Read and learn and share together! Join a Bathers Library reading group!
$20 suggested fee for facilitator honoraria and to help keep the space open. No one turned away for lack of funds (there’s a free sign up option too).
Groups are limited to 12 people unless otherwise noted. Some groups will meet weekly, others at longer intervals. Once groups are assigned, your facilitator will get in touch with scheduling and other details.
FALL/WINTER GROUPS (title, start date • time, frequency)
Lives of Creative Women
11/17 (4pm • biweekly)
The "C" Word
11/21 (6:30pm • biweekly, 8 sessions)
What Are Meetings?
11/26 (5:30 • weekly, 4 sessions)
Feminist Writers of the World
2/20/25 (6:30pm • biweekly)
Bimbos and the Spectacle
2/9/25 (2pm • biweekly)
Art Monsters: On Art-Making & Parenting
1/18/25 (4pm • monthly)
DESCRIPTIONS
Let’s examine the ways that reality TV reflects issues of class, identity, politics, and specifically gender. We’ll use popular reality TV franchises such as The Simple Life and Real Housewives as a framework to prod the labor of being watched. We’ll think about our cultural fascination with the “real,” when it comes to these high maintenance women of the silver screen.
Hi! I am holiday, an art director working at the intersection of beautiful images and capitalism. I enjoy pop culture, celebrity gossip, crafting, and my two cats and am in the top .001 percent of Charli XCX listeners.
ART MONSTERS: ON ART-MAKING & PARENTING with Margaret McCarthy
How do art-making and parenthood inspire, challenge, and oppose each other? For decades, parenthood, especially the role of the mother and/or primary caretaker, has been popularly understood as antithetical to art-making. We call bullsh*t. Let’s read extracts from some of the very recent and exciting books exploring the work and lives of artist parents current and historical, the obstacles they/we face, and how these dual, vital, roles illuminate each other.
Margaret McCarthy (she/her) is a writer, performer, nonprofit executive, and proud mother of her favorite two-year-old. She was the Executive and Co-Director of Southern Exposure (2019-2024), an ensemble member of the San Francisco Neo-Futurists (2014-2023), and the First Female President of the U.S.A (FFPOTUS, 2017-2021).
WHAT ARE MEETINGS?
with Danny Spitzberg
Freedom is an Endless Meeting by Francesca Poletta argues that meetings are the fundamental unit of democracy, and the book cover gestures at that ideal. Meanwhile, ancient television enjoyers remember Alec Baldwin as a cliche corporate executive on 30 Rock quoting from Meetings Magazine. What do we want from meetings? What do they want from us? Suggested readings and light snacks provided.
Danny Spitzberg is a sociologist. He’s interested in cooperatives, personal narratives, resisting cultural assimilation, and community research methods. He currently works at UC Berkeley on a study about opportunities for co-ops to create high quality jobs in historically low-wage sectors. Before that, he facilitated worker-led research with a staffing and training co-op based in Oakland, California.
with Nisha Sudarsanam
In this class, we'll read excerpts of feminists across the world. We'll explore what makes them different, similar or simply incomparable. The hope at the end of the class is that perspectives of feminism expands beyond traditional western literature. Readings might include Vandana Singh, Rosario Castellanos and Clarice Lispector among others.
Nisha Sudarsanam enjoys exploring anything created at the intersection of colonialism, women, art and food. She lives in Oakland, CA with an overactive cat that wanders through fruit trees and deer.
THE “C” WORD
with Rena Tom
Craft has played (and continues to play) a huge role in shaping cultural, social, and economic development around the world … so why is “craft” a pejorative? Let’s reclaim this particular C word together as we explore the power of the craft imaginary. We’ll read texts that examine why craft has been historically feminized, marginalized, and devalued, then consider how craft is not just about creating tangible objects — it’s about creating the future you want. Along the way, we’ll discuss the state of craftivism, where handmade fits into the digital era, and how craft creates visibility for disadvantaged communities.
Rena Tom is a maker, curator, and donut enthusiast based in Berkeley, CA. Her research-based art/craft practice focuses on objects that destabilize and reframe everyday experience. She currently works with found photos, Mylar film, and other shiny things to create weavings, books, and site-specific installations that address personal and systemic issues around identity, privacy, and representation.
with Olivia White Lopez
This reading group will be the first in an ongoing series focusing on books about the lives of creative women. This session’s text (along with some optional additional readings) will be All Fours by Miranda July.
Olivia White Lopez (she/they/ella) is a nonprofit leader and equity strategist who loves to build community and hang out with cats. In her day job she helps connect people to nature and people to each other as the Director of Culture, Equity and Belonging for the Peninsula Open Space Trust. She also moonlights as the Co-Vice President of Southern Exposure, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting emerging and mid-career artists. When she isn’t nonprofit administrating she likes to spend time communing with nature and other creatively-inclined types.
About the Limited Edition Fundraiser Item
For each reading group cohort, we will create something based on content gathered from all the groups (images, quotes, responses, sketches, etc). This item will serve as a marker of the paths of communal study and as a way to show support for the project. This item might be a print or a zine or clothing or some other cool object. Since this is the first time we’re doing this, there’s no example item, but once there is, we’ll add it to the page. By buying the mysterious TBD item will go a long way toward keeping classes free for those in need and keeping the lights on in the space.