If you are interested in being part of our team but are not in a financial situation where you can volunteer, then we have some funds available for onsite docents in-space to greet people during our regular shifts.

 Volunteer (we’re grateful if you can) or $17/hour
 Flexible, community-centered work
 A chance to be part of something special

Job Type: Part-time.

Interested? We’d love to hear from you. CONTACT: Scheduling@MOMmuseum.org

You might not always feel like it, but the future is looking bright. “How so?” you might wonder? Well, the truth is that light is everywhere—even in the darkness. Now that the season of light is upon us, we are pleased to welcome new initiatives, new interns, new solvency strategies, and the same ole sense of love and compassion that MoM musters in every circumstance.

At the Museum of Motherhood, we do not measure brightness by ease or comfort. We measure it by resilience, by care, and by the quiet, radical persistence of families who keep showing up for one another—even when systems fall short. And there are real reasons to believe the future of health, wellness, and education for families in America is bending toward something more humane.

Across the country, we are seeing renewed attention to maternal mental health, long overlooked and underfunded, now finally entering public conversation, clinical practice, and community-based solutions. Peer support models, trauma-informed care, and culturally responsive services are gaining traction—not because they are trendy, but because families have demanded better. Knowledge is catching up to lived experience.

In education, learning is expanding beyond classrooms and credentials. Intergenerational education, museum-based learning, and community storytelling are increasingly recognized as legitimate, powerful ways people grow and heal. Families are reclaiming learning as something that happens through curiosity, creativity, and connection—not just compliance. Museums like MoM are uniquely positioned to hold this work: part classroom, part commons, part sanctuary.

Health and wellness, too, are being redefined. More families are questioning productivity-at-all-costs culture and returning to basics: rest, touch, creativity, food, movement, and meaning. Caregiving—once invisible—is becoming a subject of research, advocacy, and art. While this shift is far from complete, the cracks in the old model are letting light in.

At MoM, we see hope in the next generation. Our interns arrive not just with skills, but with clarity: they understand that care is infrastructure, that history shapes health, and that equity is not optional. They are asking better questions—and insisting on better answers.

We also see hope in sustainability: in new funding models, shared resources, and collaborative strategies that allow cultural institutions to survive without abandoning their values. Solvency, when grounded in ethics, becomes a form of care itself—ensuring that spaces for truth, tenderness, and transformation remain open.

The future will not be bright because it is easy. It will be bright because people continue to choose love, compassion, and responsibility for one another—especially in hard times. That is the work of m/otherhood. That is the work of this museum. And that is the light we are committed to tending, together.

YEAR END FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE

As our team celebrates the season of gratitude – I am thankful for a great year, awesome accomplishments, & for you!

MoM reaches people where they live, work and play through our family-friendly exhibits and education. We are Tampa Bay’s first and only women’s museum, devoted to the art, science and herstory of American women, mothers and families.

If you haven’t visited us yet, please do. We are virtual and in real time offering tours, exhibits, conversations, education, friendship, community, cultural connections and more since 2003~!

Martha JOY Rose, Founding Director

2025 MoM HIGHLIGHTS

• Welcomed new board members: Amy Collins, Libby Hopkins, Meagan Welch, Regan Moss, and Tracie Williams to the MoM Executive Board.
• Expanded our program team to include Jamika Rollins, Karimah Henry, Rachael Somerman, Dre Marie, LouAnne Hardtke, Amanda Bartles, Darlene Ceron, Lizzie Zacharis, and Susie Beltran.
• Offered weekly free lactation consultations with Baby Café for breastfeeding support, advice, tools and conversation.
• Partnered with Tampa Bay Period Pantry and Mutual Aid Choices Pantry to make products available to those seeking information, education, and free accessible items related to periods, birth control, and women’s health.
• Produced Black Maternal Health mini-conference, addressing Black maternal health disparities and bringing together over 60 providers, birth workers, and funders to rally around community-led solutions.
• Rocked out at Mamapalooza Family Festival with over 500 attendees and performances by local woman-founded and woman fronted bands.
• Convened over 70 academics, artist, and students at the 20^th Anniversary Academic & Arts Conference, hosted at USF St. Pete.
• Implemented two photography and sculptural exhibits by local artists and welcomed two international artists, Julienne Doko and Raisa Nosova, for performances and mural works. (Huge gratitude to both amazing women) as well as student exhibits about ‘Caring St Pete’.
• Secured over $50,000 in NEW grant funding through Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, Foundation for Healthy St. Pete, and the City of St. Pete.
• See more about our programs via our updated online calendar.

MoM is celebrating a highly successful 2025, and we are on track to reach an annual fundraising goal of $100,000. This fundraising goal not only supports the ongoing work of MoM but makes it possible for our team to secure a permanent home in Tampa Bay and bring on paid staff members to expand our footprint as the one and only international destination museum devoted to the art, science, and history of women, m/others & families.

