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‘S.L.A.Y.’ art gallery celebrates women in the workplace

The “S.L.A.Y – Strong Ladies Aiding You” panel also included an accompanying art gallery featuring images of historical female figures such as Sally Ride and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The art exhibit will be open through Sunday. (Farida Saleh/Daily Bruin)

"S.L.A.Y. – Strong Ladies Aiding You" Hosted by the Mortar Board National Senior Honor Society Kerckhoff Art Gallery Through Sunday

By Olivia Mazzucato

Feb. 13, 2017 9:44 p.m.

The word “slay” colloquially means to succeed at something amazing, but for UCLA national honor society Mortar Board, it’s an acronym for empowerment.

“S.L.A.Y. – Strong Ladies Aiding You” is a multisensory gallery hosted by Mortar Board, running until Sunday in Kerckhoff Art Gallery. The exhibit features pictures and descriptions of influential female figures from history such as Sally Ride and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, celebrating past advancements and looking forward toward the future with regard to women in the workplace.

Although the honor society is now co-ed, the event was designed to honor the fact that Mortar Board was one of the first honor societies founded by women, said Garrett Elliott, Mortar Board’s webmaster and historian. The event’s focus on featuring strong women is a way to pay homage to the history of the organization, Elliott said.

The event also serves as the kickoff for Mortar Board Week, dedicated to raising awareness about the society and encouraging students to apply.

Mortar Board seeks to offer students insight into women’s roles in the workplace and the ways they are being redefined, said Elyse Berlinberg, vice president of Mortar Board.

“It was important to honor the achievements that women have made because there have been a lot of changes in women’s roles and gender expectations in the workplace,” Berlinberg said.

The S.L.A.Y. planning committee worked to create a comprehensive list that featured a range of women for the photography display. Members selected archival photos of women from scientific, political and artistic backgrounds, to create a cohesive exhibit of women that was relevant and meaningful to attendees, Berlinberg said.

“I really connected a lot with Sally Ride,” Berlinberg said. “I’m interested in going into STEM fields and … there is so much that is put into becoming an astronaut.”

Mortar Board also wanted the selected women to represent different backgrounds, both in terms of occupation and advocacy. The committee made an effort to include women who challenged different standards, from conventional beauty standards to those concerning a woman’s role within society, Elliott said.

“We wanted to represent different factors of the diverse community that represents the United States as well as represents our campus here at UCLA,” Elliott said. “We really were looking for people to push that boundary.”

Attendees of S.L.A.Y. have the option to write their emotional feedback and reactions to the images of the women on Post-it notes and stick them to the wall next to the photographs. The interactive aspect was conceived as a way to allow students insight into the minds of their peers, Elliott said

The Post-it notes let students interact with the exhibit, allowing them to reflect and discuss the photographs and how the art made them feel, Berlinberg said.

On Monday, the opening night of the exhibit, Mortar Board hosted a panel featuring a group of prominent female leaders from different backgrounds. Many of the women were alumni, while others simply had connections to UCLA. The planning committee tried to find women from multiple disciplines in order to discuss the ways in which gender inclusion has occurred across fields, Berlinberg said.

One such panelist was UCLA alumna Marianne Ellis, president of Veo Group, a marketing and advertising company based in Los Angeles. Ellis has previously spoken at UCLA events, including “Interview with a Bruin” and a sorority career day, but still jumped at the chance to speak to S.L.A.Y.’s audience, Ellis said.

Ellis offered specific advice for young women based on her own experiences and observations from her lengthy career in advertising.

“I’ve watched women undercut themselves,” Ellis said. “The most important thing that these young women need to learn is they need to take an extra dose of confidence and not worry if they can’t 100 percent do an opportunity that’s put in front of them, they just need to go for it.”

Ellis also had advice for men and women, focusing on ways to aid upcoming graduates preparing to head into the workforce. Her advice came down to three main points – finding a mentor, taking available opportunities and being flexible to change.

Fourth-year anthropology student Christina Vuong was especially impressed with the variety of backgrounds and stories she heard.

“It made me feel really empowered,” Vuong said. “It made me feel like I could be as successful as them too … There’s a lot of work left to be done and I know that, but the advice that they’ve given makes it feel like anything’s possible if you just try hard enough.”

Whether students attended the panel or simply visit the gallery later on in the week, Mortar Board hopes those attending walk away with the same message, Elliott said.

“We think about history in the way that it’s presented to us and far too often, women aren’t presented in history the way they should be,” Elliott said. “I want people to come to the event and I want them to have hope based upon these past leaders that they see in the art gallery room.”

After the panel, students walked away with their own thoughts and impressions about women in the workplace and the meaning of the word “slay.”

“I don’t have a fun acronym, but to me, when I think of the world “slay,” I think of just boldness,” Vuong said. “Just slaying it as in doing great, accomplishing what you set out to do.”

 

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Olivia Mazzucato
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