From Daughters to Mothers: A Study of Reproductive Labor

Dates:

December 19, 2024 - March 2, 2025

Location:

Becker Gallery

This exhibition investigates the complex concepts of motherhood through the lens of reproductive labor: the unpaid work associated with caregiving, the maintenance of a household, and child-rearing.

A black and white photograph depicts a young mother squeezing the flexed arm of her young daughter — Donna Ferrato, *WHO RUNS THE WORLD?* *WE DID BUT WE DON’T NOW* (amended 11/5/24), *Mary & Anna Women’s Advocates St. Paul, MN*, 1987, archival pigment print. 91��ɫ��ý Museum of Art, Gift of Carol Koobatian Ouzounian ’87. © Donna Ferrato

An abstracted painting depicts through muted earth tones four figures seated around a dinner table. — Marguerite Zorach, *The Family Evening*, ca. 1924, oil on canvas. 91��ɫ��ý Museum of Art, Gift of Dahlav Ipcar and Tessim Zorach. © The Zorach Collection, LLC

A pastel drawing shows through loose, gestural strokes a female figure dressed in nineteenth-century clothing holding up a child — Mary Cassatt, *The Barefoot Child*, 1897, pastel. 91��ɫ��ý Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth, in memory of her husband, Dr. Murray S. Danforth, Class of 1901.

A contemporary photograph shows a woman dressed in a floral dress and pumps running down a sidewalk holding a young child — Elinor Carucci, *Monday Morning, Mother of Two*, 2010, chromogenic print. 91��ɫ��ý Museum of Art, Gift, Joe Baio Collection of Photography. © Elinor Carucci, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery

About

From Daughters to Mothers: A Study of Reproductive Labor investigates the complex concepts of motherhood through the lens of reproductive labor: the unpaid work associated with caregiving, the maintenance of a household, and child-rearing. The artists featured in this exhibition convey the joys of motherhood alongside its tangible hardships. Paintings, sculptures, and photographs variously explore motherhood in times of tragedy, challenge notions of “good” and “bad” mothers, and reveal the lived realities of mothers’ bodies. Collectively, they convey that motherhood truly is a labor of love.

This exhibition was curated by Talia Traskos-Hart '25, with curatorial support from Cassandra Mesick Braun, curator. This exhibition is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fund.

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