Tatyana Fazlalizadeh is an African-American and Iranian artist perhaps best known for the “Stop Telling Women to Smile” public art series. This series addresses gender-based street harassment, a serious issue that affects women world-wide, including on college campuses. “Stop Telling Women to Smile” is a series of portraits of women who have talked with Fazlalizadeh about their own experiences with street harassment. Fazlalizadeh adds statements to the portraits, such as “Stop telling women to smile,” “My name is not baby, shorty, sexy, sweetie, honey, pretty” or “My outfit is not an invitation.” The artist’s goal is two-fold: to create a bold presence for women in an environment where they are often made to feel uncomfortable and unsafe and to stop men from harassing women by helping them to realize their actions and comments are not okay.
While at Northeastern, Tatyana will lead classes that examine the many ways that women are harassed, and how activism can be visualized. She will also lead students and young people on wheat-pasting expeditions in the city of Boston and on Northeastern University’s campus. Finally, she will join a panel of experts on Title IX and the Clery Act to discuss how college campuses can be made safe and welcoming for women.
Check out this NY Times Article about Tatyana’s Work.
Partners: Northeastern Center for the Arts, Communication Studies, Office of Institutional Diversity & Inclusion, Latino/a Student Cultural Center, Social Justice Resource Center, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Northeastern’s Public Art initiative
Tuesday, October 7
10:00 -11:00am – Wheatpaste on campus Site 1 – Forsyth St – Nightingale Hall
2:00 – 3:15pm – Wheatpaste on campus Site 2 – Forsyth St – Latino/a Student Cultural Center
2:00 – 5:00pm – Block Party: Northeastern Stands Together Against Harassment
5:30pm – Public Art, Public Policy: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue on Title IX and the Clery Act
Wednesday, October 8
10:30 – 11:35 Class visit: Communication & Inclusion
11:45 – 12:00 Class visit: Contemporary Directions art history seminar
1:35pm – 2:40pm Class visit: Social Movement Communications
6:00pm – Dinner & conversation with students at the Latino/a Student Cultural Center