...TO OUR UNBORN CHILDREN

An Exploration of a Woman’s Decision to Remain Child-Free by Choice

ARTIST STATEMENT

Child-free women arrive at their decision not to have children for many reasons, and one can find a lot of articles and interviews where women are defending and explaining their choice to the world. However, we wanted to explore this very personal decision from a unique perspective: What are the conversations (conscious or subconscious) that a woman* must have with her unborn children when deciding not to bring them into this world? How would the potential biological parent within her explain her decision to her potential biological children? Is she still a mother, even if she doesn’t bring children into the world? What exactly is a mother? We would like to help bring new meaning to the word, and introduce the idea that motherhood can be experienced across many dimensions, relationships, genders, and life experiences.

Furthermore, what spaces are available for women who are child-free by choice to connect with other like-minded women and share the complexities around making this decision without fear of judgment? Our research has shown that, unfortunately, those spaces are limited. We would like to use this body of work to create safe and welcoming spaces for women to come together and have these honest, vulnerable conversations.

NOW CLOSED: We created a survey to help us conduct research for this project, and launched a private Marco Polo group to foster deeper connections and conversations around this project and its subject matter. Our survey is open and inclusive to anyone who identifies as a *woman – cis, AFAB, non-binary, genderfluid, or trans-feminine.

Fundraiser update as of 9/10/24: Our goal is $1000 to cover the cost of supplies, website costs, marketing and promotion, and printed materials for the exhibition(s).

We have raised $410 toward our goal so far. Thank you to our donors!

Anyone who donates $25 or more will receive a print of your favorite Letter from the final collection!

Donate in increments of $5, $10, or $25 here:

Thank you so much for your support! If you’re new here, keep scrolling!

Letters to Our Unborn Children is a collaborative visual arts project led by artists Sarah Saturday and Tarri Driver. Development and production will span several months and will culminate with a public exhibition in Nashville, Tennessee.

PROJECT BIO

In 2017, Sarah began developing the idea for a visual arts exhibit showcasing the inner-workings of a woman’s* decision to remain child-free by choice, through the unique lens of letters from a mother to her unborn children. In 2023, Sarah brought this idea to Tarri with the hopes of combining their shared child-free experiences with their unique artistic skill sets to produce a large-scale exhibit. Tarri loved the idea, and the two began developing the project timeline at the end of 2023.

Sarah & Tarri will take the next nine months to complete the project, which will entail conducting a worldwide survey of child-free-by-choice women, finding the themes and patterns among the results, and collaborating with several literary and visual artists to compile the final pieces for an exhibit that will open in October.

TIMELINE: 40 WEEKS

✅ FIRST TRIMESTER: Research and Development (Jan - Mar 2024)

✅ SECOND TRIMESTER: Creation and Production (Apr - JUN 2024)

👉 THIRD TRIMESTER: COMPLETION, Marketing, and Publicity (JUL - SEP 2024)

This phase will consist of finishing the pieces, announcing and promoting the pop-up show in October, and submitting for exhibition consideration at various galleries.

DUE DATE (OCT 2024)

Letters to Our Unborn Children will open with a pop-up show at COOP Gallery in October 2024 in Nashville. Join our email list for details.

For questions or publicity inquiries, please email contact@sarahsaturday.com

Artist Bios

Tarri Driver (she/her) is a lifelong creative artist with a wide range of independent, academic, professional and therapeutic arts experience. Her decade of work as an art therapist in Nashville (in public schools and a children’s hospital)—along with her experience teaching college-level art therapy courses and later years as an independent art instructor—inform both her worldview and her art. Since relocating from Nashville to a small town in East Tennessee, Tarri has retired from her career as an art therapist and re-embraced studio artmaking from her home studio, where she writes, illustrates, publishes original work, designs commissions and devises new creative projects. She is currently writing and illustrating the third children’s book in her Lunar Mooner Lula series, and a new book of short stories for adults. Inspired by the forest, the mountains, her garden and local critters, Tarri hopes to make some sense of the world, bring joy and beauty, and provoke thoughtful reflection. www.lunarmoonerlula.com

Sarah Saturday (she/her) is an interdisciplinary musician, producer, writer, and performance artist known by her stage name, Gardening, Not Architecture. A recipient of the Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship (FY2024), Sarah has made a name for herself in the Nashville performance art community with her deeply vulnerable, complex, visually stunning performances. She has released several albums, singles, remixes, videos, films, and multimedia performances since 2007, and played over 200 shows in the U.S. and Canada since 2009. She has scored music for film and TV, including creating the original score for the feature film Superpowerless. In 2012, Sarah relocated to Nashville from Los Angeles. Her most recent release is a 40-minute solo multimedia visual album performance piece entitled Voyage. Her releases are heavily visual and often include handmade artwork and costumes, limited edition handmade merchandise, and other visual art elements. www.sarahsaturday.com