Bailey Contemporary Arts Presents THE LOAD WE CARRY

The opening reception takes place on Friday, July 1, 2022, during Old Town Untapped, from 6 pm-10 pm, and the exhibition runs through September 27, 2022. Megan Hildebrandt's artist talk will be July 1 at 5:30 pm and Amanda Schilling's artist talk will be August 17 at 7 pm. For more information, www.pompanobeacharts.org

"This exhibition celebrates motherhood and the mental load that parents carry trying to push a family forward. It's also an exposition of resilience and a look 'behind the scenes' that is rarely shared," said Phyllis Korab, Cultural Affairs Director. "In its honesty and rawness, these offerings reflect what many families live daily, and by creating a conversation, these dynamics are celebrated."

Photographer Amanda Schilling makes work about gender, identity, and the societal pressure on women to reach unattainable standards of perfection necessary to achieve the "American dream." In our makeover-obsessed, social-media-driven society where only our best selves are shared with the world, Schilling's work illuminates those things that we might otherwise try to hide. She debunks the myth of the perfect family where everyone is always smiling, children never misbehave, everything is always clean, and mothers easily master all tasks necessary to keep it that way. Her images can be at times both humorous and dark, but they're always honest.

"I spend several hours at a time with women and their families in their homes, places of business, and around their communities documenting their interactions with the goal of capturing real moments in the lives of real women," said Schilling. "None of the images are planned or staged. I simply strive to be a forgotten presence, spending enough time with the women and their families to be forgotten, or at least ignored, so that they can act as they would if no one was looking."

Visual artist Megan Hildebrandt's exhibition uses drawing and animation to examine her experience of motherhood, and it feels simultaneously enormous and intimate. The artist wants the viewer to understand their body as one that both gives care and receives care. Audiences of all ages and backgrounds will see their lives and their lived experiences reflected in this exhibition. She employs a variety of scales and techniques, from small, postcard-sized works to large-scale projects. The environment feels half like a living room, and half like a comic book.

"I am a cancer survivor and mother," said Hildebrandt. "These life events have significantly impacted my creative practice. Confronting my own mortality at age 25 and then experiencing the fragility and strength of birth, I have become obsessed with tracking time--documenting the small, routine moments of my and my children's lives."

Bailey Contemporary Arts Center is located at 41 NE 1st St., Pompano Beach, Florida

The exhibition is free and open to the public.

Tuesdays through Fridays: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm | Saturdays: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Sundays & Mondays: CLOSED

About Amanda Schilling

Amanda Schilling is a photographic artist living in South Florida whose work explores the ideas of domesticity and the roles women play within that realm. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University (2006) and her MFA in Photography from the University of Houston (2019) where she was also a Teaching Fellow and Holt-Wich Scholar. Schilling's work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the U.S. and abroad. She has been published in PINT Magazine (2021), Italian magazine iO Donna Corriere della Sera, (2020), and Los Angeles Contemporary Art Magazine Art & Cake (2019). Schilling's work is in the permanent collections of the University of Houston and Lamar University, Beaumont, TX, as well as in numerous private collections.

About Megan Hillebrandt

Megan Hildebrandt received her BFA from the Stamps School of Art & Design in 2006, and her MFA in Studio Art from the University of South Florida in 2012. Hildebrandt has exhibited widely, including: The Painting Center, New American Paintings, The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Museum of Contemporary Craft, Arlington Arts Center, Detroit Contemporary, Johns Hopkins Medical Center, the LIVESTRONG Foundation, Hyde Park Art Center, The Torpedo Factory, and The Painter's Room. Hildebrandt currently lives and works in Austin, Texas, where she is the Associate Chair and Director of the First-Year Core Program in the Department of Art and Art History at The University of Texas.

The mission of the Cultural Affairs Department is to provide cultural programming that includes visual arts, digital media, music, film, theater, dance and public art for the enjoyment and enrichment of residents and visitors to Pompano Beach, Broward County, and the greater South Florida area. The department programs and manages the City's premiere cultural arts venues including the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, Ali Cultural Arts Center, Bailey Contemporary Arts Center, and the Blanche Ely House Museum. The department also oversees the City's Public Art Program and the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts' Our Town grant awarded to the Pompano Beach Crossroads place-making arts initiative.

To post a comment, you must register and login.