Erin Dziedzic and The Madam President Camp

On this week’s edition of Every Woman, host Sharon Lockhart welcomes Erin Dziedzic, new curator and head of adult programs for the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art to discuss the new Laura McPhee: River of No Return large-scale photography exhibition slated to open May 17th. The exhibition focuses on the landscape and culture of the American West, with a particular emphasis on the Sawtooth Valley of Idaho.

In the second half, Sharon talks to a representative from The Madam President Camp, a summer camp for girls aged 10-14 hosted by the Women In Politics Foundation and the UMKC Center for Civic Engagement, designed to help them “learn about government, leadership, negotiation and team building.” Campers will meet with local and state politicians, visit civic centers, and are assigned a mentor–a woman who is a leader in business or in politics. The camp was set up to empower these young women at the age when social aggression, low self-esteem and peer rejection start to become pervasive in teen groups, and “teach girls that they have value and voice in our society, that one day  they will be capable of leading our country, and that our country needs them.”

(Quotations courtesy of the official camp press release.)

About the guest(s):

Erin Dziedzic (pronounced “Je-jitz”), a native of Massachusettts, is currently a curator at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia. Dziedzic has organized exhibitions at the SCAD Museum of Art, as well as at galleries at the college’s four locations in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia; in Lacoste, France; and in Hong Kong. Since 2006, she’s worked with contemporary artists, such as James Casebere, Angelo Filomeno, Victoria Fu, Nicholas Hlobo, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Damián Ortega, Yeondoo Jung, Liza Lou, and Deborah Poynton.

Dziedzic is also the founder/editor of the online contemporary art journal called artcore journal. One of her recent articles includes a write-up and photos of exhibitions in Kansas City at la Esquina, PLUG Projects, Grand Arts, and the H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute.

At the Kemper Museum, Dziedzic will take on curatorial duties, as well as organizing public programs (positions which previously had been separate).

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