Westword, Winds of Change by Susan Froyd

Image provided by artist Amana Johnson.Winds of Change

 By Susan Froyd Thursday, Mar 17 2011

 http://www.westword.com/2011-03-03/calendar/winds-of-change/

“If someone asked me at the end of the day, ‘Ashara, what do you want to be?,’ I would say that I want to be a curator. I’d have the unmitigated gall to think I could curate a show. But it’s true: When I grow up, I want to own a gallery where I’d show works by African and African-American women.” So says “artivist” Ashara Ekundayo, who now spreads herself thin between Denver and the Bay Area, disseminating the word about community, cultural diversity and urban gardening wherever she goes. But even before she finishes growing up, Ekundayo, who founded Denver’s Cafe Nuba (among so many other things), has gotten to try her hand at curating with the new exhibit Yansan: 100 Years of Womyn’s Struggle, Ceremony and Sword, which opens today at Sellars Project Space, 4383 Tennyson Street, in celebration of the not-insignificant hundredth anniversary of International Women’s Day.

The title Yansan, chosen in tribute to the Yoruban female orisha (or deity) Oya, “who guards and organizes chaos, transition and change, and whose element in nature is the tornado,” Ekundayo explains, is meant to convey the idea of self-actualization for women in modern society. To further that theme, she’s chosen works by a conglomeration of women artists of color from Denver, the Bay Area and New York, including mixed-media Amana Johnson, outspoken photographer Kim Mayhorn, activist poster artist Favianna Rodriguez, local sculptor Li Hardison and others, all women who, she says, are “amazing griots and storytellers who embody the energy that is transcendence” — the spirit of Yansan.

Attend a reception for Yansan from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight; tomorrow at noon, Ekundayo and some of the artists will join together for a free informal Talk Talk Talk panel. Yansan runs through March 29; for more information, visit www.sellarsprojectspace.com or call 720-475-1182.

Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: March 4. Continues through March 29, 2011

Denver Post, For Women's Success, "There's a Lot Left To Be Done" by Colleen O'Connor

For women's success, "there's a lot left to be done"

By Colleen O'Connor
The Denver Post

Posted: 03/09/2011 01:00:00 AM MST

Updated: 03/09/2011 08:54:25 AM MST

Ashara Ekundayo is overseeing "Yansan: 100 Years of Womyn's Struggle, Ceremony and Sword," an exhibition by women of color to celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day on Tuesday. The exhibit is at the Sellars Project Space in Denver. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post) Read more: For women's success, "there's a lot left to be done" - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_17569902#ixzz1ImLSvmGu Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuseOn Tuesday, the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, Lynne Gangone, dean of the Women's College of the University of Denver, sat on a plane planning her upcoming class on women's leadership, reflecting on past and future.

"Women have made all these gains in education and economically, but we still have in 10 sectors only 18 percent of women at the very top level of leadership," she said.

They call them the C-level jobs: CEO, CIO, CFO.

"Women are still looking at those senior-level leadership positions, trying to figure out how to do that and still raise a family," she said.

From leadership to pay equity to land-ownership rights, conversations on the progress and challenges of the women's movement spanned the globe Tuesday.

In Cairo, activists called for a "Million Woman March" to protest that only one woman was appointed to the new Cabinet, fearing that women will not be part of the leadership.

In Denver, some women, including Ashara Ekundayo, a Denver food-justice activist who recently returned from the World Social Forum in Senegal, focused on equal rights for their global sisters.

"A group of rural women farmers from six different countries in West Africa (issued) a declaration about wanting to own land," she said. "The land is only able to be held by men."

Ekundayo also curated "Yansan: 100 Years of Womyn's Struggle, Ceremony and Sword," an exhibition by women of color to celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. The exhibit will hang through March 29 at the Sellars Project Space in Denver's Berkeley Highland neighborhood.

The title of the show — a name for a powerful female deity of the Yoruba tradition — was chosen to convey the idea of self-actualization for women in modern society, she said.

"It is representative of the victories we have had, and our capacity to continue to craft our own image, our own beauty, and also to talk about 

the challenges we still face in the world," she said.

Meanwhile, Louise Atkinson, president and chief executive of the Women's Foundation of Colorado, reflected upon progress made by American women over the past century but kept her eye on the future.

"There's a lot left to be done," she said.

Her organization is focused on getting girls to finish school, she said, citing a statistic from the Colorado Department of Education: More than 7,000 Colorado girls dropped out of seventh through 12th grades during the 2007-08 school year.

Further, she said, "300,000 women today in Colorado live in poverty, and our work will not be done until we see both those rates drop dramatically."

In Denver, events ranged from the gala evening at the Denver Performing Arts Complex to a seven-course meal inspired by African cuisine at Trattoria Stella, sponsored by the Women's Global Empowerment Fund.

It was also opening night for the Women+Film Voices Festival, founded by philanthropist Barbara Bridges.

"In the world of film of the 250 top-grossing films, only 7 percent were by women directors," she said. "The glass ceiling still exists across the board in almost every area of women's leadership."

Gangone sees the same with leadership of colleges and universities.

"Just 23 percent of all college and university presidents are women," she said. "On this 100th anniversary, as we celebrate, that's the thing we can absolutely put out there as our next goal: how we can bring a greater diversity of leadership to the table."

Colleen O'Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com

Read more: For women's success, "there's a lot left to be done" - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_17569902#ixzz1ImKwipqo
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse



KUVO, Ashara Ekunday joins Rodney Franks

KUVO Events

Thursday, March 3 & Monday, March 21, 2011

4:25pm

Cultural Jedi, Ashara Ekundayo joins Rodney Franks in the Studio
http://www.kuvo.org/

Ashara Ekundayo is a visionary educator, a curator, an award-winning community activist, and an entrepreneur working for over 20 years with international organizations in the remembrance and reintroduction of ancestral lessons for contemporary audiences in honor of the planet and the people. She'll be talking with Rodney about the LIVE! On The Canvas! event scheduled for Monday March 21 at 5:30pm at the Blair Caldwell African American Research Library, 2401 Welton Street. Maurice Ka and Ekundayo will address art, activism, food, justice, and the frequest struggle to keep black arts alive and thriving in 'The Mile High", an often challenging city for artists and activists of color.



Denver Post, Best Bets by Kyle MacMillan

Stylized-portrait exhibit

Today. Painting. Denver artist Brian Comber specializes in bold, stylized portraits that blur the bounds of abstraction and realism. His most recent works go on display today with a public reception from 6 to 9 p.m. at Sellars Project Space, 4383 Tennyson St. The show continues through Feb. 1. Free. 720-475-1182 or sellarsprojectspace.com. Kyle MacMillan

Read more: Best Bets: Stock Show, Women's pop history, "Warhol in Colorado" and more - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_17147770#ixzz1ImNHjXjU
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

Westword, First Friday... by Susan Froyd

First Friday: Co-ops celebrate milestones and art is in the air

By Susan Froyd, Fri., Jan. 7 2011 @ 2:42PM

http://blogs.westword.com/showandtell/2011/01/first_friday_art_walk_denver.php

Tennyson Street's got variety this evening, beginning with a solo show of new works by Denver artist Brian Comber, which opens tonight at Sellars Project Space, 4383 Tennyson Street http://sellarsprojectspace.squarespace.com/, and continues through February 2. The gallery will also host another reception on January 21, followed by an artist talk at noon January 22.