The end is near ... the end is today :)

I am sad to announce that  'A long distance relationship' at the Attleboro Arts museum, ends today, at 5PM!!! It has been quite a well received exhibit, and it offers much appreciated information about the Boston Marathon and running in general.  I am honored to have been involved with such a wonderful show.

The invitation to participate introduced me to the world of women running and the amazing history of the Boston Marathon.  At the bottom of this post you will find a number of books that I read while preparing for this show, and which I found really interesting!

Thank you Mim Fawcett, the musuem director,  and the wonderful staff at the Attleboro Arts Museum for including my work in this provacative and inspiring show.

'she rns ...' organic embroidery, beads and wire (2016)

My third piece that I submitted for this exhibit is one of my organic embroidery pieces, called 'she runs ...'  Here's is my thoughts about this piece.

At this year's Golden Globe, Oprah Winfrey told how life-changing it was to watch Sidney Poitier accept the Oscar for best actor at the 36th Academy Award.  To see a black man celebrated on TV enlarged what this young black girl believed that she could accomplish in the world.   Many minorities speak of the importance of seeing themselves represented in successful and significant roles.  This was true for women's running.  As recent as the mid1960's, it was socially unaccepted for women to run. It was widely believed that it was dangerous for women to run, especially long distances; women didn't have the physical endurance, their uterus would be dislodged and fall out, running would prevent healthy pregnancies, women who ran would become unattractive, develop muscles and extensive body hair.
Men were making these assumptions and rules and many women believed them and repeated them.  In 1983 I was jogging in my hometown and I was flagged down by a neighbor, a younger woman whom I admired and who I believed was openminded about women's roles.  However she stopped me to warn me that running was dangerous, "women's organs are held up by spider webs and running can rip these webs."  I didn't stop jogging, however, her words haunted me.  My family was not athletic and I didn't know of many women athletes.
But fortunately there were many trailblazers in women running who were challegning these untruths;  Julia Chase who in 1961 at the age of 19 challenged the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU)'s ban on women from competing officially in all U.S. road races;  Arlene Pieper, who in 1959, became the first American woman to run the 26.2 mile distance, finishing the Pike’s Peak Marathon in 9:16; Roberta 'Bobbi' Gibb, the first women to run the Boston Marathon in 1966 and Kathrine Switzer who brought much attention to women's running in 1967 as the press witnessed and photographed Switzer being physically accosted by marathon officials because she was running with an official number. These are just a small number of women who courageously challenged societal norms and broke rules.  Because of these trailblazers any woman, young or old, fast or slow, competitive or not, can lace up their running shoes and run.

"I hadn't intended to make a feminist statement," said Gibb. "I was running against the distance [not the men] and I was measuring myself with my own potential." http://www.marathonguide.com/history/olympicmarathons/chapter25.cfm

I wanted to share some of the wonderful reads that I discovered while doing research for my pieces for #alongdistancerelationship exhibit at @theattleboroartsmuseum. I truly fell down the rabbit hole of research & loved every page!! I started reading about the Boston Marathon & then moved to women running! If I was asked to recommend one I would say ‘the long run’ by Catriona Menzies-Pike, but all of these were informative & enjoyable. #bookrecommendations#bostonmarathon #researchjunkie #rabbithole#womenrunning #womenwhorun #kvswitzer#catrionamenziespike #thelongeun #ambyburfoot#billrodgers #rebekahgregory #survivor#bobbigibb #goodreads #ilovelibraries #

thank you & peace,

virginia

'for the love of ...' thank you Bobbi Gibb

Me and Christina Zwart who's piece, 'Fearless'
is a show stopper.  See photo below of Zwart
installing the piece. 

One of the biggest crowds to ever attend an opening reception at the museum, about 175-200, according to Director Mim Fawcett, did so Tuesday evening to check out Fawcett’s latest brainchild, “A Long Distance Relationship: The 26.2-Mile Journey. ”http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/runners-high-attleboro-arts-museum-features-marathon-themed-art/article_4f7ea9b0-6155-5137-9804-0bd2055e4ac8.html

 The opening for 'A Long-Distance Relationship' was a success as noted in the Sun Chronicle's article, and I will concur.  The high spirits and festive energy of the evening were appropriate for the exhibition celebrating the many aspects of the Boston Marathon.  At the bottom of this post you can find the links to the numerous articles and reviews, as well as an excerpt from the Artscope article in which J. Fatima Martins talks about the different pieces from the exhibit in thematic duets.


