The Rural We: Paola Bari
The artist is heading up the WE RISE Poughkeepsie event, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote.
A gifted porcelain painter, Paola Bari’s work has been exhibited in both Europe and America. She is the founder Queen City 15 Gallery in Poughkeepsie, New York. Active in the arts community in Dutchess County, she is currently heading up WE RISE, a collaboration of city art galleries, organizations, artists, and activists to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women in the United States the right to vote. The events begin today and run through Sept. 19. It’s quite a robust lineup, so Bari shares a few of the highlights with our readers.
I am from Milan, Italy, where my artistic career started, and have lived in Poughkeepsie for 21 years. I used to work for IBM, which had a big research center here. I started reaching out to the art community, and eventually expanded my involvement in other communities as well. I began working on WE RISE last year with several others when we saw that it was the centennial of the 19th amendment. Another art space agreed to work with my gallery, Queen City 15. We wanted to note the occasion from an art perspective that recognizes the Suffrage movement. Many other organizations and individuals joined in. Now we have an event almost every day through the 19th.
The opening event, “Together We Rise” is Sept. 3 [today] at Revel 32. The building used to be a Masonic temple, and now it’s a beautiful event space. Poet Gold, Dutchess County Poet Laureate, will introduce the program and read from her poetry, and then there will be a short video highlighting the contributions of the diverse community of local women working to make this community a better place.
On Sept. 6, we will have an avant-garde film night. “Reimagining Black Feminist Past & Futures” is a free, public showcase of films made by and about women. Vassar College film department students have curated the films and produced one of their own.
Black suffrage was something that historically took a different route from women’s voting rights, and we wanted to make sure we included some history of the Black suffrage movement, so we have a couple of events related to that. On Sept. 9, we will present “The Black Suffrage Movement and A Portrayal of Sojourner Truth.” Natasha Cherry, a Poughkeepsie councilwoman, will give a talk on the work of Black suffragists, and Grace Angela Henry, an actress, will perform a portrayal of Sojourner Truth. We’ll also look at the contribution of Black women in Poughkeepsie to the Black suffrage movement, and the role of the Hudson Valley and our city in women’s voting rights.
Professors from Vassar will give talks, there will be a musical celebration, and the art exhibits are going to be amazing. Barrett Art Center, Queen City 15 Gallery, 330 Gallery and others will be diving into works of art by woman — it’s going to be diverse and interesting.
Most of the events are in downtown Poughkeepsie. When COVID hit, we had to change from live events to online. We’ve settled on having the events on site with restrictions on the number of attendees and distancing, but most of the events will also be broadcast online. The art shows have online galleries, but for those who want to come in person, the galleries will have what we’re calling “relaxed” hours, meaning they’ll be open later so people can spread out. The galleries are walking distance from each other, so if one is at capacity, people can go to another gallery nearby.
It’s been quite challenging to put this together, but I’m excited because this year has been so interesting in a certain way. I would like this to be a moment of thinking how we can grow and change and work together in the future. I hope people will come together to start a conversation.
Check the WE RISE Facebook page for the full schedule of events.
