Green FTP: Women's Health Organizations

Katharine Barrett 

I really enjoyed reading the Osborne's piece on a 21st century Green New Deal that extends into the arts as the New Deal did under Roosevelt. Osborne built a really strong argument for a Green Federal Theatre Project that mimics the FTP that Roosevelt's New Deal instated. I had never considered the impact that the FTP had for both tangibly employing artists and expanding accessibility to theater for working class populations. One component of the FTP and the proposition of a Green FTP for the 21st century that really struck me was the idea of community building through collaborations and partnerships with nonprofits and organizations in sectors completely distinct from the arts. In the FTP, the National Service Bureau cooperated across regions and divisions to connect theater production with local groups and needs as well as national groups like the American Medical Association, the Red Cross, peace organizations and religious ones as well. How can we adapt this model in a Green FTP in the 21st century? What organizations would be best poised for collaboration, and in what fields would we see the greatest need for this community building?

One example that resonated for me, in light of Roe v. Wade being overturned this summer, is art activism that centers around pro-choice and the right to women's reproductive health. Perhaps a Green FTP could connect artists with Planned Parenthood, or other women's health organizations. 

One article I read in The NY Times that may be interesting highlights art about abortion cautiously resurfacing in the US public sphere, and reminds us of the essential intersectionality of this topic, with Frida Kahlo as an exemplar from almost a century ago: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/10/arts/design/art-abortion-whitney-javits-museums-galleries.html

Another Portuguese artist has a series of abortion-centered works of art like this one:

Although she is not from the US, her series of work called, Untitled. The Abortion Pastels was created in response to similar politics in Portugal a few years ago. This work still resonates with women around the world, including American women after the upheaval of Roe v Wade this summer. 

https://womensartblog.wordpress.com/2018/05/21/the-abortion-pastels-paula-rego/