A constellation of women
This day to celebrate women makes me feel proud and fearful, heart-full and heart-raw. It makes me think of all the incredible, resourceful, brave women around me who overcome, and take the blows of life, standing up again and again with hope and humour.
Wild Rumpus stands across the arts, festival, and environmental sectors. Sectors which are full to the seams with creative, bold women; making art, juggling lives, packing vans, working late, trying to be heard in rooms full of men with loud voices.
Women who are;
making friends,
building people up,
being late,
being tearful,
feeling like imposters,
working hard,
working harder,
working even harder,
it takes my breath away.
Wild Rumpus was founded by Sarah and I, and it blurred our worlds of family/art /funding/home/friendships/woodlands/etc, as we tried to craft and curate something that felt big, and important. It took me, and takes me away from other parts of my life, it sometimes feels worth it, and sometimes it doesn’t.
Like every woman I know, my life is a rich, complex, torturous balancing act.
But we make art, help others make art, tell our stories, and keep.on.going. And sometimes, beautiful and wondrous things emerge.
Here are a handful of women from my working life and around the edges of it, who blow me away.
I could have named 10, 50, 100, 500, because my life is bursting with them!
Jess Rost
sculptor, activist, forager.
Jess came to Wild Rumpus to share our space at Ashbank Farm and now runs that space herself as Ashbank Arts, as we shifted back down the lane to the Whirligig Woods.
Jess is a brave wonder. She grows and nurtures ideas, plants, and people. Jess has brought wonderful sanctuary spaces and joyous interventions to many of our projects. She’s arsey, and kind, a wild warrior who faces all that life throws at her head on.
Sue Torres
events co-ordinator.
Sue came into the Wild Rumpus world and calmed our choppy waters in the first few years of Just So. Founder and leader of Wicked Events, Sue has built a family of volunteers and staff who keep the car parks and sites of so many festivals running smoothly. A steady soul, who juggles all sorts of characters (including me) with such grace. I often refer to festival get in, when we regather in our beloved fields, as a family reunion, and Sue is at the heart of that.
My heart lifts when her beautiful green van pulls in to the Timber campsite every year.
Maira Gamas and Joana Germani
creative collaborators in Brazil.
Each September they produce our sister festival, Just So Brazil. A decade ago, they took the greatest leap of faith, reaching out across the airwaves to say hello, a relationship that has developed and deepened into the wonder of our beloved Just So being shared so beautifully.
Building it from scratch, keeping the faith in the face of high winds, flash flood and extreme heat, they are resilient, passionate and amazing. Our shared love of Just So, and the families who come and play with us in the woods, in Cheshire and Campinas, is a fierce and shining light in my life!
Ella Kasperowicz
our sunshine girl!
Ella is a brilliant, bold illustrator, who joined us as a volunteer at Just So Festival years ago and we’ve kept her tangled in our net through any means necessary, with commissioned murals and illustrations, and ongoing generous volunteering.
From the ham counter at Tesco, to her own sanctuary of a studio, Ella is a shining, sparking example of a woman bursting with hopes and dreams, battling through all sorts of crap with her heart open and vulnerable, fighting to be the person she wants to be. The energy she brings is so bright and honest.
Kim Hopson
is a New York based visual artist.
Kim creates work through painting, collage, and mixed media. She is also my sister-in-law and the mother of my nephews. Kim’s honest, raw, tenacious and open exploration of her life through her work is a wonder.
She explores identity, motherhood and limb difference in challenging, courageous work. She is honest and sensitive in her life and her work, kind and funny and really bloody clever. Another woman I’m lucky to have in my constellation.
– Rowan Cannon. Founder and Director or Wild Rumpus.