Indeed, though Artists & Mothers is in its infancy, the collective force of its board—which includes Chloe Sevigny—drew a supportive crowd. During the afternoon, kids and their parents indulged in creative and colorful activities. There was an ivy-covered backdrop by Farah Al Qasimi for sweet family photos, a beanbag-filled lounge playing Aki Goto videos by Maia Ruth Lee, and a massive tile-covered installation by Ei Arakawa prompting everyone to “please draw freely”—which many did, creating a colorful collage filled with jungle animals, mermaids, and modernist scribbles. An on-site gift shop by City Harvest also held delights sure to keep a smile on faces after home-time, including graphic Gauchere T-shirts, beanies, tote bags, and nylon patchwork dolls by Abby Lloyd.
Régime des Fleurs perfumer Alia Razza, whose travel-sized fragrances everyone received as a parting gift alongside handprint-shaped sugar cookies, felt impassioned by the non-profit’s goal. “There’s still this [unspoken] choice for women which is, ‘do you want to have a full-throttle career, or do you want to be a mom?’ In New York, many women do both—but in the rest of the country and the rest of the world, a lot of women still feel like it’s something they have to choose between. If you do choose to do both, it’s really hard. I hope that when I’m a parent, there will be organizations like this around that will help.”
As for that optional dress code? Its freedom allowed guests including Rama Diwali, Liana Satenstein, Legacy Russell, and Jane Panetta to prioritize individuality. The resulting mix was a scene that felt cool yet easygoing, with no shortage of wide-legged jeans, maxi skirts, and colorful knits paired with chunky boots, sneakers, and convenient crossbody bags that ranged from Adidas and Acne to Stella McCartney and Staud.
Plenty of snacks were on-hand to keep everyone in good spirits too, thanks to SoHo’s Happier Grocer, and additional cheer came via DJ Cardamami’s bubble-filled finale dance party, as well as various performances by Sophie Becker, Zeena Perkins and Cecilia Lopez, and Lizzi Bougatsos and Sadie Laska.
For the time being, Artists & Mothers is aiming to support its recipients with the funds they need to make things more manageable between home and the workplace. In the future, as it grows, the organization hopes to build out its staff, form a longstanding endowment, and extend its scope to more parents around the world with a wider age range of children. Carissa Rodriguez, a 2024 honoree, said: “I would love for this organization and the artists to collectively get involved in organizing and strategizing to get behind a proposal, so that everyone in New York City with a child under five gets public support,” she said. “This should be something that everyone has access to.”
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