I hope you will consider making a tax-deductible year-end gift. 100% of your gift supports the longevity of the first and only museum of motherhood in the world. Our year-end giving campaign builds on all the success of 2025, see our donations and progress in real-time here.

WAYS TO SUPPORT MoM

Make a tax-deductible donation online, via check, Donor Advised Fund, or wire transfer

Mailing Address: MoM Art Annex, 538 28th St. N. St. Petersburg, Florida 33713

Make checks payable to “Museum of Motherhood”

Email mary@mommuseum.org for DAF and wire transfer details

Forward this email to a family member or friend to make a donation to MoM

Pledge a corporate sponsorship for one of MoM’s events

Renew your membership to MoM

Secure an employer matching gift when donating to MoM

Host a fundraiser to benefit MoM

WELCOME Zixin Shang (Cassie)

This project focuses on the intersection of reproductive technology and cross-cultural perspectives, exploring how artificial intelligence is reshaping future experiences of “procreation” and “motherhood.”

As an artist and curator from East Asia now living in the United States, I aim to reflect on the different understandings of the female body and reproduction in Eastern and Western societies .And I will consider whether the intervention of AI technology may shift these cultural differences.

Through collaborations with artists of diverse nationalities, I will explore how humanity’s understanding of “motherhood” and “identity” evolves artistically when technology intervenes in the creation of life and the construction of identity. These artworks will employ varied materials and techniques to depict artists’ visions of future reproduction, presenting abstract perspectives on the possibilities of human evolution. They will amplify the reproductive relationship between motherhood and living organisms for the audience.

This project aims to connect individual memories with global shifts, inviting audiences to reconsider: In an era of rapid globalization and artificial intelligence advancement, are the identity and meaning of motherhood also undergoing transformation? How do people confront the long- standing biological relationships of life being overturned amidst the relentless march of evolutionary progress?

This year’s conference Reproductive Identities & Resistance: Mothers and Others in Culture, Community & Collaboration March 27, 28 (in-person) & 29 (online), 2026 is hosted in partnership with The University of South Florida, St Pete. Submissions Deadline Extended to 12/7/25 for papers, projects, art and research. Students welcome to submit! Submit at JourMS.org

Deadline for Submissions Extended to Dec. 7th 2025

This year, we are pleased to welcome Dr. Aurelie Athan as our keynote speaker. Dr. Aurelie Athan is a clinical psychologist and faculty member at Teacher’s College, Columbia University. This year’s conference theme is grounded in her concept of reproductive identity as a lifelong meaning. Learn more about Dr. Aurelie Athan and her work here.

#GivingTuesday – YEAR END FUNDRAISER

MoM exists because you keep us going through your great efforts, interest, volunteerism, donations and interest! Our annual fundraising goal is $82,000. We aim to reach 75% of this goal by December 31, 2025, and 100% of this goal by April 30, 2026. Please consider supporting MoM through a direct donation, or one of the following initiatives: Ongoing – MoM Membership Drive and click on the picture below or the link above to be part of this legacy production!

· Membership levels and purchase link: https://mommuseum.org/membership/ 

Conference Planning Committee- Gratitude and More

This Annual Academic Conference Committee meets weekly to plan and organize MoM’s Annual International Academic & Arts Conference. Committee members volunteer their time, skill set, and knowledge to create and disseminate the Call for Papers, organize presenter submissions into an event schedule which is unique each and every year, prioritize bringing in new keynote speakers relative to the event’s theme, write and secure grant funding to bring the event to fruition. We are so mighty! These amazing humans create opportunities for all and help increase the knowledge base of Mother Studies as a discipline. THANK YOU COMMITTEE MEMBERS for all your diligent labor! You are rock stars!

Meet the 2026 conference planning committee members!

Committee Chair: Brittany “Britt” DeNucci, MA (She/Her/Hers)

Committee Member: Meagan Welch, MEd, PhD (ABD) (She/Her/Hers). Editor ; Journal of Mother Studies (JourMS), 2025

Committee Member: Courtney Kessler, MFA, PhD Candidate (She/Her/Hers)

Committee Member: Shamella “Mel” Joy (She/Her/Hers)

Committee Member: Elizabeth Charles, MFA (She/Her/Hers)

Committee Member: Hannah Brockbank, PhD, MSc Econ (She/Her/Hers)

Committee Member: Sonia Meerai, MSW, RSW, PhD Candidate (She/Her/Elle)

Committee Member: Jill M. Wood, PhD (She/Her/Hers)

Committee Member: Regan Moss, Doctoral Student at Tulane University University & Fellow with the Newcomb Institute & Predoctoral Fellow with the Khora Lab (She/Her/Hers)

Committee Member: Batya Weinbaum, PhD (She/Her/Hers)

Welcome Team Members

We are so pleased to welcome Lizzie and Darlene to our team! Their areas of expertise are vast and they are bringing all their best-skilled talents to MoM. Come meet them weekends at the Museum of Motherhood.

