A Place at the Table

On May 19th, an amazing group of women came and celebrated the Center at the event, “A Place at the Table” and it was a huge success! A special thanks to Susan Grabel, and the entire core group of women involved in making the entire night possible with their dedication and heartfelt support. The filming of the event was produced and directed by Niki DiCesare, of Bella Films and shot and edited by Omar Villegas. Below is a video of the event if you would like to share in our celebration, or go to www.bellafilmsinc.com, for more information.


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“Our A Place at the Table celebration on May 19, 2007 at the Brooklyn Museum was a huge success – lots of fun, good turnout, good camaraderie, good spirit. We celebrated Elizabeth A. Sackler and the Brooklyn Museum and Maura Reilly and Melissa Messina for breaking down another barrier to the full appreciation of the contributions of Feminism, Feminist Art and all women artists to our culture. And hey – Feminist Art in a major museum! That’s what we’ve been working towards all these years!” —Susan Grabel, A Place at the Table

Produced and Directed by Nicole DiCesare
Shot and Cut by Omar Villegas

Melissa Messina

Melissa Messina

Before coming to the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Melissa Messina earned her MFA from Pratt Institute where she received the Presidential Merit Award in Painting. While there, she coordinated the 2005–06 Visiting Artist Lecture Series, which featured such artists as Vanessa Beecroft, Mariko Mori, Judy Pfaff, and Joan Snyder. During this time, she also worked as a Curatorial and Sales Associate for a private dealer in New York specializing in modern abstraction. Prior to moving to New York, Messina was hired by the City of Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs as an independent curator and executed several regional and national group exhibitions for their public art galleries, City Gallery East and City Gallery at Chastain. In Atlanta, she was also Assistant Director at Comer Art Advisory, LLC, in 2004, and a Curatorial and Marketing Associate for the art consulting firm, Barkin-Leeds Ltd., 2001–2003. She recently was the Assistant Curator to Ernesto Pujol for the exhibition Mediating America (June 2006) at the Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, and was invited to jury the exhibition Adam's Rib Eve's Air in Her Hair (January 2007) at the feminist art gallery SOHO20 in Chelsea. Her own artwork has been exhibited in museums and galleries in the Southeast, New England, and New York.

Friday, July 27th, 2007
Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art