On Sept. 20, estrogen levels may begin to rise in Chicago. That day marks the kick-off of the second annual Estrojam, a music and cultural festival featuring a seven-day spree of women’s music, art, film, and photography, taking place at different venues all over the city. Estrojam will bring together more than 60 female musicians, artists, educators, activists, and organizers. As if a week of performances by internationally acclaimed women is not reason enough to check it out, the festival also features workshops designed to empower and inspire women, a mini film festival, a youth educational program, and fabulous opening and closing parties that are not to be missed.
Estrojam is a non-profit organization that is fiscally sponsored by Women in the Director’s Chair (WIDC), one of the oldest and longest-running art/activist centers in the country, created to promote and educate people about woman-made media. WIDC is internationally recognized for its annual film and video festival that takes place in March in Chicago (see www.widc.org for more information). 2004 Estrojam proceeds will benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Lesbian Community Cancer Project (LCCP), and WIDC.
From start to finish, from lights to sound to publicity, Estrojam is all about women. The idea to create the festival grew in response to the obvious lack of representation of women in the creative and technical aspects of music, art, and filmmaking. More often than not, the people writing the songs, designing the stages, directing the films, producing the festivals, approving the budgets, and generally calling the shots—are men. Recognizing the culture created by the exclusion of women, Estrojam’s mission is simple: ‘Estrojam seeks to create spaces where women can cultivate their talents in all creative areas, try out new ideas, develop new skills, and share knowledge.’
Festival Director, Tammy Creswell, a graduate of Boston University and Columbia College, and an accomplished activist and filmmaker, has long had a passion for redefining femininity. Creswell has lived and studied women’s roles in Africa, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Northern Ireland. Her experiences abroad naturally had a profound impact on how she perceived women’s roles and femininity when she returned to the States.
Creswell explained, ‘When I came back to America, I started realizing how much our media didn’t represent all types of women and aimed at making people, especially women, feel marginally dissatisfied with their lives in order to perpetuate a cycle of consumerism. Seeing this all at once made me want to try to help create social change in this area.’
Shortly after, Creswell began working on her documentary entitled Coup d’etat, about women who are redefining femininity through artistic expression, with Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Kathleen Hanna (Le Tigre), Harriet Dodge, Miranda July, and The Butchies. From there, Creswell got involved with Ladyfest Midwest, which, in turn, led her to roll up her sleeves and begin organizing the first Estrojam in 2003.
Co-Directors Carmen Slovanski, a CPA by day, who is working hard to make Estrojam financially successful, and Bethany Watson, who lends her background in event production and business development, join Creswell in producing the festival. Creswell, Slovanski, Watson, and their diverse team of artists, musicians, designers, event coordinators, and volunteers are excited for Estrojam 2004, and are pleased to present a truly amazing line-up of female performers throughout the week.
Estrojam 2004 starts on Monday, Sept. 20 with an Opening Night Party and Art Exhibition, entitled ‘Vixens, Sirens and Shooting Stars: a photographic portrayal of modern women,’ at Urban Studio (1450 W. Webster). The opening art exhibition will feature the work of Callie Lipkin, Flynn, Celesta Danger, and Jennifer Catlin. This party, with wine, hor d’oeuvres, art, and a room full of inspiring women, promises to be a tantalizing taste of the week ahead. ‘You do not want to miss this exciting launch of the 2004 festival,’ Creswell said.
After the opening, the whirlwind of performances, parties, and workshops begins. Tuesday, Sept. 21 is Singer Songwriter / Spoken Word Night at Filter (1585 N. Milwaukee), hosted by Good Sister Bad Sister. Be sure to catch Mahina Movement, a New York City-based performance group that creates songs and poems that combine folk, blues, and hip hop music to raise awareness about social and political injustices. Moana of Mahina Movement explained that the group’s work ‘represents the ‘joining spaces’ that people would never think would be possible: like Folk, Hip Hop, Black, Chicana, and Togan identities, queerness, feminism, theatre, and revolution.’
Schuba’s (3159 N. Southport) hosts Estrojam on Wednesday, Sept. 22 for the Mid-Week Bash, hosted by the Chicago Kings. If you haven’t seen the Kings at one of their gender-bending shows, you won’t want to miss this entertaining drag king troupe in action tonight. The Butchies will perform at 11 p.m. The band’s latest album Make Yr Life, released earlier this year, is undoubtedly their most lyrically sophisticated and musically complex recording yet, but still has that edgy quality that fans have come to expect and love from the trio. Lead singer Kaia Wilson said of the album, ‘To me it’s no less political [than previous albums]. It’s a bunch of love songs for girls. Our politics are about who we are, how we present ourselves in the world.’ After the Butchies, stick around for a Dance Party with DJ Ali McDonald of Think Pink/WLUW.
