Spiritual Punk Motherhood

THE LOHASIAN

Reprinted from Julia Fenster

Last night I attended an opening night event for Mampalooza, an arts conference and festival celebrating motherhood. The room was filled with an array of supporters from members of the Association for Research on Mothering (part of York University in Toronto), to Alana Ruben Free who publishes the Mom Egg Literary Journal to entrepreneurs, musicians, artists and writers. And of course in their midst, floating across the room was the always outrageous, outspoken and punkishly glamorous Joy Rose, founder of Mamapalooza (who also writes the “Living Loud w/Joy Rose” column on The Lohasian).

The energy in the room was filled with the raw excitement of creativity as women readily exchanged business cards and discussed projects and business’ – in many ways a typical networking event. But what made this event unique, and the events that follow this weekend in NYC, is less the fact that these women happen to be mothers but that they are women who celebrate themselves as fully expressed individuals in light of the challenges of motherhood. For some motherhood is the very subject of exploration in their creative work. For others creativity is nurtured in, and manifested through, parts of oneself that are totally separate of their identity as a mother. The beauty of what Mamapalooza represents is that mothers are to be self defined instead of socially defined, and allows for each women to discover her own individual self – separate of social constructs. http://www.thelohasian.com/2008/05/spiritual-punk-motherhood-inside.html

Mamapalooza

May is Mother’s Month*Celebrate with MAMAPALOOZA!

Letter from the President

Every year I feel like saying, this has been the best year ever! Well it has.

With the successful registration of the Motherhood Foundation and Mamapalooza Festival Stages solidifying their place in local communities, partnerships and alliances with other Mom-minded organizations are on the rise.

Last year and this year sees us partnering with great feminist organizations like Women’s Media Center, ARM ~ Association for Research on Mothering and government organizations like Office For Women, Westchester, New York and Camden Parks, Educational Institutions like the campus of Irvine and Mom businesses like our community partnership at Hot Moms Club. Wow, that is beautiful work.

We are poised to face our next big challenge head on.

When we started putting a name and face on performance by women who were mothers six years ago, we invented a genre. The next challenge we face has to do with translating our numbers into a formula big business can recognize. We are many and we are mighty. Our mission must continue to empower women not only through performance, but through financial stability.

This does not mean compromising our creativity or our values, but it does mean taking stock and collectively counting our numbers, because the numbers do not lie.

Over 35 Print, Media and Radio Partners
Over 20 Partners in University, Parks Depts, Hospital and Women’s Organizations
Over 20 Festival Sponsors including the US Postal Service, Avon, Coppertone and Sam Ash Music
Over 50 Onsite Vendors & Craftswomen
Over 77 Other associations including The United Way, Tupperware, Office of Hispanic Affairs
Over 400 Artists, Musicians & Educators on….
Over 40 Stages, Theaters, Parks and Clubs throughout the month of May 2008

Moms Rock and so do YOU!
Thank you for helping to change the world one song, shout, yelp and hiccup at a time.
Remember, even when we’re overwhelmed, underpaid and completely unsure how to move forward, we HAVE CREATED SOMETHING GREAT, MEANINGFUL and CELEBRATORY TOGETHER.

All My Congratulations to All The Mamapalooza Mamas and our Friends, Fans and Family!
Good luck with all your shows and remember to love each other.
Joy Rose
www.mamapalooza.com

MAMAPALOOZA = FUN

Its been an amazing month. Early October took us to Boston with a MAMAPALOOZA Rocks Stage in Harvard Square. Rocktoberfest in Boston with witches, parades, Mom-Music and crowds of kids. HRT Band, Housewives On Prozac, Joy Adler and Lisa Martin were just a few of the bands to grace the stage and SING LOUD!

Mid-October I traveled to Great Falls Montana and played to a fabulous crowd of 900 at the ‘What Women Want’ Expo. HOP Band played to a full house and Saturday events took me on a personal speaking tour with ‘Live Loud – Becoming Women of Unlimited Self-Esteem’. We explored our love, loss and journies of discovery together.

Toronto was the next stop for the ARM Conference, led by Dr. Andrea O’Reilly, founder & director for Association for Research & Mothering. MAMAPALOOZA artists Alana Ruben Free, ‘Beginner At Life’ and Christin Clifford ‘BabyLove’ also performed moving presentations that explored their respective motherhood paths.

Last stop – Chicago, for the Marketing2Moms Conference with Disney, Motherwork, Hybrid Mom, Hot Moms, Moms Easy Chair, Cafe Moms, About.com and a host of others. Programs were intended to educate and inspire while attendees convened to network with head-buzzing speed.

IT WAS ALL A GRAND ADVENTURE! Everyday I had a chance to talk about how much I LOVE what I do! Extending opportunities to women who are artists, educators and performers ROCKS MY WORLD! Joy!