44.4 Mother/Artist Collective

Thank you HERIZONS Magazine for the feature piece in your fall issue (appropriately titled THE MOTHER ISSUE) about our show, “Don’t Worry I’ll Only Show You the Good Parts” at the City Hall Art Gallery earlier this year. And thank you Sarah Cullen (@artistparents ) for your beautiful words. We are so grateful for the community that surrounds this work. . . . . . #publicartottawa #motherart #motherhood #motherartist #artistmother #artistmotherpodcast

2nd C, Converse: Knots and Thoughts, A hands-on workshop for stitching text onto fabric. 44.4 is putting on an embroidery as resistance workshop! Come Converse with a community that wants to unravel their knotted thoughts, and help each other gather and trim them into a word or phrase of protest to be sewn onto a t-shirt or teatowel- that will really make a point!  Come learn about textile art, artists, and how to embroider using some basic stitches (no previous sewing ability required!) 44.4 will Provide: Connection at the @ottawaartgallery INReach Sunday, May 31st 3-5pm Conversation about textile art, embroidery and subtle acts of resistance Creative tools, embroidery kit You’ll need to bring an article of clothing like a t-shirt, sweatshirt, tea towel/ outrage you want to channel!  Childcare, by the daughters of 44.4 (not official OAG childcare but will be a legitimate distraction for your kiddos) Can anyone attend? Anyone! Even those who have never threaded a needle (literally) TICKETS available through: Eventbrite, link in Bio.

Happy Mother/Artist Day! Hot off the knitting needles. Segments of “NOW I KNOW WHAT NOTHING MEANS” part of a group exhibition with @44point4 coming this fall @artimageetespaceodyssee Made on @kniterate #conceptualtextileart #machineknitting #mothersdayspecial❤️

🎉Today we are celebrating the work of important mother artists, recently on exhibit at The Art of Care event March 27th @societyclubhouse in Toronto. The Mother Artist Campaign by @44point4 is a slogan campaign that takes the form of commercially printed signs, a publication, and public, private and online interventions. The Mother Artist Campaign calls for a new mindset at the intersection of motherhood and art. ❤️Balancing Act proudly supported the Ottawa-based 44.4 Mother/Artists Collective as a Level UP! partner in 2025! Special thanks to @jmartpilgrim consultant Jagroop Mehta. 🔗Check out the link in our bio for: ⭐️The Mother Artist Campaign/44.4 ⭐️The Art of Care event page #nomothersnoartworld 2 - We Created You, We Can Create Art / No Mothers, No Art World (2025) The Mother Artists Campaign 44.4 Mother/Artist Collective Double sided Chloroplast signs, editions of 24 18 x 24 inches We graciously acknowledge the support of Balancing Act for this campaign. Nous vous avons créés; nous pouvons créer de l‘art / Sans mères, le monde des arts n’existe pas (2025) 3 - Everybody Knows I’m a Mother / Nobody Knows I’m an Artist (2021) The Mother Artists Campaign 44.4 Mother/Artist Collective Double sided Chloroplast signs, editions of 24 18 x 24 inches Je suis mere, c’est bien connu / Je suis artiste, le savais-tu? (2021) 4 - Motherhood is Political / Mother Art is Political (2020) The Mother Artists Campaign 44.4 Mother/Artist Collective Double sided Chloroplast signs, editions of 24 18 x 24 inches La maternité : Un art politique / Notre art : La maternité politique (2020)

SAVE THE DATE! On May 31 we will be having our second InReach event from the series: Connect, Converse, Create at the @ottawaartgallery Titled: KNOTS AND THOUGHTS 🧠 Comment below to guess what the workshop will be about, and we’ll DM you the link once registration opens!