It was an honor to see my newest sculpture, 'for the love of ...' (created for this exhibition) greeting all museum visitors at the entrance of the exhibit.  It was even a greater thrill to witness museum visitors reading my statement about the piece.

After doing much research about the marathon and particularly women in the Boston Marathon, I was greatly moved by Bobbi Gibb, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon is 1966.  Besides the fact that she was a trailblazer and ran the marathon even though her application had been denied because 'women cannot run the distance of a marathon', it was her love of running and her passion for life that really captured my interest.  Here is the longer version of my artist statement about 'for the love of ...'

‘for the love of …’ was inspired by the spirit and courage of Roberta ‘Bobbi' Gibb; lawyer, neuroscientist, artist, single mother and the first woman to run the Boston Marathon in 1966.  Not only has Bobbi Gibb been a trailblazer for women’s running and women’s rights but she has a love for life and a passion for life that needs to be celebrated. 
"I have always had a vision of a world where men and women can share all of life together in mutual respect, love and admiration; a world where we find health through exercise and through the appreciation of the spirit and beauty of the world and of each other; a world based on love and individual integrity, where we all have a chance to do what we most passionately love, to help others, and to become all we can become."http://runningpast.com/gibb_story.htm
Since Bobbi entered this world, in the elevator of the hospital, she has been on the move.  As a girl, she loved to move and to run, however, in the 1950's and 1960’s the expectations for women were to get married and start a family. As Bobbi approached adolescence, she saw her girlfriends stop running and playing:
“As soon as you became an adolescent, everything changed,” Gibb told Women in the World. “You started to become a woman and suddenly there were all these incredible constraints. I could see coming down the line that I was going to have to live in a box as a woman—literally, locked up in the house. We were expected to be housewives, and that’s all … We weren’t expected to have minds, and we weren’t expected to have bodies that ran.”“[Running] was sort of a spiritual thing, and I could get away from society and its rigid ideals,” she said. “It had nothing to do with sports. I knew nothing about the sporting world. I never stopped running when normal girls would stop running and settle down. I never became a normal girl.”https://womenintheworld.com/2015/04/20/the-incredible-story-of-bobbi-gibb-the-first-woman-to-run-the-boston-marathon/
In 1964 Bobbi’s father took her to see the Boston Marathon for the first time.  As a spectator, she felt a kinship with the runners.  She didn’t notice that it was only men running, what she saw were others who understood her love for running. Witnessing the marathon was a spiritual experience for Bobbi, one that she wanted to participate in. 
“I knew these people felt the same way I felt when I ran. I was reconnecting with some ancient potential almost lost in modern society, some deeply moving fundamental core of what it means to be human. And I felt that they were too--that we shared this bond.” Bobbi recalls.  Interview with Bobbi Gibb April 2011; http://www.billrodgersrunningcenter.com/inwibogi.html
After watching the marathon, Bobbi began to train and to test the distances that she could run.  One time she was running on the beach in Southern California and ended up running into Mexico.  She had no ID and her appearance caused some alarm among the border guards, they did not believe that this woman was just out for a run.  Fortunately, the confusion was soon resolved and Bobbi returned to North of the border.  Needless to say, Bobbi knew that she could run distances and at the beginning of 1966 she sent in her application for the Boston Marathon.  What she received in response to her application was a rejection, telling her that women were not physically capable of running marathon distances, that under the rules that governed amateur sports set out by the AAU, women were not allowed to run more than a mile and a half competitively. 
To Gibb, her rejection emphasized the ridiculousness of the situation,
"It was a catch 22; how can you prove you can do something if you’re not allowed to do it? If women could do this that was thought impossible, what else could women do? What else can people do that is thought impossible?” http://runningpast.com/gibb_story.htm
So even though her application was rejected, nevertheless, she persisted,  Bobbi decided to run the Boston Marathon. On marathon day, while waiting to run Bobbi hid in some forsythia bushes near the starting line because she was afraid of how people would respond if they discovered that she was a woman, fearful that she would be physically removed and/or arrested.  In 1966 many thought it was life-threatening for a woman to run anything longer than 1.5 miles, it was believed that a woman’s uterus would fall out harming a woman’s reproductive capabilities which were thought to be the main raison d'être for women, it was not proper for a woman to be seen exerting herself, it was not lady-like for women to sweat.  Bobbi knew that she would be threatening many societal norms for women.  But she felt like it was time to challenge these beliefs.  Also, Bobbi loved running and wanted everyone, men and women, to be able to experience the nirvana that she experiences when she runs, 
"It (running) came naturally to me. When I ran, all the stresses of the day disappeared. I felt like myself, like a bird flying, free and happy. I felt close to something spiritual, close to the mystery of being, you might say. I felt connected with the creative power of life. I feel most alive when I run. I feel the energy of the whole universe pouring through me and I feel grateful to be alive here on this planet in this world.” Interview with Bobbi Gibb April 2011; http://www.billrodgersrunningcenter.com/inwibogi.html
Bobbi ran and won the ‘unsanctioned’ women’s division of the Boston Marathon in 1966, 1967 and 1968.  After 1968 her energies and interest turned to her studies.  She applied to medical school and was denied because of her gender, but she wasn’t deterred she went to Law school.  Bobbi Gibb is a champion of women’s rights, her action on April 19, 1966, added fuel to the Women’s movement of the time which was challenging many of the restrictive beliefs that held women back from contributing to the world and discovering their authentic selves. Bobbi knew that she was making a political and social statement when she jumped into the marathon, and as much as she was happy to shatter many of the prejudices against women, she ran because she loved to run, she wanted to be part of this primitive fundamental experience of running en masse and she wanted to share this experience with women, half of the population.  
Thank you, Bobbi. 
from the official Boston Athletic Association’s website:    Pioneer Era of Women’s Participation 1. Roberta (Bobbi) Gibb (MA) 3:21:40http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/boston-marathon-history/race-summaries/1966-1970.aspx

