Installation of Prelude from Her Voice Carries, 2017.
Her Voice Carries is an art project led by Sarah C. Rutherford and features the unique stories of five women who are working and living in varying communities in Rochester, New York. Each woman has been photographed, interviewed, drawn and painted.
The series of murals are located throughout the five sections of the city of Rochester. The goal was to create a network of murals that weave a collective story laced with individual truths. Further, this series of murals emphasizes the commonalities of our human experience through the leadership of empowered women.
Left to right: Rachel McKibbens, Imani Olear, KaeLyn Rich, Safi Osman, and Trelawney McCoy. Photos: Hannah Betts.
MAG’s installation, Her Voice Carries | Prelude, serves as the key to the entire project. The map portion of the installation displays the city locations of all five murals along with descriptions of the women featured in the project. While each mural in the community features one woman’s voice, this installation at MAG is home to all five women together. MAG would like to encourage visitors to seek out the murals throughout the city.
The seeds of Her Voice Carries are planted here in Rochester, a city that has deeply impacted my growth as a young artist and a young woman. This project is my love letter to Rochester and was born from my individual search for connections and desire to understand our city as a whole. We so easily fall into the same routines and networks. I hope to encourage people to expand their circles, allow them to overlap and listen to the women and their voices around our community.
