Bellarmine Forum

Imagining Equality: Women's Art and Activism

Bellarmine Forum 2010
October 24-30
Loyola Marymount University

Women artists have been imagining a world in which men and women have equal rights, equal social and political status, and equal freedom of movement and expression since the beginning of human culture.  They have done this with grace, humor, and brilliance--sometimes in difficult situations, in anonymity, to little effect, and sometimes with a great deal of notice and success.  Their combined efforts have changed the world, and continue to do so. 

The 2010 Bellarmine Forum, the first to focus on women, is a weeklong celebration of women artists/activists, a celebration of artistic visions that have inspired change.  Bringing together poets, painters, musicians, actors, performance artists, and scholars from Los Angeles and farther afield, the Forum will honor the accomplishments of women and promote discussions about equality, about the relationship between equality and the imagination, about the relationship between art and activisim.  Performances will share the stage with academic panels and art exhibits.

One of my goals as Chair is to involve as much of the University as possible, drawing in students, faculty, and staff, uniting the old and new campuses, inviting the involvement of colleges beyond Liberal Arts, and of course, encouraging the participation of both men and women.

Carolyn Forche, one of the nation's leading poets, will provide the keynote address.  Other committed participants include performance artist Jude Narita; writer Celeste Fremon; actor, director, and singer/songwriter Ellen Geer; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley; Sherry Jason, founder of Cityhearts; Argentinean painter Raquel Shoj; scholars Nkiru Nzegwu and Marcia Okeke-Agulu-Wok; members of the Guerrilla Girls; painter Ellina Kevorkian; performance art group the Khmer Girls; members of LMU's faculty including poet Alicia Partnoy, medieval scholar Stephen Shepherd; and more.