DAY ONE

CONNIE CONVERSE

Elizabeth Eaton Converse, better known as Connie Converse, was born in Laconia, New Hampshire in 1924. She attended Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts but left after only two years of study to move to New York City.

While working for the Academy Photo Offset printing house, she began songwriting and performing with her guitar under her nickname, Connie. Music became more than just a passion for Connie but her religious parents refused to listen or support this endeavor. In 1954, Connie’s only known public performance happened on The Morning Show with Walter Cronkite.

Even with this public success, the struggle to sell her music became too much, and Connie moved to Michigan to live with her brother. Her family says that Connie’s personal life was much of a mystery. She never spoke about romantic relations and often relied on cigarettes and alcohol to cope with her depression.

In 1973, Connie’s depression was so apparent that her friends pooled money together to pay for a six-month trip to England and her mother took her on a trip to Alaska in hopes of improving her mood. These efforts made little impact as the singer’s mood continued to plummet with the news that she needed a hysterectomy. Finally, in 1974, Connie wrote letters to her friends and family telling them that she was leaving to make a new life elsewhere. By the time her letters were delivered, her belongings and Volkswagen Beetle were gone, and she was never seen again. Whether she never wanted to be found or she took her own life is up to debate.

Though Connie’s music never reached public acclaim during her lifetime, in 2004, the man who recorded Connie’s only album, Gene Deitch, played her music to a New York music historian. By 2015, How Sad, How Lovely, was formally released as an 18-track vinyl that has received many favorable reviews. Her haunting voice and beautiful melodies detail feminine experience, sexuality, and independence. Though it took more than 50 years, her music is finally able to delight and impact listeners around the world. 

YAYOI KUSAMA

Yayoi Kusama was born in Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan in 1929. Though her passion for art started at an early age, she was unable to explore this until she was 19. As a child she struggled with hallucinations of flowers and dots that she was later able to integrate into her art. Her art was also greatly influenced by her time working in a military factory sewing parachutes for the Japanese army.

At university, Kusama was finally able to explore her artistic passions and push the boundaries of Japanese style art. Kusama’s avant-garde work abstracts natural forms in watercolor, gouache, and oil on all surfaces: walls, floors, household objects, and naked assistants. At age 27, Kusama left for the United States to continue her work in a society unlike Japan which she says was “too small, too servile, too feudalistic, and too scornful of women.” Her work in the 1960s often protested politic events such as the Vietnam War. She even wrote a letter to Richard Nixon telling him that she would have sex with him if he stopped the war.

In 1973, Kusama moved back to Japan to live in the Seiwa Hospital for the Mentally Ill. She continues to live there as she feels that it is a safer and healthier choice for her. Her work continues to improve and push the boundaries of what art can be in performance, film, fashion, writing, and painted installations. After more than 50 years of creation, the Yayoi Kusama Museum open in 2017 in Tokyo to feature her amazing work. 

JANE FONDA

Jane Seymour Fonda was born in 1937 in New York City. Her interest in acting began as a teenager when she appeared alongside of her father in a charity performance. Her work onstage in the 1950s paved the way for her film career in the 1960s with her first role in Tall Story. By 1968, her role in the science fiction spoof, Barbarella, established her as a sex symbol. Her career continued to flourish in the 1970s with her winning her first Academy Award for Best Actress in 1971.

Outside of Fonda’s work as an actor, she engaged in political activism in support of the Civil Rights Movement and in opposition to the Vietnam War. She openly supported the Alcatraz Island occupation by Native Americans in 1969 and Huey Newton and the Black Panthers in the 1970s. Her most controversial moment was her visit to Hanoi in North Vietnam to see the damage caused by the war. A photo of her sitting on an anti-aircraft gun outraged many Americans who then called her “Hanoi Jane.”

Despite her controversies, Fonda was able to rise again and now stars in the hit television show, Grace and Frankie. She continues to advocate for various political campaigns especially those for women and transgender people. 

MARI ANDREW

Mari Andrew started doodling and painting in 2015 after a difficult breakup and the death of her father. She posted one doodle a day on her Instagram account: @bymariandrew and quickly grew a following of over a million strong. Her artwork often features depictions of mental health issues, human behavior, and short stories about failed romantic encounters. She hones in on her insecurities and anxieties on her Instagram instead of trying to cover them up.

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In 2017, Mari suffered from Guillain-Barré Syndrome which attacked her nerves and paralyzed her for a month. Her life as a traveler, writer, and illustrator had come to a halt. After 6 months of recovery, Mari was finally able to walk again. She says that this reminded her of how fragile our lives and identities are which is now clear in her current work.

After this major life event, Mari released her book, Am I There Yet? The Loop-de-loop, Zigzagging Journey to Adulthood, in early 2018. Her exploration in adulthood is ongoing and continues to be shared on her website and Instagram.