{"id":5399,"date":"2018-05-04T09:50:43","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T13:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=5399"},"modified":"2025-08-23T15:52:47","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T19:52:47","slug":"women-art-and-equality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2018\/05\/04\/women-art-and-equality\/","title":{"rendered":"Women, Art and Equality"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Arianna Forbes during her presentation.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>The annual University Day at UMPI always provides students and members of the community an opportunity to learn about fascinating topics. This year\u2019s University Day was no different. From learning about service dogs to Greek mythology, there was no shortage of interesting presentations. Of all the presentations that took place, few were more thought-provoking than Arianna Forbes\u2019 art presentation, \u201cThe V Word.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Students, faculty and the community piled into the Pullen Art Center to learn more about the young artist\u2019s inspirations and the background behind her artwork. Hyrum Benson, an UMPI professor, opened the presentation before introducing Forbes. \u201cArianna is one of our brightest artists here at UMPI,\u201d Benson said. \u201cShe continually pushes the boundary in her artwork and focuses on topics that many artists choose not to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Forbes, an UMPI senior, began her presentation by explaining why she chooses to focus on the female form, particularly the female genitals. \u201cI focus on the female form, mainly because I know my form, but also I find women art…they\u2019ve inspired art throughout time,\u201d Forbes said. \u201cAlso, being a feminist, I find equal rights also includes rights to one\u2019s body.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>The presentation then turned to the artists who influence Forbes in her own art. Betty Thompkins and Marilyn Minter were just two of the artists that Forbes drew inspiration from. \u201cOne of the reasons why I love their work so much is because they were initially regarded as \u2018pornographic,\u2019 but have now become regarded as some of the most powerful Feminist artists,\u201d Forbes said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Forbes also discussed some of the media in which she conveys her art, such as enamel on metal. \u201cI paint reported commentary onto metal under which is an enlarged image of a vulva, symbolizing a woman\u2019s strength. When I have completed the painting, layers and layers of assaultive sentences shroud the vulva,\u201d Forbes said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Despite this being her last year at UMPI, Forbes plans on pushing the envelope and forcing her viewers to question why society oppresses women, especially the female form. \u201cMy future goals would be continuing making art that means something to me and what I find beautiful and important. I would love to be a part of an activist movement such as Free the Nipple or The Guerrilla Girls, but we will see where the future takes me,\u201d Forbes said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 The annual University Day at UMPI always provides students and members of the community an opportunity to learn about fascinating topics. This year\u2019s University Day was no different. From learning about service dogs to Greek mythology, there was no shortage of interesting presentations. Of all the presentations that took place, few were more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/157"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5399"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8643,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5399\/revisions\/8643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}