Women's Empowerment
Arts and Music
Festival
It began with the idea that Flint needed a ladyfest: A festival celebrating women's strengths through the arts and culture. The first ladyfest took place in Olympia, Washington in 2000, and since then, cities worldwide have DIY'd their very own.
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With each city being unique, every festival is different. And with Flint experiencing its own cultural renaissance, we decided to contribute to its local scene by showcasing the best of what Flint women have to offer in the arts, music, business and more.
Documentary: Ladyfest Flint 2016
This 32-minute documentary by Flint area native Jennie Moench, under her Flint Underground filming project, shares some of the highlights of the inaugural Ladyfest Flint, including a walk-through of the art exhibition, performances by several Flint musicians, and interviews with various attendees.
Explore Ladyfest Flint
See some of the highlights and behind-the-scenes of Ladyfest Flint 2016.
As part of the festival, we screen printed bandanas for our volunteers.
Project Director Nadia Alamah and the LFF Committee give a short presentation at a volunteer meeting.
The LFF Committee put heads together to make Ladyfest Flint buttons to distribute at Second Friday Artwalks, other arts events and at Ladyfest Flint. Ra'Shonda Magee in particular was responsible for handcrafting our buttons at Flint Steamworks, a DIY maker space. Our logo this year depicts a woman in side profile with pose similar to The Thinker, sitting atop the CB Radio Tower-- an iconic symbol of the Flint city skyline.
The workshop, "Stress Reduction via MetaAwareness" by Dr. Joyce Piert, had a largely successful attendance at the Buckham Gallery, especially as it launched the festivities on Friday the 16th.
Day One: Here are some of our volunteers with their LFF bandanas, ready to put on the show!
This is a collage made for the LFF Instagram to show off some of the first day's highlights! Also pictured are one of the volunteers manning the merch corner and vendors setting up in the alley.
My Parents Favorite Music adds layers of depth to her stage performance. Photo credit: Michael Gleason Photography.
Rachel Rampage from Doppelganger Circus Sideshow also added variety to Friday/Day One's lineup with her stage partner, Adam Arcana. Photo credit: Michael Gleason Photography.
Doppelganger Circus Sideshow features some interactivity with the audience for different acts within their performance.
The Free Bleeders, a band from Detroit. One of the band members had a film at the first Ladyfest Flint in Olympia, WA in 2000.
The winning design for the T-Shirt Contest was produced by Alexis Jones, of iCultured Apparel, and was featured on t-shirts, buttons and stickers.
Papercrane Studios, one of various vendors in Buckham Alley-- a back alley in Flint with festive evening ambiance, and location to various arts events in the warmer months.
Two band members of Flint's Waiting for Rain perform with intensity on 9/17.
Local bike enthusiast Allison Neumann demonstrates basic tune-up techniques to participants. Neumann hosted the second workshop-- "Intro to Bike Maintenance"-- on the second day of LFF.
 "Medusa" by Kate Costea. The exhibition featured the variety of mediums emerging Flint women artists work within and innovate, including mixed media and installation art. Photo credit: Michael Gleason Photography. |  |
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 Territory and f'ALTerations by Kate Kirkpatrick, ceramic. They were hung deliberately in this location for use of the background texture to complement the art. |  As part of the exhibition coordinating process, Nadia conducted interviews with the artists to create substantial captions to accompany the paintings. The captions usually incorporated something related to the artist's process or signature style, but also occasionally contained humor. |
 Nadia also composed and coordinated biographical artist statements for the artists, so that viewers could learn more about some of Flint's emerging women artists, and what they do in the community. |  "LOVELUST," collage by Ariel Sammone, was hung on an industrial window that was left leaning against the wall. The way this exhibition was hung functioned around Flint's adaptability: We will redefine the boundaries of the norm in order to get things done. |
 |  The design of the exhibition established a mid-ground with the mainstream and alternative, with vinyl lettering on the walls in an atypical room. As part of making this exhibition possible, I conducted interviews with artists, wrote captions and bios and facilitated drop-off and pick-up for the artists. |
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In Flint's hidden places and quietest corners, there are artists creating, and musicians playing, writers telling stories.
RISING: Art by Emerging Flint Women Artists unearths the raw talent of local women artists and showcases what they contribute to the arts scene.
Discover a variety of mediums and messages, and learn more about the artists and their work.
A Walk-Through of the RISING Exhibition
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Promotion
Here are some of the promotional materials created for Ladyfest Flint. The event schedule is a collaboration between Nadia Alamah and Yasmin Ladha.
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