Opening: Sunday, October 22, 4-6pm
Open hours: Friday-Sunday 12-4pm or by appointment

Penumbra (def. A partial shadow, as in an eclipse, between regions of complete shadow and complete illumination) is a project and installation that challenges the constitutionality of Dobbs v. Jackson, a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, June 24, 2022, in which the Court held that the U.S. Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Historically however, Justices and Scholars have argued that the founding document includes a penumbra: a group of rights implied from other explicitly protected rights. The term gained attention in 1965, when the Griswold v. Connecticut decision established a right to privacy based on the 1791 Bill of Rights and explicitly the First, Fourth, Fifth & Ninth Amendments, in addition to substantive due process rights of the 14th Amendment. Penumbra seeks to expand upon work completed by the art collective: how to perform an abortion.

When the Dobbs decision calls attention to the phrase ‘(not) deeply rooted in our history and tradition’ to explain why abortion was not a right granted in the Constitution, we ask ‘whose history….whose tradition?’ The answer is abortion history is women’s history as we draw attention to the millennia-long legacy of women using herbs for abortion and contraception, a ‘birthright’ that is part of a deeply hidden, repressed, and often destroyed global practice. Here we juxtapose selections from Dobbs, placed on a background of images of groups of ‘men making serious decisions’ in relation to selections from Roe, placed on a background of women taking care of other women, all against a background of herbs used for abortion and contraception.

COVID-19 Policies:
Because of the interactive nature of our exhibit, face masks are required for all visitors over age 2 at all times during your visit to the Old Stone House. If you do not have a mask, OSH will provide one. All OSH staff members are fully vaccinated.