EJB: How did you become involved in the environmental movement?<\/strong><\/p>\nMA<\/b>: What really got to me was something I noticed right after Hurricane Sandy. When the weather people talked about the destruction and discussed the need for sea walls, they never mentioned why the water levels were rising. This was a suppression of critical news. Even today, so many people have no idea that we\u2019re facing an environmental emergency. It\u2019s mind-boggling.<\/p>\n
Of course, groups like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have documented the crisis, but the U.S. is still largely in denial. Once I understood this, I became involved in 350.org and the Jewish Climate Action Network. I\u2019m also part of the environmental group at my shul, B\u2019nai Jeshurun on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Several of my art projects\u2014including \u201cCheck, Checkmate, Game Over\u201d\u2014are a response to environmental calamity.<\/p>\n
EJB: Are you also involved in feminist work?<\/strong><\/p>\nMA<\/b>: Not in a formal way. It\u2019s funny. My mom passed the bar exam in 1945 and was a very independent woman. She spoke about the discrimination she and other women experienced in the law field and was a fantastic role model, a woman who broke glass ceilings and barriers. I guess because of her example, I never personally felt constrained or hindered by my gender. I just assumed I could do whatever I wanted to do.<\/p>\n
At the same time, some of my art touches on sexism and misogyny. I created a sculpture called \u201cLittle Red\u201d as a tribute to Aisha Ibrahim Duholow, a 13-year-old girl who was stoned to death in a stadium in Somalia. Aisha had been raped but instead of arresting the men who attacked her, Al-Shabaab (a militant Taliban-like group) killed her as she traveled to her grandmother\u2019s house. Another installation, called \u201cHelen of Troy,\u201d focuses on the concept of beauty as culturally determined and informed.<\/p>\n
EJB: How did you become affiliated with the Flomenhaft Gallery?<\/strong><\/p>\nMA<\/b>: A few years back I was part of an exhibition called Women Call for Peace where \u201cLittle Red\u201d was displayed. As part of the exhibit, the organizers scheduled a panel discussion. Eleanor Flomenhaft, who\u2019d opened the Flomenhaft Gallery in 2004, was there because she used to represent Faith Ringgold and wanted to hear what she had to say. Apparently, Eleanor liked what I had to say, too, because, after the panel she came up to me and invited me to participate in a group show she was pulling together. I\u2019ve been one of her artists ever since.<\/p>\n
EJB: What\u2019s next for you?<\/strong><\/p>\nMA<\/b>: I\u2019m now working on a large public art project about the environment, but it\u2019s in process so I can\u2019t talk about it yet.<\/p>\n
Oh, and some of my work will be included in a book about Jewish artists being compiled by Ori Z. Soltes of Georgetown University\u2019s Center for Jewish Civilization.<\/p>\n
\n
\nThe views and opinions expressed in this article are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lilith Magazine.<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Like many of us, artist\u00a0Marcia Annenberg\u00a0is worried. First, there\u2019s climate change. Then there\u2019s the growing erosion of U.S. democracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":12151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Dusk-Railroad-2008-30-x-48-Oil-Canvas.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdW3k2-39Y","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12150"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12193,"href":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12150\/revisions\/12193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilith.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}