On Saturday I trekked around town with my favorite local dance studio and took pictures. Due to concerns about copyright infringement/ intellectual property theft based on recent experiences, I am being more cautious about sharing photos. So on Sunday I began working on some new watermarks for my images. From doodles to digital versions, here’s some of what I came up with. {Considering a lot of my work is typically serious in nature, I have a few more designs in the works as well.}
Cheers!
Suzanne
Illustration of coffee mug with heart and No, Mine! Studios. Suzanne Skaar 2019Illustration of little thunder cloud, cloud with No, Mine! Studios written inside, and sunshine peeking from behind. Suzanne Skaar 2019Illustration titled “Some Days”, originally drawn in 2014 but reworked into logo which reads: “Suzanne Skaar No, Mine! Studios nominestudios.com” Suzanne Skaar 2019
I don’t know how permanent this is or if I will have to fight this fight again, but as of this morning, this:
changed to this:
Thank you to those who took the time to write on my behalf. I’m not sure whether the link was taken down by Facebook or the Knights of the Pythias. If it was the latter, it’s sad that the individual was so bent on retaliation against a woman he dated that he’d rather erase any trace of her contributions from a nonprofit organization than credit her and get permission to use photos before posting.
I am still waiting for the KOP leadership to get back to me with an apology for making a volunteer jump through so many hoops for her own intellectual property, and to confirm what steps will be done to protect others should they be sexually harassed. It’s 2019: historical societies shouldn’t still be treating women like it’s the Dark Ages.
An unusual opportunity has come across my plate. I have been invited to be a panelist for Portland’s Drunken Discourse regarding my essay on gatekeeping. I’m intrigued, albeit slightly concerned as I am no longer in my 20s and no longer under the impression that my liver is indestructible. I do have a volunteer designated drinker if worse comes to worst. But let’s face it: I never turn down an opportunity to make a PowerPoint presentation.
If you’re 21+ and down for some uncensored feminist analysis (and other topics to be announced shortly), mark your calendars for the evening of October 5, 2019. More details to come.
I had the pleasure of joining host Jamie Nixon and guest Linda Isenson on the latest episode of The Obsessive Progressive podcast to discuss the 2019 Democratic Debates. Lucky number 13! Check it out!
Hi all! We’re meeting at Fern Hill Library at 11:30 a.m. to discuss the Incubator project. We’ll be at Red Hot on 6th Ave (Tacoma) at 4 p.m. to discuss the upcoming film project. See you soon!
I am excited to be collaborating with 60 Second Scifi for my latest short comedy film script. This will be my first turn as Director. 🎥
Read through will be at 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 22, majority of filming to be done on Saturday, June 29 (9-5). (Location revealed to those on board.)
There are two major speaking parts and several spots for other actors: male, female, non-binary, 21+. Editors, audio, camera crew welcome. Need accommodations? Let’s talk. This is a volunteer project with a great, welcoming group.
In response to support from others to this idea, I am initiating an incubator to provide the kind of institutional support that women, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ independent researchers and artists currently lack in our community. Join me in getting this off the ground.
Background:
Writers, artists, researchers, and historians from underrepresented populations are losing out on opportunities in terms of access, money, and more. Much of this is due to not being welcomed and/ or feeling comfortable participating in the established institutions that officials first look to for experts. When individuals from underrepresented populations do show up, we find events led by white men, who primarily talk about other white men (dead or alive). When women are discussed, all too often we find it’s in the context of being wives of either the presenter or the subject, victims, or visual aids (women greeting returning soldiers on docks). Queer and people of color are often entirely erased from our city’s historical narratives. Women, queer, and non-white narratives are often presented as one-off or special events, and not interwoven into the larger historical context. Research has shown that in order to be considered for professional opportunities, women are often expected to have much higher levels of education than men for similar roles. Despite various agencies’ calls for equality in funding, we face sexual harassment, gender discrimination, ageism, and more before we can even get to the point to apply for funding. Without the support of established networks, we don’t have the same reach for resources that come with membership in these older institutions. When women are left with the added duty of childcare, we don’t have the resources to attend networking events, particularly those in the evening, which further separates us from those in decision making roles.
Goals:
In order to begin to address some of the long-standing problems, the incubator will be designed to:
Engage in thorough analyses of cultural activities and funding based on gender, race, and other factors.
Provide quarterly platforms for presentations of research and creative projects across a broad spectrum of fields, including but not limited to: social justice, environmental science, math and technology, art, film, media, history, and more.
Host working salons for those seeking feedback on works-in-progress with experts in the related fields.
Provide assistance in form of grant writing workshops, partnerships with city and other large organizations, and more.
Provide training to local institutions/ arts communities regarding removing barriers for women getting into the STEAM fields.
Help secure partnerships with larger institutions for incubator participants by speaking to quality of participants’ work.
