At tonight’s meeting of the Beacon Hill Women’s Forum (BHWF), members are invited to enjoy presentations by three creative, local women whose careers are devoted to helping others get beyond habitual perceptions and expectations. One is an educator, one is an art gallery owner, and one is an artist. They each devote their considerable energies to getting Bostonians to see the world in new ways.
The featured speaker is Traci Walker Griffith, principal of the Eliot K-8 Innovation School in Boston’s North End. In 2007, Griffith took the helm at the Eliot, Boston’s oldest continuously running public school, after the state had deemed it underperforming and slated for closure. Griffith has since steered the school toward academic excellence and educational experimentation. With the help of parents and community members, the Eliot today is an award-winning school that has grown from 150 students in 2007 to 470 in 2015 with plans for up to 1000 students in three buildings by 2024. Griffith will share her holistic approach to educating children and strategies for shifting institutional and community culture.
Ali Ringenburg, owner of the Sloane Merrill Gallery, 75 Charles Street, will present this month’s Neighborhood Narrative. Ringenburg started the gallery in 2012 with the mission of introducing fresh, innovative artists to Boston and educating collectors about the work of these traditionally trained oil painters. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, she has worked at the Cincinnati Art Museum and Contemporary Arts Center and was director at Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.
The Forum will also hear from artist Sarah Demeter of Beacon Hill, founder of Art Resource Collaborative for Kids (ARCK), a non-profit started 3 years ago to provide best-practices arts education to Boston schools with assistance from professional artists. Currently, ARCK is also involved in a public mural installation in the Fenway neighborhood featuring student art.
BHWF meetings include appetizers and a cash bar and are held monthly from 6:00 to 8:30 pm at the Hampshire House, 84 Beacon Street. The program will begin promptly at 7 pm. To attend, women from Beacon Hill and surrounding neighborhoods must first join by paying a $50 membership fee. There is also a $20 charge for each meeting. For more information, reservations, or to become a member, see details at www.beaconhillwomensforum.org. Founded in 2014, BHWF is a nonprofit social organization formed to connect and inspire neighborhood women.