Own it, examine it, and confront it head on is an interdisciplinary platform for art examining rape culture, survivor justice, and healing. Anchored by a group exhibition, this project features various genres including video, sculpture, painting, animation, performance, and community activations. The project fosters a localized conversation about sexual violence in Austin, Texas, and forges a union between artists and community organizers to employ art as a potent force in resisting sexual violence and transforming personal and collective trauma into communal healing.
Sara Vanderbeek is a Texas-based interdisciplinary artist and curator. Through portraiture and social practice, her work contextualizes autobiographical experiences and responds to culture, politics, and trauma. She has been included in exhibitions at McNay Art Museum; The Contemporary Austin; Deitch Projects; the Texas Biennial at Blue Star Contemporary; and Facebook, as an artist in residence. She is the Founding Executive Director of DORF (awarded Best New Experimental Art Space by the Austin Chronicle), an alternative gallery that provides space for regional artists, community organizing, and activism. She received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design.