Marble House Project Magic

I’m still aglow after spending most of September in Dorset, Vermont, through a residency with Marble House Project. I was there to continue my (now) long-running research in and response to the past, present, and future of abortion access in the United States. The suite of projects I’ve produced around it, collectively known as VIP, asks if people getting abortions in the US have ever been treated as VIPs and how we can build a country in which they are.

A stamp from 1973 (the year of the Roe v. Wade decision) promoting the use of ZIP Codes, which were first introduced 10 years earlier.

While at Marble House Project, I focused on the fallout from the overturning of Roe, learned the history of ZIP Codes, and spent 10 hours listening to major Supreme Court cases involving reproductive justice and writing down every single ZIP Code (over 9,000) where abortion has become illegal since June 24, 2022. A huge determinant of abortion access has always been where a person lives, and this has become even more true as state after state bans access to this vital, life-saving care.

I also researched Judaism’s views on abortion, which are much more progressive and healing than what is typically associated with religion and abortion. Finally, I created a library with resources around abortion access and self defense, taking a stab at what I want to build out into something called the Sexual Risk Avoidance Camp… stay tuned for that.

I was in residence with some of the best artists and people I’ve ever met: Amy Ritter, Alexis Convento, Matt Siegle, Toisha Tucker, Asia Stewart, and Leilehua Lanzilotti.

Marble House Project - Residency Cohort #51

Deepest thanks to Marble House for having me, and to my fellow residents for being so inspiring, supportive, and engaged.