Thursday’s schedule is action-packed. Festival-goers can choose between Alternative Country Night at Martyr’s (3855 N. Lincoln) and the Estrojam Film Festival at Chicago Filmmakers (5243 N. Clark). Country music fans won’t want to miss Wanda Jackson, the two-time Grammy-nominated queen of rockabilly. With 50 years of recording under her belt, Jackson has performed with Elvis Presley and toured with Jerry Lee Lewis. If film is more your style, stop by the festival to see More Than Words, directed by Cyra Polizzi, Rough Cut, directed by Logan Kibbens, and Nobody Knows My Name, directed by Rachel Raimist.
On Friday, Sept. 24, Martyr’s (3855 N. Lincoln) will be the site of a night full of diverse musical styles and the Late Show Official Festival Party. The evening will begin with an intimate acoustic set with local favorite Cathy Richardson, Anne Harris, Kaki King, and Danielle Howle. Howle, from Amy Ray’s Daemon Records, flies beneath the radar of mainstream radio, so tonight is the night to check her out live right in Chicago. The New York Times described Howle as ‘a Southern storyteller with a gorgeous sense of melody and a voice that should be pouring out of stereos everywhere … but she is true to the underground rock community that first nurtured her and has not made the leap to televised fame. If she never gets there, consider yourself lucky to have found her; she is one to treasure.’ After the acoustic set Sini Anderson, founder of Sister Spit, will host the Late Show, including B-Girl Break Dancing Battle and a performance by Northern State, an all-female rap group, shaking up the hip-hop scene with feminist lyrics. Speaking about their experiences creating a style of music typically dominated by men, Sprout of Northern State explained, ‘Most of the places we go—we’re usually the only women … at clubs, shows, festivals, in the studio—it’s a series of situations where we feel like a fish out of water.’ But she insists that writing feminist lyrics just comes naturally. ‘We are who we are, and we write about what we know and how we understand the world around us. Pop culture, politics, the role of men and women in music and in the world—we can’t pretend to be something we’re not and try to front like these things aren’t important to us.’
It’s hard to believe, given the jam-packed performance schedule Monday through Friday, but if you can only pick one day, Saturday, Sept. 25 is the day to go to Estrojam. Saturday is an all-day affair at Wicker Park (1425 N. Damen) featuring a series of workshops and a Women’s Outreach & Resource Fair, in addition to the usual great line-up of musicians. The workshops, designed to empower women to create, build, and collaborate, include sessions such as Strong Women Financial Solutions, Guerilla Filmmaking, Women in Music Business Panel, and Distribution 101. Creswell encourages Estrojammers not to miss this day: ‘Go to the workshops on Saturday, they are the pulse of the fest and are going to be really amazing!’ Musical highlights on Saturday include Ubaka Hill, Aerin Tedesco / Andrea Bunch, and Kinnie Starr. Starr, a Canadian-based tri-lingual songwriter whose work was recently featured on The L Word and in the indie feature film Thirteen, will make her Chicago performance debut at Estrojam 2004.
The last day of Estrojam, Sunday Sept. 26, fortunately coincides with the Chicago Historical Society’s (CHS) last in a three-part series on LGBT history, entitled Out at CHS: Exploring the LGBT Past. The program is called Women, Womyn, Girls, and Kings, and will explore the evolution of the lesbian-feminist women’s music culture through musical performances and discussion panels. See article on page 15 for more information. Visit www.chicagohs.org to purchase tickets.
After the CHS event, Estrojam 2004 will wind down with a Closing Night Performance and Celebration at The Hothouse (31 E. Balbo). Join festival organizers as they toast to what is sure to be the second successful Estrojam festival, and enjoy performances by Myshkin, Meisha Herron, and others.
Mark your calendars ladies (and gentlemen, of course), Estrojam 2004 is right around the corner. This festival promises to be an empowering celebration of artists who are redefining media portrayals of women and creating a space where, at least for this week, women write the music, create the art, direct the films, and call the shots. So whether you’re a woman in the arts or you just enjoy checking out new music, art, and film being created by talented women, you won’t want to miss out on the extravaganza of performances and parties. Full festival passes may be purchased for $55, and individual event tickets range from $5-$15. For a full festival schedule and to purchase tickets, visit www.estrojam.org.