THEMATIC DUETS: 

2. Abby Rovaldi’s “My 26.2 Miles,” composed of 20 etchings, and “Virginia Fitzgerald’s” rock tied ribbon dress installation, “Torqued and Tethered,” offer a conversation about struggle and endurance. To create the 20 dark etchings that depict her personal 26.2-mile marathon journey, Rovaldi attached a 5” x 9” zinc plate to the bottom of each of her shoes and walked 2.62 miles to create the aggressive lines necessary for printing. Fitzgerald’s beautiful cream colored ribbon dress in held to the floor with over two dozen found rocks of various sizes and weights arranged into a circle. This piece offers a puzzling shamanistic energy; it’s remarkably graceful and buoyant and yet contains a vexed tonality communicating a women’s struggle to break free from what’s holding her in place — she is twisting upward while fixed in place.
https://artscopemagazine.com/2018/04/thematic-duets-in-a-long-distance-relationship-the-26-2-mile-journey-at-attleboro-arts-museum/

In the News

NBC WJAR-TV previews the Attleboro Arts Museum’s “A “Long-Distance Relationship: The 26.2 Mile Journey”  – http://turnto10.com/news/local/attleboro-arts-museum-opens-boston-marathon-exhibit

The Sun Chronicle previews the exhibition in the “GO” section: http://www.thesunchronicle.com/features/stories/attleboro-arts-museum-goes-the-distance-with-exhibition-on-marathon/article_60056499-5dbf-547a-9924-fbf8ea62d254.html

MassLive Media: http://www.masslive.com/expo/erry-2018/04/4ec11ed2365466/see_artworks_from_attleboro_ar.html#incart_m-rpt-2

The Sun Chronicle coverage of exhibition opening reception: http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/runners-high-attleboro-arts-museum-features-marathon-themed-art/article_4f7ea9b0-6155-5137-9804-0bd2055e4ac8.html

Artscope Magazine review: https://artscopemagazine.com/2018/04/thematic-duets-in-a-long-distance-relationship-the-26-2-mile-journey-at-attleboro-arts-museum/

Boston.com: https://www.boston.com/news/boston-marathon/2018/04/13/boston-marathon-bombing-anniversary

Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/boston-strong-city-honors-victims-and-survivors-5th-anniversary-boston-885609

Providence Journal review: http://www.providencejournal.com/entertainmentlife/20180414/attleboro-arts-museum-exhibit-examines-art-of-marathon

