Women Talk About Resilience & History at 2 Inspiring Events

Women Talk About Resilience and History at Inspiring Events on March 7 & 8 Dear Women in the Arts & Media Coalit, Look What SHE Did! is a nonprofit organization that seeks to inspire women and girls by creating short films about remarkable women who have changed the world. In honor of Women's History Month, Look What SHE Did! will be featuring stories of female resilience, starting with the premiere of a new film with the legendary labor leader and civil rights activist, Dolores Huerta, on Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 1 p.m. PST / 4 p.m. EST.   The event will be hosted by the smart and hilarious Kate Rigg, and it will feature an interactive conversation with Dolores Huerta about her resilience as a social justice activist for more than 50 years.  Founded in 2015 by filmmaker Julie Hébert, Look What SHE Did! has created over 150 films about inspiring women. Each film is only 3 or 4 minutes long and you can watch them online for free. They are a lot of fun because they always feature women talking passionately about their personal female role models. The event on March 7 is a benefit for Look What SHE Did! and tickets are available for a minimum donation of $10.  Time:  Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 1 p.m. PST / 4 p.m. EST Tickets for the Benefit:  $10 minimum donation.  Get your tickets here>>  This is a Look What SHE Did! video featuring Kate Rigg talking about the inspiring Hawaiian politician, Patsy Mink. (4 minutes) Get Tickets to the Benefit for Look What SHE Did! Golden Thread Celebrates 25 Years of Middle Eastern Women Artists! Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East, celebrates International Women's Day every year with a program that showcases the work of leading Middle Eastern women artists called What Do the Women Say? For this year's program Golden Thread's Board President and Resident Artist, Nora El Samahy and Founding Artistic Director, Torange Yeghiazarian will discuss Golden Thread's 25-year history of placing Middle Eastern women artists center stage in a free livestream on Howlround.com on Monday, March 8, 2021 at 11 am PST/ 2 p.m. EST. Golden Thread's Artistic Director, Torange Yeghiazarian (center) will be in conversation with Nora El Samahy (right end) on Monday, March 8 at 11 a.m. PST.   El Samahy is a popular Bay Area actress, who is especially well known for her innovative one-woman show, Oh My Sweet Land, which was based on interviews with Syrian refugees.  El Samahy cooked a batch of kibbeh, the national dish of Syria, during each performance. Yeghiazarian directed the show which was performed in kitchens in private homes, restaurants and community spaces.      Guest artists Sofia Ahmad, Lana Nasser, Sara Razavi, Naima Shalhoub, and Sedef Ecer will join the discussion with reflections on the ways Golden Thread has influenced their artistic careers and their dreams for the future. Time:  Monday, March 8, 2021 at 11 a.m. PST / 2 p.m. EST Livestreaming on Howlround.com:  Click here to watch>> Watch Golden Thread's Livestream on March 8 at 11 am PST Update on SWAN Day 2021 Although most people will not be able to do in-person SWAN events this year, WomenArts would like to encourage you to carry on the SWAN spirit in whatever ways you can. If you are able to do an online SWAN event, or if you want to post blogs, photos, music, or videos that celebrate women, trans or non-binary artists, please use the hashtag #SWANDay2021 so that others can see what you are doing. The most important element of SWAN Day is mutual support, and we want to emphasize that this year.  Even if you can't do any kind of event, we invite you to find ways to celebrate SWAN Day through creative acts of kindness to those around you.   Please take time to reach out to the women, trans, and non-binary artists in your life, especially the ones who are struggling.  Write them letters, call them up, bring them food, or send them gifts.  Use your creativity to let them know how much you appreciate them and their work. In these challenging times, these simple acts of kindness have tremendous power. If we keep working  together, as so many of us have done in the past, we will help each other find the confidence and courage to keep making our art and keep making the world a better place.  Support Women Artists Now Day Background for Newcomers For those of you who are new to Support Women Artists Now Day/SWAN Day, it is an annual international holiday which is officially celebrated on the last Saturday of March ( March 27 this year).  Since the spirit of the event is more important than the exact date, people hold SWAN events throughout the month of March (Women's History Month) and sometimes in April. There is an overview of SWAN Day here. SWAN Day was co-founded by  Martha Richards, the Founder and President of WomenArts, and Jan Lisa Huttner, the Editor-in-Chief of FF2 Media and the creative force behind WITASWAN (Women in the Audience Supporting Women Artists Now).  It was first celebrated in 2008, and there have been over 2,000 SWAN celebrations in 37 countries since then.  In the SWAN Day section of the WomenArts website, you can read more about the history of SWAN Day, and you can see videos of some of the past SWAN events, including celebrity SWAN videos by Sandra Oh, Isabel Allende and Famke Janssen.  You can also see the annual lists of past SWAN events, and you will find many articles in the WomenArts blog describing past SWAN events.