September 26, 5:00-7:00pm | Nancy Nicholas Hall Main Entrance
Join us in celebrating the opening of It’s All the Rage: Activism, Aging, and the Raging Grannies of Madison. The Raging Grannies will be present and preforming at 5:30pm.
It’s All the Rage: Activism, Aging, and the Raging Grannies of Madison grows from a two-year archival and oral history project. This exhibit focuses on several decades of local Wisconsin grassroots activism enacted by the Madison and Dane County Raging Grannies.
Featuring an array of granny hats, aprons, songbooks, buttons, and instruments, as well as video and audio clips of their original songs and engaging stories, this exhibit explores how senior women have engaged in a wide variety of protest activities. Raging Grannies performances center on human dignity, civic values, and gender and racial equality. It’s All the Rage explores the past, present and future of this organization, with a focus on the community, and the friendships formed in the process.
The venue and backdrop for the displays is the School of Human Ecology, home to the academic departments of Civil Society & Community Studies, and Human Development & Family Studies, which collectively study civic engagement, building community, health aging, and quality of life tied to relationships. It is also home to the Center for Design & Material Culture, which engages campus scholars as well as students in learning through class visits and activities. The project supports the CDMC’s seasonal theme of “In Progress” by exploring how this community created through activism contributes to healthy aging. The Raging Grannies will invite visitors into their processes of crafting materials and writing songs.
The exhibition is a result of a collaboration between the Center for Design and Material Culture, the UW–Madison Intergenerational Activism and Gender Research Group, and the Raging Grannies of Madison.
Support for this exhibition comes from the Anonymous Fund, Center for Research on Gender and Women, the Raging Grannies of Madison and Dane County, and the Intergenerational Activism and Gender Research Group.
