Birthing Beautiful Communities
Dear
Free Opening Night Fri. January 24, 2025
Winter/Spring Opening Night Celebration
Free and open to all
Friday, January 24, 2025, from 6-9 PM
Exhibitions runs January 24-June 1, 2025
Dear is a heartfelt tribute to the strength, resilience, and beauty of Black motherhood and the community that
supports it. This multi-sensory exhibition offers a comprehensive exploration of the work of Birthing Beautiful
Communities, highlighting the significance of care and affirmation. The title, Dear, represents both a term of
endearment and a symbol of the village that uplifts Black motherhood. Dear is an ode to the power of community
and the enduring bond of motherhood.
On the exhibition, Jazmin Long, MSSA/MNO, President & CEO, Birthing Beautiful Communities, adds:
“Dear is a love letter to Black mothers and women everywhere, celebrating the families we create and the simple
joys that emerge when surrounded by the love of a village. Birthing Beautiful Communities is proud to reflect this
village, providing culturally centered care that empowers Black mothers on their journeys of joy, healing, and
transformation. We are excited to partner with the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland to bring this
powerful exhibit to life, honoring the vital role of families, friends, and communities in uplifting Black mothers.”
Megan Reich, Kohl Executive Director, moCa Cleveland, adds: “Through exhibitions that explore transformation, natural agency, and the power of care, moCa Cleveland
reaffirms its role as a vital space for connection and discovery through art. These projects exemplify our
dedication to supporting artists who pursue the whys of our shared humanity and push the boundaries of
artistic practice and excellence.”
Generous support provided by The George Gund Foundation.
Exhibition creation & design: shark & minnow
Photography: Dana McKinney, shark & minnow
Videography: Ashwin Gokhale, shark & minnow
About Birthing Beautiful Communities
Birthing Beautiful Communities (BBC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing and eliminating racial
disparities in maternal and infant health. Founded in 2014, BBC provides culturally competent, community-based
perinatal support services to families in Northeast Ohio. Through doula services, mental health support, and
childbirth education, BBC empowers mothers, strengthens families, and improves birth outcomes. With a focus
on advocacy, education, and holistic care, BBC has served over 2,000 mothers, babies, and families and trained
over 200 women to become doulas. Additionally, BBC has consistently maintained a 91% full-term birth rate and
an 83% breastfeeding initiation rate among program participants. BBC is building a state-of-the-art
freestanding birth center to further its mission of creating equitable, nurturing spaces where mothers and
babies thrive. To learn more, visit www.birthingbeautiful.org.
Photo: shark&minnow
Admission & Hours
Daily Admission at moCa Cleveland is free for those living in Ohio and for youth 18 years old and under.
$10 admission for adults living outside of Ohio.
Museum Hours
(NEW HOURS)Thursday & Friday, 1PM-8PM
Saturday & Sunday, 11AM-5PM
Holiday hours available at mocacleveland.org
About moCa Cleveland
moCa Cleveland is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of contemporary art while serving as a cultural hub for
the community. Our mission is Art Now, In Progress which focuses on growing and achieving with forward
momentum while always developing and striving to ignite creativity. With rotating exhibitions, educational
programs, and public events, moCa remains a pillar of artistic innovation and engagement in the Midwest.
Since its founding in 1968, moCa has presented the works of more than three thousand artists, often through
artists’ first solo shows. Soon after its founding, moCa was the first in the region to exhibit the works of man
vanguard artists such as Laurie Anderson, Christo, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Adrian Piper, and Andy
Warhol. Recent artist commissions and solo exhibitions include work by Tauba Auerbach, Simon Denny,
Aleksandra Domanović, Michelle Grabner, Byron Kim, Ragnar Kjartansson, Tony Lewis, Kirk Mangus, Catherine
Opie, Adam Pendleton, Sondra Perry, Joyce J. Scott, Do Ho Suh, Liu Wei, Renée Green, and Nina Chanel Abney,
among many others.
2025 Institutional Sponsors
Leadership donors supporting moCa’s mission include gifts to the Art Now Fund: Anonymous, Yuval Brisker,
Joanne Cohen & Morris Wheeler, Margaret Cohen & Kevin Rahilly, Dealer Tire, Char & Chuck Fowler, Agnes Gund,
Jan Lewis, Roy Minoff, and The Sunday Painter; the Connecting Audiences Fund: Dick & Doreen Cahoon, The
Callahan Foundation, Connor Foundation, The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation, the George Gund
Foundation, the Leonard Krieger Fund of the Cleveland Foundation, Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel
Foundation, PNC, the Nord Family Foundation, and Nicholas & Erin Reif; and the Sustaining Pathways Fund: The
Callahan Foundation, Grosvie & Charlie Cooley, Becky Dunn, Harriet Goldberg, Google.org, Karen & Eric
Hillenbrand, the John P. Murphy Foundation, and Boake Sells.
moCa Cleveland also receives lead institutional support in part from the residents of Cuyahoga County through
a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the National
Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and the continuing support of the museum’s Board of Directors,
patrons, and members.