OK, Ladies. Oh, and gentlemen. You’re invited … no, you’re strongly encouraged to head to Sanford & Son this Saturday for a celebration of one of Tacoma’s defining features — amazing, motivated, strong women. Yes, Tacoma, Ladyfest is coming, and you better be going.



Tacoma is flush with powerful women. Look behind the scenes. See who’s making things move. See who’s building, see who’s healing, see who’s patching, see who’s creating, and note who’s doin’ it and doin’ it and doin’ it well. Forgive me for polarizing, but in Tacoma, women are killing it.



Tacoma is becoming a nice little microcosm of an age when women are claiming personal power on a global scale — dramatically, swiftly, and exercising it to dramatic effect. Look around and you’ll see it, hear it, read about it, feel it. No, really. Pay attention, and you’ll see how profoundly strong women are changing this community every day.



If you’re looking for unequivocal influence, look to Tacoma’s art scene where people such as Jada-Moon Gridley are carving out a space for themselves, literally, figuratively, artistically, and personally. It’s a beautiful thing, and it’s what Ladyfest is all about.

Gridley is fashion forger, soap maker, henna artist, bartender, a mom, and a few other awesome things as well. Gridley will arrive at Ladyfest with handmade soap crafted the old-fashioned way (with lye), some arm warmers and T-shirts, and some brushes and ink. Moon recently cut back on bartending shifts to do her own thing. A multitalented and multitasking machine, she’s managed to keep herself afloat peddling her art array and picking up an occasional bartending shift at the Tempest Lounge. It’s a tough gig, but one that Moon says is possible in part because of an amazing network of women, most of whom seem inclined to help and support her endeavors.



“I’m receiving a ton of support, and there are enough people who are excited about going local that the market’s there,” says Gridley. “The struggle is maintaining the motivation and being self-driven. It’s sometimes easier to do a job we hate under someone else’s time structure than it is to do it on our own.”



Ladyfest got started on just such a DIY platform, emerging in 2000 in Olympia, home of the DIY revolution and the legendary Riot Grrrl movement. It began as a showcase and platform for talented women and was driven and fed by inclusive feminist philosophy. But don’t worry, guys; you’re still invited and will be welcomed with open arms, say event organizers. This ain’t so much Gloria Steinem as it is Neko Case. So put all that out of your mind. It’s a party, says event organizer Sydney Eggeleston, grounded firmly in an ethic of empowerment — women empowering women, themselves, and their communities.



“I wanted to bring the community together and create an environment — if only for a day — where female expression and creativity is celebrated and hopefully contagious. My desire is to inspire generations of girls and women to express themselves creatively,” says Eggleston.



Beyond fostering creativity, Ladyfest Tacoma will forward all proceeds to the Domestic Abuse Women’s Network, or DAWN, a South Sound nonprofit dedicated to ending domestic violence by empowering survivors and fostering communities where abuse is not tolerated.



If that’s not enough to get you out, maybe the lineup will.

Hey Ladies!

Deborah Page: Best described as a combination of melodic rock, funk, folk, and beats with hypnotic electric guitar and haunting vocals that will find a place deep inside of you and stay there. Page kicks ass.



Voxxy Vallejo: Performs powerful blues rock with a little Southern kick and looks forward to melting the stage and heating up the crowd for Ladyfest 2009. No, seriously, bring something to cool you off afterward.



Brit Baab: How do you bridge the gap between your dancy pants, hyper-colored rapping self and your country twangin’, whiskey guzzlin’, guitar strummin’ self, and all the other selves in between? Haphazardly I guess, ’cause you don’t sound too stable to begin with, and who could ask for anything more? No one, we hope.



Civita: They exist because its members missed hearing women on rock radio. On a mission to bring back Heart and Jefferson Airplane, their primary mission is to show that women can front heavy rock bands.



Mary Win and Meredith Connie: Tacoma’s only all-girl duo was formed recently when these solo performers decided to mix up folk, pop and rock. It kind of worked out, apparently.



Starstruck: The all- girl, “tween” rock band from Tacoma will be playing their own material and covers, including diddies from Nirvana, Hole, Paramore, Pink, and Billy Idol. Aside from being kind of worried about any group of teen-age girls singing anything by Billy Idol, sounds awesome.



Tammy Robacker: The poet and writer runs her own freelance writing, marketing and communications company called Pearle Publications. Her poetry has appeared in Plazm, Women’s Work, The Wild Goose Poetry Review, and the Allegheny Review.



Mindy Barker: She is Tacoma born and raised. She creates re-mixes for people with small spaces that have a gigantic need for art. Each piece is an individually hand-painted, magnetized canvas- or paper-covered compact disc, signed, numbered, and sold separately with a paper case and metal wall display mount.



Lindsy Read: Owner of LMR Photography, she combines her passion for photography with eclectic art styles. She uses collage and paint along with photographs to create unique works that will tickle your retinas.



Mirka Hokkanen: She takes her inspiration from nature to make prints, cards and sewn animals. She loves to incorporate green ideas in her works by using recycled paper, fabrics and yarn whenever possible.



Ann Koi: A visionary psychedelic and cute pop surrealist painter.



Jada-Moon Gridley: She is a fiber artist who specializes in artisan T-shirts, tanks and arm warmers. Arm warmers rule.



Jayme Ferrari: Aka Mural Girl, creates wall murals in children's bedrooms, hand painted silhouettes and custom silhouette jewelry.



Jaime Cantara: A local abstractionist whose work is inspired by the female form. Her art is meant to be both visual and tactile, inviting the viewer to viscerally experience her work. Go ahead. Touch it. It’s good for you.



Spirit of West Africa Dance/Drum: Thione Diop, griot master from Dakar, Senegal, will rock djembe and tama drums, share stories of West Africa, and showcase West African culture with musicians and dancers from Senegal, Guinea and Mali.



BareFoot Collective: A member-based, not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting movement and related arts in the community through education, development and presentation of works by professional artists. They’re dancers, folks, and they know how to move.

Ladyfest

What: Empowering women through art and music

When: Saturday, June 6, 1 p.m.

Where: Sanford & Son, 743 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.272.0334

Cost: $10

Information: ladyfesttacoma.com