Reviews

From Chelsea Record, Weekend Edition Chelsea, Mass., July 16, 1999 by Karen Minich

A SMALL MUSEUM WITH A GRAND EXHIBIT: The Small Museum of Women's Experience opened up at 210 Broadway on Wednesday. The interactive exhibit will close July 31. “All of us are made up of a compilation of memories. Split second moments that define us. It is precisely these experiences that the temporary Small Museum of Women's Experience is all about -- sharing the wisdom and experience of everyday life for women in Chelsea.” “It is a collection of comments, pictures, memorability, clothing and more all donated by local women. It is a chance for Chelsea women to display what they consider to be a moment of their life's upheaval or growth. We give value to everyday things, things that are valuable to them,” said Conway, who has worked in art and theatre for more than 20 years. In the tiny whitewashed 450-square-foot space, Conway and Pratt, Inc. created an interactive exhibit that displays culture and humanity through personal experience. The museum is a voyeuristic approach to the everyday. The exhibit captures the often overlooked beauty of the domestic realm. It is an exhibit that grows and changes with each day, constantly accepting the temporary donations of locals willing to expose a moment in their history. The crisp white walls and the stark black anonymous quotes seem to intensify the words of wisdom. "Everything you learn in the house isn't just drudgery. You're thinking." echoes one woman. Perhaps the most eccentric, yet telling pieces of the exhibit are the grocery lists that hang from the ceiling on golden strings.

From The Art of Public Conversation: A Look at Anna Deavre Smith & The Institute on the Arts & Civic Dialogue Arts Around Boston Summer 1999 (by Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky)

The summer of 1999 brought a new group of artists to Boston. Performance and installation artists Merry Conway and Noni Pratt presented Small Museum of Women's Experience, which represented women who are survivors of homelessness, domestic violence, incarceration and refugee experiences.