The Women’s Center celebrates International Women’s Day

Painter and activist Peggy Lipschutz and Chicago folk musician Rebecca Armstrong will converse about Lipschutz’s eight decades of making art that challenges ideas about racism, sexism, politics, health, justice and meaning to create a more just and inclusive world. 

“The Arts as Tools of Social Change” is hosted by the Women’s Center at Northwestern University and The Block Museum of Art in celebration of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. The event takes place March 6, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive on the Evanston campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Now 100 years old, Lipschutz is still creating art and avidly following the news, inspiring and encouraging those around her to take up the good fight and strive for what is “strong, beautiful and true.”

Interviewing the fierce fighter for social justice is Armstrong, who has worked closely with Lipschutz over the years. The two artists teamed up in 1978 to form the act “Songs You Can See” for Chicago arts-in-education agency Urban Gateways. The duo went on to perform in more than 800 schools over the next 20 years. They created programs on topics like work, immigration, black history, the Holocaust, Jane Addams and ecology.

“The Arts as Tools of Social Change” is part of the Women’s Center’s 2018/2019 programming theme “Gender, Work and Power.”

For more information contact The Women’s Center at 847-491-7360 or visit the event page on Facebook. 

Painter and musician

Peggy Lipschutz, a painter and chalk-talk artist  has dedicated most of her 100 years on the planet to making art that focuses on the politics that affect the lives of ordinary people. She came to the U.S. as a young woman when her family was fleeing Hitler, and she has spent the past 80 years honing her craft as a painter and cartoonist. Lipschutz’s work has appeared in numerous publications, on book covers, record jackets, flyers, parade floats and films. A documentary on her life entitled “Never Turning Back” traces her long involvement with progressive movements.

Rebecca Armstrong, a mythologist, musician and minister, grew up in Chicago’s “first family of folk.” Her parents, George and Gerry Armstrong, were founding members of the Old Town School of Folk Music. The Armstrong Family performed regularly at folk festivals around the country and in Chicago venues. Armstrong has been teaching in higher education for 20 years. She also served as international outreach director for the Joseph Campbell Foundation for 12 years, leading intensive workshops related to Campbell’s work including the hero’s journey, love and partnership and the future of myth.