CAPE COD TIMES – In honor of Women’s History Month, the Sandwich Arts Alliance is hosting “Celebrating Women in the Arts, by Women, for Women, about Women,” a weekend-long celebration of female artists.
“This is our first time doing this,” said Melinda Gallant, a member of the Sandwich Arts Alliance’s board of directors and coordinator for the performing arts group. “We hope we have good attendance, obviously, but we want to make this an annual event. We want people to know in Sandwich that we have a lot of women in Sandwich. They’re doing great things in the arts and this is our way of focusing on them, highlighting them and applauding them for what they do.”
The weekend consists of four events: a reception for the exhibition “Women in the Arts” on March 15, a “Women in Music” concert and performance from “Fat A– Cancer Bitch” Christine Ernst on March 16 and a scripted reading of “Face East,” a play from Woods Hole playwright Bronwen Prosser on March 17.
The reception takes place at 5 p.m. on March 15, kicking off the weekend’s festivities. The exhibit consists of works from female members of the Alliance. Light refreshments will be served and harpist Katie Koglin will be playing throughout the evening.
An awards ceremony will also be held for those selected by judges as the best in show for several categories.
On March 16, the “Women in Music” concert begins at 2 p.m. featuring three musicians — Diana Di Gioia, Shannon Davis and Leslie Gage — performing a mix of original works and covers encompassing several genres such as rock, jazz and pop and a conversation about songwriting.
“I liken it to why Taylor Swift writes her songs,” Gallant said. “It’s about their songs, why they write them and how they write them.”
Following the concert, Ernst takes the Old Glass Town stage at 7 p.m. to perform her one-woman show “Lucky Thirteen.” The show pokes fun at the ups and downs of life, reminding us all we can’t take everything so seriously.
Audience members will receive a cookie and a magnet as a souvenir following the show and be able to chat with Ernst as well.
Closing out the weekend’s celebrations is a scripted reading of “Face East,” a comedic coming-of-age play about a young woman trying to find her purpose while living in her childhood treehouse in her parent’s backyard, directed by Nina Schuessler at 2 p.m. on March 17.
When asked about the importance of uplifting women in the arts, especially during Women’s HIstory Month, Gallant said she feels it’s a difficult time for women in our current political and social climate and it’s imperative that we “emphasize the multifaceted women’s talents that women have.”