a week full of art, poetry and midcentury treasures

from the studio of virginia fitzgerald     Share Tweet Forward Share Pin MARK your CALENDARS ... Tuesday, April 10th, 7-9pm.  Opening Reception for 'A Long Distance Relationship' at the Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro Arts Museum, 86 Park St., Attleboro, MA 02703, 508.222.2644 This event will include a recognition ceremony that honors each exhibiting artist and exhibition partners. Free and open to all. www.attleboroartsmuseum.org Wednesday, April 11th: CLOSING RECEPTION of "100 Extra Days"  6-8 PM The Carney Gallery - Regis College 235 Wellesley Street, Weston, MA 02493 MORSE LIBRARY POETRY SLAM Poetry SLAM! 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM @ TCAN Slam is held at The Center for Arts, 14 Summer St., Natick, MA 01760 Experience the power of words in this multigenerational SLAM for beginners and seasoned performers where only the audience gets slammed.  Led by the dynamic Geof Hewitt at the historic  The Center for Arts in Natick the evening starts with participants of the Dr. Seuss group (those ages up to 15), then moves onto the Dickinson performers, ages 15 and up.  Prizes awarded to the top performer in each group  Free to the general public www.natickarts.org Thursday, April 12th, 6- 8 PM. 1st RENEW Pop-up Trunk Show  Contemporary Art, Mid-Century Antiques, Sustainable Fashion and Craft Brews together at Fountain Street! @ Fountain Street Gallery 460C Harrison Avenue, Suite 2 Boston, Massachusetts 02118 www.fsfaboston.com Taste Springdale by Jacks Abby‘s newest innovative barrel-aged ales and sour beers. www.springdalebeer.com For more info. check out the links above or send me an email: va.fitzgerald (at) comcast.net look forward to seeing you soon! peace, Virginia www.virginiafitzgerald.com Copyright © 2018 Virginia Fitzgerald, All rights reserved. Your are getting this email because you have shown an interest in the art of Virginia Fitzgerald, her 'dressproject ...' & her creative endeavors. Our mailing address is: Virginia Fitzgerald 25 Washington Ave. the Winchell Building Natick, Ma  01702 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

'torqued & tethered . . . .' and a long distance relationship

'torqued & tethered . . . ' (2013) ribbons, chicken wire and rocks.

One of the pieces that I am exhibiting in Attleboro Arts Museum next exhibit, 'A long Distance  elationship' is 'torqued & tethered ...' and so I thought it was an appropriate time to share her story

I wanted to show this piece in this exhibit about the Boston Marathon because it reflects the story and experiences of women runners up until quite recently. In 1966 "for a grown woman to run in public was quite outside the social norm.” 1.

1.Interview with Bobbi Gibb April 2011; www.billrodgersrunningcenter.com/inwibogi.html
When Bobbi Gibb jumped out of the bushes to join the 500 men runners during the 1966 Boston Marathon, many thought it was life threatening for a woman to run anything longer than 1.5 miles. Bobbi hid in the bushes because she was afraid of how people would respond if they discovered that she was a woman, fearful that she would be physically removed and/or arrested.


'torqued & tethered ...' speaks to the limitations, expectations and restrictions placed on women which can stunt a woman's growth;  physically, mentally and spiritually, impeding them from reaching their full potential. This was true with women's running, especially long distance running, until trailblazers like Bobbi Gibbs, Sara Mae Berman, Kathrine Switzer and many more.



'torqued & tethered . . .' is the first of my dress sculpture where I played with the scale and shape of the dress. For this piece the bodice is stunted, emaciated, twisted and tortured. The sculpture hangs by only one of the shoulder straps, the other strap sags, defeated, exhausted. The way the bodice hangs the viewer can see in, under and through her; all is exposed. Being white, there is the suggestion of seeing bone.

'torqued & tethered . . . ' at "forever & after"
at the SSAC

The skirt of the dress is created by ribbons that hang from the bottom of the bodice. These ribbons strain against the rocks which have hold the ribbons to the floor; grounding her, repressing her, when all she really wants to do is to fly, to be free.

'torqued & tethered . . .' behind 'metamorphosis . . . '

This sculpture speaks to the omnipresent and destructive messages directed at young
girls/women, from the media (TV, movie, advertisements, ...), society, many religions and possibly family. The dress is white to implying the many cultural traditions where a girl or woman wears a white dress that represents purity, goodness, respectability and virtue. Usually a white dress is worn for baptisms, first communions, confirmations, debutante cotillions, some graduations and, and of course, a white dress is worn in a traditional wedding.

Lady Forrest 1876, Victorian style dress

'torqued and tethered . . . ', for me, represents an innocent young spirit/girl who has been pinned down by rules, expectations, dogma and traditions and who has twisted and tortured herself trying to free herself and just be who is authentically is; she just wants to soar!!!








Exhibition: April 10th – May 5th, 2018
Opening Reception: Tuesday, April 10th, 7-9pm. This event will include a recognition ceremony that honors each exhibiting artist and exhibition partners. Free and open to all.
Reservations are requested, but not required, by Friday, April 6th. 

Telephone: 508-222-2644 x10 or email office@attleboroartsmuseum.org 

thank you for your interest and peace,

va