✨MEMBER SPOTLIGHT✨ @jbcherniack The ‘C’ WORD(S). I’m in a sea of ‘c’s this season. Collaborating, collecting, commiserating, conspiring, caring, commemorating, creating, crying, cringing and celebrating. And it’s all done in COMMUNITY. From Broadway Workout dance classes to 44.4, to pottery classes at the Nepean Visual Arts Centre with my daughter, to tennis (no pics, too busy playing!) to the building and maintaining of communities, new (Mothra! Balancing Act! Collabs with pals from Mothra!), and old (besties since Kindergarten still at my side), my life feels chaotic and considered and connected. I’m making work, not taking myself too seriously, and at the risk of this post getting too woo-woo or veering into some toxic positivity bs, feeling very middle-aged (peri-menopause, anyone?). I’ll end with the last c word: cranky. Pic 1 - A collection of tombstones (including a new medium I’m testing - clay!) Pic 2 - Fancy headshot from day job at @canada.council Pic 3 - Just another Monday night of dressing like Robin Williams as Mrs Doubtfire at @broadwayworkout Pic 4- My daughter Sybil at the NVAC Pic 5- @alexamazzarello and I at @balancingactcanada event last week with Val from Workin’ Moms (OMG OMG OMG) representing 44.4 Pic 6- Childhood friends growing up in Winnipeg during the 1980s and still making each other laugh Pic 7- Kate’s daughter took a fire 🔥 pic of Mothra @artistparents pals at last week’s Balancing Act Pic 8- @kate_c_mildew and I exchange art, writing, and feelings via snail mail Pic 9 - A very true quote from my 9-year-old Pic 10 - An epitaph in the works inspired by readings at Mothra Pic 11- 13 - New postcard series for This Town is Small exhibition by Peake Street Collective in PEI! Pic 14 - It didn’t, did it?

Thank you @balancingactcanada for a fabulous event and for all the work you’ve done for artists and caregivers in Canada 🇨🇦❤️

✨MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: @greta_grip ✨ 🏎️ Going Bigger. Going Faster. First: hacking her 80’s knitting machine Now: needed more horse power @kniterate ————————— Soft Work, Hard Money. 💸 Reimagines gendered labor histories from 1898. By knitting—and then asking us to unravel—these obsolete female occupations, she highlights how quickly value is made and unmade. ————————— The “Liar’s Paradox” Knitting statements as “At Least this Is Not Another Painting” or by machine-knitted “glitches” she’s poking fun at the self-seriousness of “High Art.” She even knits the where the art objects were removed in the gallery. Her pieces like “Art Work Temporarily Removed” and “Gallery Closed for Installation” turn the museum’s own language into the art itself. 🖼️💨 —————————— The Layered Unravel (The Reveal) As you pull the thread, the top layer of knitting dissolves, the “undoing” has a purpose: it unveils hidden texts, images and forgotten stories buried beneath the surface. ————————— The Creation vs. Deconstruction 🤖🧶 @greta_grip and @byleejones have built a world of “Autonomous Textiles.” ⚡️ Sensors Triggered: Custom 3D-printed machines start knitting the moment you walk by. 📉 The Great Undoing: At the same time, mechanical unravellers are dismantling panels—turning finished art back into raw yarn.

What does #internationalwomensday mean to you? Comment below 👇

We had a BLAST at the first Connect, Converse, Create In-Reach event of 2026 at the @ottawaartgallery ! We connected deeply with each other and with artwork by @lianafinck conversing via rapid-fire convos (yes, speed-dating!), and we created poignant, funny, and relatable illustrations of our own!   A massive thank you to those who participated. We appreciate your bravery, spirit, and humour, as we tested a new model of 44.4 events!   Missed it? Don’t worry! We’ll have another one coming up in May. Stay tuned for more info!   #artworkshop #community #motherartist #ottawaartist #womenartists

✨ MEMBER SPOTLIGHT ✨ @robynbraggartist : I’m relatively new to 44.4 and I love being a part of this supportive group of amazing artists and mothers. I’m currently living in the UK for a year which has meant a lot of late night zoom calls to stay in touch, but totally worth it! I’m looking forward to participating in my first 44.4 show this fall! I mostly work in collage and encaustic (melted beeswax) but this year I’m keeping things simple and getting back to my collage roots. I’m geeking out on history, architecture and art galleries while I’m here, hoping to bring back a ton of inspiration for my work when I’m back. If you want to see more of my work or sign up to my newsletter you can check out #collage #collageartist #analogcollage #handcutcollage #motherartist

Join us THIS SUNDAY at the Ottawa Art Gallery for an interactive InReach session. 🙌🤝 We’ll connect, converse, and create through rapid-fire conversations and hands-on making. Come find your creative kin, swap ideas, and leave with new connections, and a handmade calling card inspired by artist @lianafinck 📍 OAG (Daly Ave, Studio B) 🗓 Sunday, Feb 22 | 3 PM 🎟 Tickets via Eventbrite LINK IN BIO (kids welcome & free) Hosted by: @jbcherniack @andreamuellerfinejewellery and @art.craftsandsj