MoM Shop Open Through December

For Your Ongoing Interest

This exhibit wishes to gratefully acknowledge The Factory LLC organization for the use of wall space in Building 7 to explore archived photos from her personal collection. Exploring the compelling idea of a ‘Mess House’ is a somewhat universal theme. As humans we seek to create order (oftentimes ineffectually), confront our wildness and occasionally find acceptance and peace within the chaos of daily life and family. Through December, 2025.

Add Your Voice Here!

Join this student project by helping us to push back on ‘Bad Mother Myths’! We can’t wait to hear from you.

This Week’s Events at MoM are Here

There are always amazing things going on at the Museum of Motherhood. Come visit us today!

The notion of a “messy home” might conjure up images of toys strewn across the living room, dishes piling up in the sink, or laundry spilling out of baskets especially at times of duress. But the reality of mess is deeply tied to the internal worlds of families, to stress, identity, and even to the cultural divides that shape our society. At the Museum of Motherhood, exploring the messy intersections of parenting, culture, and mental health can be a powerful lens into what family life really feels like.

Mess Isn’t Just Physical — It’s Psychological, Social and Cultural

Evidence that women experience chronic stress not because the home is messy, but because society holds them responsible for preventing mess is a recognized truth.

Personal values — about lifestyle, morality, and behavior — can become battlegrounds for the debate about parenting styles and what constitutes a “good home”. This can be tricky territory. These debates can reflect broader cultural divides: who is responsible for domestic labor, how children should be raised, and what order or rituals define a “proper” family.

In a sense, the cluttered living room isn’t just a mess — it’s a battleground of values. Who gets to decide what “clean” means? Whose routines are prioritized? And how do power and labor dynamics play out in the seemingly mundane fights over tidying up?

Who cleans, who organizes, and who nags about mess often isn’t neutral territory. There’s emotional labor involved in maintaining a home, and that labor frequently falls disproportionately on women. For some, the answer is to simplify. For others the answer may lie in leaving the mess for another day.

What’s most important is feeling loved, safe and protected. Does your environment do that for you and how much control do ‘we’ actually have? What are the implications when we free ourselves from the mess or conversely embrace the mess?

At its heart, the reality of mess is a story about family, vulnerability, and power. Clutter isn’t just junk — it’s emotional freight, a signal of how we live, what we value, and how we struggle to balance the competing demands of parenting, culture, and self. In exploring mess through a psychological and cultural lens, the Museum of Motherhood can invite deeper conversations: not about being “better” mothers, but about being more honest, more human, and more connected to the complexities of our lived lives.

About the Exhibit

Mess House: A New Photo Exhibition by Martha Joy Rose MA Mother Studies. This exhibit wishes to gratefully acknowledge The Factory LLC organization for the use of wall space in Building 7 to explore archived photos from her personal collection. Exploring the compelling idea of a ‘Mess House’ is a somewhat universal theme. As humans we seek to create order (oftentimes ineffectually), confront our wildness and occasionally find acceptance and peace within the chaos of daily life and family.

Batya Weinbaum received her doctorate in English at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She founded and edits the journal Femspec available at femspec.org.  She was an artist in residence at the Art Annex of the Museum of Motherhood in St. Pete FL where she installed a mural of a fertility goddess, and she volunteers for the Museum in the winter. She is the mother of one and stays in Gulfport, FL several months in the winter where she shows her art.

From the Chapter Mess House, by Batya Weinbaum- Demeter Press 2025

When are we feral, self-expressive, and untamed to the degree that we throw out the baby with the bathwater so to speak in our revolt against traditional concepts of femininity and motherhood represented in conventional markers and paradigms of domestication—the swept, mopped floor, the uncluttered shining feng shui of spaces, the organized linen cabinets, the bare countertops in the spotless kitchens?

Those born into female bodies get the most pressure from society to meet unrealistic expectations of physical beauty. These unrealistic expectations of their bodies are parallel to the unrealistic expectations women are encouraged to have about their domestic space.[1]

Flo Kennedy noted, in her essay on “Institutionalized Oppression of the Female,” that “Women are dirt searchers; their greatest worth…” being “eradicating rings on collars and tables” (442). In doing so, and maintaining organization, they are keeping wildness at bay. (1. According to Women and Naturism: The Naturist Living Show (Mar 17 2010)

How Do You Identify? Passion, Protest, Reproductive Identity, Mess & More? Submit Your Ideas, project, paper, art, proposal, research now thru 12/1/25. Don’t Be Afraid – Put Your Ideas Into the World w/MoM at USF.

Attend Our Workshops, Book the Escape Womb Experience, Tour MoM

More Submissions

Holiday Giving- Merchandise That Moves You As A Thank You For Your Donation at MoM! Memberships, Guest Artists, Tee Shirts, Books & More: Visit Us at The Factory, St Pete 2606 Fairfield Ave. S St Pete

Support the Mural – Aging Women All Around the World Starts in St Pete!