Up-Stand x Rica
Christine Serdjenian Yearwood and Rica Takashima
Purpose:
We are a group of mothers –We bring attention to the accommodations that pregnant women and families need in order to make New York City more family-friendly and accessible. Working together, we can draw attention to this cause, increase awareness about our movements, and provide practical follow-up information and materials to support pregnant women and families.
Our activity has three parts:
Interactive art show,
Free workshop, and
Provision of practical follow-up information and materials.
A family-friendly interactive art show using a Peekaboo-sculpture and a wearable-sculpture.
A free fun workshop of making a pin to show support for pregnant women and new moms lead by artists.
We provide practical follow-up information and materials including accessibility signs, pregnancy passes and pins at our information table/booth.
Schedule:
・Sunday, June 11th, 10am-12pm
Part of Mompreneurs’ Summer Show & Tell
Astoria Park, Queens
・Sunday, August 20th, 12-4pm
Part of Boogie On The Boulevard
165th Street and Grand Concourse, The Bronx.
Supported by BxArts Factory and Bronx Museum.
・Harvest Festival, October TBA
Randall’s Island Park, New York
・Socrates Sculpture Park, LIC, TBA
Rica’s story:
The reason I am doing this is because when I was pregnant years ago, I experienced many things that I had never imagined before. My sense of taste became sensitive and I could clearly differentiate between organic and non-organic vegetables and other produce. I cooked more at home.
My sense of smell had become sensitive as well. I was concerned about the smell of detergents and bleach. I started to use natural, safe detergents such as baking soda and soap. I was concerned about the bad smell of pollution in urban cities and got used to spending time in the park and the suburbs. After giving birth, I lost the this sensitivity and returned to the way my senses had been before pregnancy, but since that time I began to think about recycling, organic foods, and the environment more seriously. I started to tell my story t people, and wish people think about pregnant women, babies and our better communities.
Rica’s website: http://aliensnewyork.wixsite.com/mysite
Christine’s story:
Since giving birth and starting the UP-STAND movement, I have listened to countless pregnancy horror stories about a lack of accommodations and inaccessible spaces - Trying to find a store that would offer a restroom, health complications from being expected to perform dangerous work, standing too long with circulation issues, carrying something too heavy, fainting from exhaustion or motion sickness, and being shoved in line or onto crowded trains.
Pregnancy can change a woman’s body in extreme ways: Fatigue, nausea, backaches and headaches, dizziness, a shifting center of gravity and imbalance, carpal tunnel syndrome and a poor grip, leg cramps and blurry vision. Many women experience these health complications starting before pregnancy is visible and lasting through labor and delivery.
Many people are also unaware of these typical changes, and are even less aware of the serious complications women can experience during pregnancy. New York treats pregnancy as something that may be accommodated as a courtesy, but has almost zero institutional, practical support to make public spaces and transportation accessible. Our movement encourages people and places to provide family-friendly accommodations as policy whenever possible.
