At Rogue Gallery and Art Center in Medford, a sculpture is growing one donation at a time — built from pads, tampons and other hygiene products visitors bring in for a local domestic violence shelter.
The installation anchors this year's WomanKind Biennial, a Southern Oregon women artists' exhibition organized by Medford artist and curator Beca Blake. The show runs through Oct. 30 and continues Saturday with an artist panel moderated by the American Association of University Women.
Blake, who describes herself as an interdisciplinary, community-based artist and independent curator, said the biennial connects women artists with women-centric causes and public giving.
"The focus is on spotlighting these women artists and networking them with women-centric causes," she said. She calls that public engagement piece an "activation."
The first biennial was in 2024 at the Langford Art Gallery, in partnership with Community Works. Its strong response led Blake to build a charity component into this year's show.
A sculpture made of donations
The donation-based installation is new this year. Visitors add hygiene products directly to the piece as it grows over the course of the exhibition.
When the show closes, members of Women's Entrepreneurs of Southern Oregon will bring the donated items to a local domestic violence shelter, where they'll be added to welcome baskets for residents.
Blake credited the idea to Jody Fleming, branch manager at the Phoenix Public Library, who educates the public on period poverty and its impact on local shelters. Blake invited her into the exhibit.
The Talent Period Dignity Project, run through the Worthwhile Mercantile in Talent, is also taking part, offering visitors a way to give even if they don't bring a physical item.
"It's really about human dignity," Blake said.
A showcase for women's voices
Painter and mixed media artist Abby Lazerow's large-scale oil painting "The Conception: Annunciation" is part of this year's show. She said the piece reimagines the Annunciation paintings she saw while traveling in Italy.
Lazerow called the exhibit a showcase for women's voices across generations, at a time when the art world still hasn't caught up.
"Although women artists are more in the mainstream now nationally and internationally, there's still gender inequality in the art marketplace," she said. "So WomanKind really has a social purpose."
She also pointed to practical barriers for artists and galleries in the region — high rents, thin buyer pools, and zoning rules that shut down at least one promising art space on East Main Street.
"There were two very good fine art galleries here, but they both closed," she said. "Some of the reasons are the lack of buyers."
Events
- The WomanKind Biennial's next panel event is Saturday, Sept. 26, at Rogue Gallery and Art Center: an artist talk from 1 to 1:30 p.m., followed by a discussion from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
- More information on the exhibit and its featured artists is available on the WomanKind Biennial website, and details on the exhibition's designated charity can be found at Worthwhile Talent.
