An Empty Place at the Table...
...is a visual reminder of the deadliness of domestic violence and is a catalyst for social change. An Empty Place at the Table is a project of the Women's Resource Center working from a feminist based perspective to end violence against women and children. The project is based on the understanding that each person has a right to be free from violence and oppression regardless of gender, race, relationship, income, social status, sexual orientation, country of origin, religion, age, mental or physical ability, and other personal attributes of our lives. An Empty Place at the Table:
- Honors the individual lives of those from Lackawanna and Susquehanna counties who were murdered in acts of domestic violence.
- Increases the understanding of the impact of domestic and sexual violence on families and communities.
- Seeks commitments from individuals, communities and authorities to actively work to end domestic and sexual violence against women and children.
An Empty Place at the Table carries out its goals through the organized and impassioned efforts of surviving family members and friends, advocates, and community members. Surviving family and friends create a table place setting to represent their loved one as a part of a public statement of loss and to seek changes. The exhibition and documentary film, An Empty Place at the Table, inspire community members to organize efforts to eradicate domestic and sexual violence within their own communities. Communities can replicate the exhibition to honor those who have been murdered in acts of domestic violence.
HISTORY and BACKGROUD of the PROJECT
The Exhibit An Empty Place at the Table was born out of a desire to grieve the loss and celebrate the lives of women and children who were killed in acts of domestic violence. The impetus for this exhibit came from the deaths of two women, Phyllis Mashie and Cindy Marshalek, and a child, Sheena Marie Jones, which occurred within 22 days of one another in 1993.
Seven-year-old Sheena Marie Jones was raped and murdered in her bed the night of July 24 by an ex-boyfriend of her mother. When the mother insisted he leave the house after he abused her, he threatened to conduct a horrific act of revenge. He returned and proved it was not an idle threat.
On August 8, Phyllis Mashie was murdered by her husband, Gordon Mashie, who stabbed her 191 times as her son watched the beginning of the assault. Gordon had been charged with raping Phyllis late in May, and imprisoned. On July 2, at a bail reduction hearing, the judge agreed to reduce bail from $50,000 to $25,000 and Mashie was released after posting $2,500. Despite a Protection From Abuse order, Gordon Mashie found a way to get to Phyllis.
Cindy Marshalek had left an abusive relationship and wanted a divorce. On August 2 she saw her attorney and filed divorce papers, which were served to her husband three days later. Her estranged husband murdered her on August 15, and killed himself the next day.
Shortly after Phyllis Mashie was killed, friends and co-workers organized a rally at the county courthouse to protest the judge's action in reducing Gordon Mashie's bail. Besides the friends and co-workers, some Women's Resource Center staff and volunteers were present at the rally. A week later Cindy Marshalek was murdered. Some time later a group of Phyllis' friends, as well as other concerned family and friends of victims, WRC staff, and volunteers gathered at the Women's Resource Center. Those gathered wanted to explore how to maintain the momentum of the rally and how to respond to the senseless acts of violence that took the lives of these three.
Peg Ruddy, director of the Women's Resource Center, and Jane Kopas, a volunteer, continued to explore how to memorialize these victims. They recalled other women from the area who had been murdered in recent years and considered how to include these women as well. Peg remembered fourteen women who had been murdered in the preceding four years. Organizers chose four years as a starting point given the access to reliable documentation and the memory of WRC staff members.
Jane and Peg were inspired by Judy Chicago's artwork, The Dinner Party, which represents women neglected in history, the Quilt Project, which memorializes victims of AIDS, and A Place at the Table, authored by Edith Konecky, which examines mental illness and the systematic oppression related to the illness. The social situation dealt with by these examples parallels the role that social and political systems play in the oppression of women. Whatever form the memorial took, it would point to the need to address systemic supports for violence as well as the personal impact of the violence. Inspired by these concepts and the image of an empty place created by domestic violence homicide, Jane suggested developing an exhibit of a table with personalized place settings for each of the victims. They then decided to call the project An Empty Place at the Table.
An Empty Place at the Table premiered in October 1993 at the Lackawanna County courthouse. Tragically, domestic violence homicides continue to add place settings to the original Table. The exhibition has been duplicated by domestic violence centers throughout Pennsylvania, and has been exhibited elsewhere in the United States.
The Table image is a symbol and experience that is common to most victims of domestic homicide, no matter their social status, age, race, ethnicity, or other life experiences. Each of the victims had a place at the table in their homes as members of a family. Their murders leave an empty place at that table, and a symbolic empty place in society. Domestic violence homicide tragically changes the family table and the symbolic table in the community and society as a whole.
The Artwork An Empty Place at the Table is an original watercolor painted by artist Julia Valenza from Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 1995, Ms. Valenza was commissioned by the Women's Resource Center to commemorate those slain in homicides related to domestic or sexual violence. Ms. Valenza was inspired by the place settings on the original table and the lives of those represented. She chose the image of a place setting that combined items from several of the place settings. The painting's artist states, "I believe that visual images can have the power to transcend words and speak directly to the heart. The idea behind An Empty Place at the Table was to convey the terrible human cost of domestic violence. Putting that idea into visual terms was a great challenge and one I was glad to take on because I wanted to help increase the public's awareness to this tragedy."
