The Raw Space Gallery recently hosted an evening of storytelling and art during Stories in the Raw: Women in Community, to benefit the Gifford Cultural Center.
Over cocktails and appetizers, guests perused the exhibition of the Faces of Eve Collaborative, a tribute to the power of women in the community. The month-long exhibit is comprised of a variety of artworks in various mediums created by 20 local female artists.
The exhibit celebrates the third anniversary of the Women by Women Art Exhibition and the reinstallation of the Faces of Eve Mural created by Niurka Barroso, that features the faces of 143 local women of varying ages, social and cultural backgrounds whom she photographed.
“We came together and galvanized this beautiful feminine energy,” said Neli Santamarina.
“We’re a grassroots group of dynamic women whose mission it is to celebrate and support the brilliant ideas and projects of women in our community. We’re action-driven, out of the box, and we roll up our sleeves and get to work.”
Guests also got a first look at the long anticipated “Faces of Eve Art Book,” inspired by the mural, featuring photographs, stories and essays about women supporting women. The book is now available for advanced orders.
After a performance by Alesandra Valenzuela, emcee Xaque Gruber, elegantly garbed in a smoking jacket, introduced the Stories in the Raw storytellers and this month’s theme: Women in Community.
“Tonight, we are honoring all of the stories about women in the community,” Gruber announced.
To warm things up, Gruber peppered the audience with some femme-centric trivia questions:
Who was the first woman inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame? (Aretha Franklin).
What state had the first female governor? (Wyoming, 1924). What percentage of business owners in the U.S. are women? (35 percent). And in what Florida town did a woman cast the first vote in the Southern states? (Fellsmere).
Jonnie Mae Perry, director of the Gifford Cultural Center, kicked off the storytelling, sharing recollections of Gifford and the remarkable women who have led that community and its businesses.
Net proceeds from the evening will benefit the proposed Gifford Cultural Center project, an expansion of the Gifford Historical Museum currently housed in the Historic Macedonia Church in Gifford. Perry envisions it as a place where people can learn more about the history of the Gifford community, and its pivotal role in Indian River County.
The church was built by Black railroad laborers in 1908, who used found materials and labored through the night to build it, initially in Sebastian. The church was moved during the 1990s for preservation to a 10-acre site now known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Park and Walking Trail, which is listed as part of the Florida Black Heritage Trail.
When the Gifford Cultural Center project was brought to the group’s attention, Santamarina said it resonated with them, noting: “We wanted to make sure that any project that we supported would be of social value and social justice in nature.”
The Faces of Eve Collaborative has pledged to raise the initial $80,000 toward the master project planning and management needed to prepare the structural/facilities design and build phase.
For more information about Faces of Eve or the Cultural Center campaign, visit facesofeve.net.
Photos by Kaila Jones
