ECC art exhibit to address violence against women

A growing global #MeToo movement and increasingly frequent revelations about sexual harassment by celebrities, politicians and other powerful people have fueled a national dialogue about violence against women and men in recent months.

Elgin-area residents will partake in that conversation through a Jan. 30 art exhibit - "Rise. Resist. Revolt." - at Elgin Community College. The exhibit opens with a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Building G Spartan Auditorium on ECC's campus, 1700 Spartan Drive.

It will feature 23 pieces of mixed media artwork representing women and the violence they endure. The guest speaker is Lisa Siders, a fabric artist from Washington whose 13-year-old daughter, Esme, was raped and murdered by a serial killer in March of 2009 in Cincinnati.

Siders' talk is titled "Art: The Sacred Power of Healing." She has made two quilts dedicated to her daughter - one commemorating her birth and another marking Siders' response to Esme's death - that will be part of ECC's art exhibit.

"I watched this quilt be constructed over two years ... it was heartbreaking," said Denise Tracy, a retired Unitarian Universalist minister and president of the Coalition of Elgin Religious Leaders. Tracy ministered to Siders at a Unitarian church in Cincinnati shortly after Esme's death.

"The entire city ached for the loss of this child," Tracy said. "They came together and created concerts and beautiful pieces of art. It was so healing."

The exhibit kicks off Elgin's The Long Red Line event Feb. 14, which supports the One Billion Rising global movement aimed at raising awareness about and resistance to rape culture, sexual assault and harassment. It will run 10 to 11:30 a.m. at ECC. Roughly 350 people attended last year's event, organizers said.

"Women all over the globe rise up and protest against rape, domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment of men, women and children," said Mary Shesgreen, chairwoman of Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice. "The Feb. 14 program is especially designed to awaken an awareness of this in young men and women ... to let people who have had experiences of battery, sexual violence or harassment know that they are not alone, that they can seek out a counselor, and to give them the courage to speak out."

Guest speakers include Elgin Area School District U-46 school board member Traci O'Neal Ellis, who will talk about raising boys, and Elgin Police Chief Jeff Swoboda, who will address men's roles and responsibilities toward changing rape culture and the objectification of women.