Photo Exhibit Explores Motherhood

"Beggars and Choosers," an exhibition of 56 images of mothers and children by leading documentary photographers, is on display at the Godwin-Ternbach Museum at Queens College through Sept. 27.

Curated by award-winning historian Rickie Solinger, the show comes to Queens College after stops at other major academic institutions, such as Duke University, Brown University, Texas A&M and state universities in California, Colorado, Ohio and Mississippi.

Jerry Berndt’s photography Vermont Gurdwara is among 56 prints in “Beggars and Choosers.”

Depicting mothers and children on the margins of society, the exhibition features works by such renowned American photographers as Susan Meiselas, Eli Reed, Mel Rosenthal, Clarissa Sligh, Corky Lee, Deb Willis, Roland Freeman, Taryn Simon, Stephen Shames and Joseph Rodriguez. The show highlights individuals who numerous politicians and policymakers regard as too young, too poor, too gay, too disabled, too not-white or too foreign to be legitimate mothers. In rebuttal, these stunning pictures portray the women being mothers, with strength, dignity, and determination; the subjects comment on their lives in "voice-texts" posted near their portraits. "Beggars and Choosers" also includes two photo-based books, and six text panels examining public policies - in education, health care, housing, incarceration, and other areas - that create and sustain poverty in the United States.

"This is a particularly important exhibition at this moment in time, when we are seeing the largest divisions and disparities in social classes in our society since the Great Depression," Godwin-Ternbach Director Amy Winter said.

Regina Monfort’s “Regina and Stanley.”

She added curator Rickie Solinger observes that the show responds to the current climate, which "extends the post-Civil-Rights-Movement-backlash against welfare and other social provisions. The response specifically addresses the proliferation, over the past generation, of politicized and degrading images of many women in the United States who are mothers."

Solinger will lecture on "Nine Ways to Look at a Poor Woman" from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3. A reception will follow.

At 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, Caroline Rupprecht, Queens College Department of Comparative Literature, will present a reading on famed architect Eero Saarinen's "Womb Chair." At 5 p.m., Carmella Marrone, Director of the Queens College Women and Work program, will moderate a one-hour panel discussion on "The Politics of Motherhood." Participants include Annelise Orleck of Dartmouth College, speaking on activism, welfare, and child care; Queens College Political Science Professor Alyson Cole, speaking on motherhood as a QC faculty member; and Erline Brown of Domestic Workers United, an organization of Caribbean, Latina and African nannies, housekeepers and elderly caregivers in New York, speaking on race, gender, and mothering. The evening will conclude with a reception.

The Godwin-Ternbach Museum at Queens College is the only comprehensive collection of art and artifacts in the borough of Queens, housing more than 3,500 objects dating from ancient to modern times. A cultural and educational resource for students and the local community, the museum also serves neighboring areas of Long Island and metropolitan New York. Originally envisioned as a teaching museum for the benefit of art and art history students, the Godwin-Ternbach has expanded its mission over time, embracing all disciplines and an increasingly diverse and engaged public. All exhibitions and programs are free. In addition, the Godwin-Ternbach offers an array of lectures, symposia, gallery talks, workshops, films, concerts, and tours, collaborating with academic departments and Queens College centers and programs.

Located in Klapper Hall on the Flushing campus, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., the Godwin-Ternbach Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, call (718) 997-4747 or (718) 997-4724 or visit qc.cuny.edu/godwin_ternbach.