Do you remember Lollapalooza? If not, I’ll bet your mom does. And the moms are changing it up a bit with Mamapalooza on Saturday, May 4, featuring a great music lineup along with a healthy dose of art, history, crafts, and fun for the kids. It’s all put on by the Museum of Motherhood and the Fairgrounds St. Pete and takes place from 10am-4pm at The Factory, 2606 Fairfield Ave S, St. Petersburg.
Who knew St. Pete had a Museum of Motherhood? And not just a Museum of Motherhood, the Museum of Motherhood. It’s the first of its kind, and founder Joy Rose is a leader in the burgeoning field of “mother studies.” She relocated to St. Petersburg from New York City, where she was part of the edgy art and rock scene of the 1980s. (Joy actually won MTV’s Basement Tapes in 1984, and the Youtube video is a fantastic trip down memory lane for those of us who remember the 1980s.)
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The Museum of Motherhood, or MoM, is the first and only exhibition and education center devoted to the art, science, and history of women, m/others, and families. Joy notes “There’s never been a museum of motherhood. This is an emerging field of art and scholarship. We focus on the last 250 years of American motherhood, and that includes women, families, and all reproductive identities. And what I mean by that is: not everyone who tries to have a child ends up having a child, but there’s surrogacy, adoption, fostering, caring for pets, being an auntie-mom. There are so many ways to mother. There’s also a lot about infertility, loss, and abortion”
Mary Havlock is a mother of twins who wandered into the Museum of Motherhood one day and now is a dedicated volunteer. She described Mamapalooza 2024 as “putting m/others center stage and celebrating the families, artwork, institutions and businesses that they create. It is a culmination of the efforts of The Museum of Motherhood to recognize that there is no one way to do motherhood, and we should not limit moms.”
There’s definitely no limiting founder Joy Rose, who along with running the museum and organizing Mamapalooza will also perform with her band MaMa. When asked why she moved the Museum, which she started nearly 20 years ago in New York, to St. Petersburg, Joy said that St. Pete in 2024 reminds her a little of New York City in its heyday. “In some ways, the band is back together here in St. Pete. I feel that same energy. It’s about having the bandwidth and the opportunity to be creative and having enough flexibility in your living and work situations to make it happen.”
The Museum of Motherhood is certainly creative, with a boob/food chair, a vulva couch, and evocative artwork and exhibits that challenge the visitor to think, feel, and learn something, which is Joy’s goal. “People always love us, people think its so provocative and so cool, and they’ll find themselves in tears, telling difficult stories. We don’t have many places where you can share these kinds of stories, so I’ll be privvy to really powerful stories by people. And that’s the intention – to start great conversations while featuring provocative exhibits and education and hoping that filters into our culture and changes the general narrative.”
Mamapalooza’s musical lineup also includes Hex Appeal and Girls Rock St. Pete, Christin Alynn, Nora & Susan, and Tommy & Mimi and the Rum Syndicate. Along with music, Mamapalooza will feature a display of midwifery artifacts from the early 1900s from the Ybor City Museum Society, a talk on work/life balance from Stephanie Allen of Stephanie Allen Coaching, a “Moms Rock” photo booth with pictures posted online, and lots of fun activities for the kids. You can learn more here.
The Museum of Motherhood‘s regular hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 12 -6 pm. Admission is free.
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