Help secure childcare, transportation, equipment, and necessary membership/ association fees for participants who want to engage field research.
Provide professional workshops for women, transgender, and non-binary individuals at no-cost.
Encourage and provide the support necessary to mother researchers to stay engaged in work across a wide spectrum of fields.
Provide a printing press for anthologies and solo works by selected incubator participants.
Provide child friendly networking events so that parent researchers can engage with peers.
Engage in fundraising activities as necessary to secure the longevity of the organization.
(*The above list is a starting point and is open to revision.)
If you want to help with this project (volunteer, host organization, sponsor, etc.), please email suzanneskaar@gmail.com with the subject line “Incubator.”
Our initial meeting with be Saturday, June 22, at 11 a.m. Location to be determined based on number of attendees. A Facebook event will also be created for RSVP purposes.
Governor Jay Inslee has changed his mind and says he is now opposed to the Liquefied Natural Gas Plant in Tacoma, WA. My first impression regarding his change of mind was cynicism. Activists have been fighting for years to protect not only the potential danger to our community from a leak in the storage facility or a derailed train, but those communities in which toxic fracking operations already poison and deplete the water supply. In fact, here is a podcast I produced in 2016 with some of the activists that first brought the dangers of the Tacoma LNG project specifically to the public’s attention. [This was after our community’s successful battle against the proposed Methanol plant.] But this is a huge fight, and we need all the allies we can get: late to the battlefield or not.
We need to pay attention to the science and keep fighting for sound environmental policies. Climate change is real, man-made, and threatens the safety of our current and future generations. The disproportionate impact of climate change on low-income communities and communities of color necessitates that anyone interested in protecting human rights also pay attention to environmental protections.
Use your skills to contribute to this fight: Do your research with credible resources. Question funding sources for studies. Continue to hold elected officials and candidates accountable on these issues. Use the PDC to track campaign contributions. Write letters. Call representatives. Organize rallies. Make posters. Share information via social media. And parents/ educators, teach your kids why activism is so important. Change is possible and imperative.
Now that The Grand Cinema’s 253 Film Screening has happened, I can share some of the work I did in 24 hours (with a 8-hour break for sleep in there).
When I met with Derek Schneider, Candace Schneider, and Caleb Fisher for the first time, I had recently finished working on a presentation regarding immigrant and refugee stories in Tacoma, WA. Much of my other published written work has been on social justice and political issues. I have spent years doing uncredited written material for educational and non-profit institutions, as well as confidential reports for vocational rehabilitation cases. Derek brought forward the concern that he typically produced comedies.
After focusing on such serious material for a long time, I made it clear I was ready for a fun project, and so…
I wrote a script that can be summed up as a feminist poop joke meets Japanese monster movies. And then I scrambled to prepare the costumes and props in time for the shoot.
It’s not completely without redeeming qualities. As a migraine sufferer, I hope this project will draw attention to some people’s reliance on chemical air fresheners in the work place. But let’s be honest: in 72 hours, it’s pretty darn hard to create a 253 second film that meets a competition’s required elements (includes dialogue “back to square one,” references fake news, has a white dress, and includes a scene from a well-known movie) AND serves society beyond entertainment value.
The day before the shoot, Director Derek Schneider dropped off a load of cardboard boxes per my request that we create a model city to destroy. While painting the grid in my yard, a neighbor’s Husky decided to rampage through the city a little early. (Thanks, Shiner.) Actors helped work on this project in between takes on set up until the very end.Actor Sarah Dullanty was awesome to work with. I told her the idea for the costume, and she helped piece together her arm bands and staple claws while I worked on the rest of her costume. She also used her costume making skills to create straps for the inside of the box so she could have more mobility. Paul Figueroa created little satellite dishes for the buildings, and was more than happy to make extras to serve as the robot’s ears.In case it’s not obvious, Actor Sarah Dullanty could not see while in this costume. Props had to be placed into her hands.Actor Alicia Longman was also great to work with through this whole process. Honestly, the whole crew rocked.The turtle armature is light, but not sized to actor Alicia Longman as I met her for the first time on the day of the shoot. For the face, I cut a N95 air filter mask in half and painted it like a turtles nostrils. The elastic did not want to stay on her head, so we used painters tape on the sides. We wanted bad props, and I think we succeeded.Label design for the air freshener, which is the catalyst for the robot vs. turtle fight. Yes, I know, it’s impossible to genetically mutate into a robot. That’s not how science works.
I’m looking forward to my slightly more serious next project, this time as writer/ director/ and probably producer. If you’re interested in working on a feminist dark comedy series for the web, hit me up. I’ll need editors, sound, actors, funding. Camera operators would be great, too. More information to come.
[All photos and text by Suzanne Skaar. All rights reserved. 2019.]
No, Mine! Studios 