Photo by Wayne Morra

Boston, MA – Wednesday, November 16, 2022 – Today the MassArt Art Museum (MAAM) announced it will host the lecture Kathryn Kolbert: The End of Roe v. Wade and the Future of Reproductive Rights on Thursday, December 8, at 6:30pm in person on MassArt’s campus and virtually via zoom. In her lecture, Kolbert will reflect on her nearly 50 years of legal advocacy and envision the future of the reproductive justice movement since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case she was credited with saving when she argued Planned Parenthood v Casey in 1992. Following the lecture, enjoy a book signing with Kolbert and a special viewing of the exhibition Designing Motherhood: Things That Make and Break Our Births, a first-of-its-kind exploration of the arc of human reproduction through the lens of art and design, on view through December 18. Copies of Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom by Kathryn Kolbert and Julie F. Kay will be available for purchase.

LOCATION

Thursday, December 8, 6:30-8pm
Kathryn Kolbert: The End of Roe v. Wade and the Future of Reproductive Rights
Tower Auditorium, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston and virtually via zoom

Event registration

Thursday, December 8, 8pm-9pm
Book signing and Designing Motherhood exhibition viewing
MassArt Art Museum, 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston
 

About Kathryn Kolbert

Kathryn Kolbert is a public-interest attorney, journalist, and executive in the not-for-profit world. She argued Planned Parenthood v Casey, the 1992 Supreme Court case, widely credited with saving Roe v. Wade, and has been recognized by The National Law Journal as one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America,” and by The American Lawyer as one of 45 public-interest lawyers “whose vision and commitment are changing lives.”

Kolbert, along with Julie F. Kay, is the co-author of Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom, the definitive account of the battle for reproductive freedom and a bold new strategy to safeguard our rights.

In June 2018, Kolbert stepped down from her position as the Constance Hess Williams ‘66 Director of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College, which she founded in 2009. She also served as a Professor of Leadership Studies and a Term Professor of Political Science during her time at Barnard. Kolbert has lectured at colleges and universities across the nation and is a frequent commentator on leadership, constitutional, and women’s rights issues in the national media.

During her legal career, she was a co-founder and vice president at the Center for Reproductive Rights, the State Coordinating Counsel of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project in New York, and a Staff Attorney with the Women’s Law Project and Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. Before joining Barnard, Kolbert was the President and CEO of People For the American Wayand its foundation, two of the nation’s premier civil rights organizations. For ten years, she developed and managed a program on law and American life at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center. She was the executive producer of NPR’s Justice Talking, an award-winning public radio program and its educational website, JusticeLearning.org.

Currently, Kolbert is the Producing Director of the Athena Film Festival, dedicated to films portraying fierce and fearless women, which she co-founded in 2010. She also serves as an advisor to Brava Investments and VoteRunLead and provides strategic consulting with senior leaders in higher education and the health care and non-profit sectors.

About Designing Motherhood: Things That Make and Break Our Births

Organized by a curatorial team that includes design historians, birth advocates, and medical and midwifery history experts, Designing Motherhood: Things That Make and Break Our Births, on view at the MassArt Art Museum through December 18, 2022, explores the arc of human reproduction through the lens of art and design from the 19th century to the present day. The display of nearly 200 works includes historic and contemporary breast pumps, baby monitors, forceps, and maternity clothes alongside vintage advertisements and contemporary art across media. The exhibition demonstrates the evolution of rights and societal norms pertaining to con(tra)ception, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experiences over the last 150 years, highlighting that birth – and the material culture that surrounds it – impacts every living person. Designing Motherhood at the MassArt Art Museum brings together, for the first time, the art and design works exhibited at two previous venues in Philadelphia last year and incorporates work by six additional contemporary artists – Joan E. Biren, Jess Dugan ‘07, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Ani Liu, Tabitha Soren, and Deb Willis – who join a rich group of contemporary and historic artists and designers tackling subjects and ideas related to the topic at hand.

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About the MassArt Art Museum

The MassArt Art Museum (MAAM) is Boston’s only free contemporary art museum. After extensive renovations, MAAM opened in February 2020 in the space formerly known as the Bakalar & Paine Galleries at the heart of MassArt’s campus on the Avenue of the Arts. MAAM is a kunsthalle, or non-collecting museum, showing temporary exhibitions that feature the work of emerging to established artists to bring fresh and varied perspectives to Boston. As MassArt’s teaching museum, MAAM is a resource for MassArt students and faculty, educating students about contemporary art, partnering with faculty to support the curriculum, and preparing students for careers in the museum field. As an extension of the College’s public mission, the Museum offers pathways to education in the arts and free educational programming for the public.

MEDIA CONTACT

Susie Stockwell
Director of Public Relations and Marketing, MassArt
617.879.7066
sstockwell@massart.edu