There are numerous examples of the power of art to express personal and social concerns. Historically, the various movements to end oppressive systems have found ways to creatively express the horror, degradation, and magnitude of the oppression, as well as the vision of freedom from such oppression. The Documentary Film An Empty Place at the Table was developed over a period of two years. In 2001, Jill Miller, a WRC Board member, formed the concept of filming the exhibit in order to make the exhibit. WRC Executive Director met with John Cosgrove of the Lackawanna County Heritage Valley Authority who in turn introduced WRC to northeastern Pennsylvania based filmmakers, Thomas Curra and Gregory Matkosky of United Studios of America (USA). Thom and Greg viewed the exhibit and were inspired to collaborate on creating a documentary of the exhibition with WRC and the family members.
The concept of the film was developed and presented to the surviving family members. Many of the surviving family members chose to be interviewed for the filming and raised funds for the local film premiere event. Film production was underwritten by the Willary Foundation (www.willary.org ), and through the generous contributions of the WRC Association, and Murray and Goldye Weinberger. Film narration was generously donated by Academy Award winning actress Susan Sarandon. During the recording session, Ms. Sarandon engaged the producers in discussions about the film and narration. Local and established musicians donated their talents to the film's soundtrack. U.S. Senator Joseph Biden, Jr. (Delaware) was the original legislative author to the federal Violence Against Women Act of 1994. Senator Biden reaffirms his support for action and policies to end violence against women. Additionally, the documentary provides a forum for voices in feminism, law, government, and healthcare. The final production includes interviews with surviving family members sharing their memories of seven of the women and children represented on the Table. The production includes local police footage, interviews with Lackawanna County District Attorney and President Judge, exhibit guests, WRC advocates, and a representative from the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
WRC and USA held a public exhibition of An Empty Place at the Table for a production shoot hosted by the Everhart Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania on May 9, 2002. WRC sponsored a showing of a rough cut of the documentary to family members and friends on March 23, 2003 at Brennan Auditorium on the University of Scranton campus in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The film was completed for the public premiere showing at the Sette LaVerghetta Center for the Performing Arts at Marywood University in Scranton on October 2, 2003. The surviving family members, WRC board, staff, and volunteers worked tirelessly to organize the premiere with the filmmakers and the Performing Arts Center staff at Marywood University. The premiere was made possible through the generous contributions of the Danielle Gangemi Memorial Fund, the WRC Association, Lackawanna-Susquehanna-Wayne MH/MR, the Jane Kopas Women's Center at the University of Scranton, photographer Kathryn LeSoine, University of Scranton students in the Feminist Empowerment Group, business sponsors, and many community members who donated goods and services.
An Empty Place at the Table documentary film was shown at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival in April 2004 at the Village East Theatre. The documentary won an award for best social documentary film for the Festival. An Empty Place at the Table documentary film intends to inspire communities to reach out to individual victims and to play a ending domestic violence. A reverence for domestic violence homicide victims is reflected through a production value that stresses substance and sensitivity, and clarity and credibility. The film provides knowledge that can inspire a coordinated community response that eradicates the causes of domestic violence.
Community Education and Organizing
An Empty Place at the Table is a valuable tool for communities to utilize to increase the understanding of the impact of domestic and sexual violence on individual lives, on their community, and on society as a whole. Community members and advocates have utilized the exhibit and documentary to inspire local action, and to educate their community.
An Empty Place at the Table memorial art exhibit has traveled to Chicago, South Carolina, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington D.C. The memorial is powerful and an inspiring exhibition for viewers. The exhibition is available for display upon request for a fee and expenses, which are negotiable.
The documentary film, An Empty Place at the Table, is available for public showing upon request to the Women's Resource Center for a negotiable cost. The film has been shown for police recruit training, college courses, community club meeting, state-wide association meeting, as a conference workshop, for local clergy/faith leaders meeting, attached to a fundraising event, and others. The film is accompanied by a panel discussion including a WRC representative, local domestic/sexual violence advocates, and others from the community who can facilitate a discussion on the impact of violence in their own community. Advocates and community groups have replicated the exhibit in their own communities. WRC has a Handbook available to assist in the replication of the exhibit.
Advocates and community groups have sponsored the film in their own communities. WRC has a 'Guide for Thought and Action' that accompanies the documentary film in order to assist sponsors in their local production utilizing the film.
To order a Community Organizing package or a Community Education package of An Empty Place at the Table contact WRC, Table Project Manager, for an order form at wrcgeneral@wrcnepa.org , fax (570) 346-3413, telephone (570) 346-3413.
An Empty Place at the Table Copyright and Trademark
The Women's Resource Center is the owner of all right, title and interest in and to the Copyright of the film An Empty Place at the Table and Trademark of the exhibit An Empty Place at the Table representing the project (which includes but is not limited to the exhibit, photographs, graphics, posters, prints, postcards, notecards, and all representations in various formats or media) known as An Empty Place at the Table as created, copyrighted, and trademarked by Women's Resource Center, Inc. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Requests for permission to use the concept, graphics, and other items, in addition to requests to purchase the film and accompanying materials must be made in writing to the Women's Resource Center located in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
