Melissa Dunphy

Commissioned by Amuse Singers, Artistic Director Phillip Cheah, to commemorate the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

Set Myself Free
By Jaqueline Goldfinger

Suck-in stomach.
Wet plump lips.
Paint myself,
Until I can't see myself.
Pleasing you.
I'm tired of my
Face Waist Thighs.
Tired of being the...
UnMe? Not Me?
The Never Good Enough To Be Really Seen.
I scrub the shame out of my eyes.
What to do,
with this paint left behind?
Make
Signs
Slogans
Screaming
Your rights and mine.
Laws
Re-painted
To better align
With the dreams
Our foremothers bought
on back and bent knee.
They knew the price of liberty.
They paid day after day
So I could re-paint the Constitution,
And set myself free.

Artwork by Claris Park.

Performances

• 17 Nov, 2024: Nassau Senior Treble Choir at Adelphi University Performing Arts Center, Garden City, NY
• 13 Jul, 2024: MUSE Cincinnati Women's Choir at Minneapolis Convention Center Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN
• 11 May, 2024: Amuse Singers at St. Ignatius Church, New York, NY
• 21 Apr, 2024: Lux at Prospect United Methodist Church, Lawrenceville, GA
• 14 Jan, 2024: Lux at Brenau University, Gainesville, GA
• 22 Oct, 2023: Lux at Berry College, Mount Berry, GA
• 10 Sep, 2023: Lux at First Presbyterian Church, Gainesville, GA
• 24 Apr, 2022: San Diego Opera + La Jolla Playhouse at ARTS DISTRICT - Liberty Station, San Diego, CA
• 23 Apr, 2022: San Diego Opera + La Jolla Playhouse at ARTS DISTRICT - Liberty Station, San Diego, CA
• 18 Aug, 2020: Amuse Singers at YouTube (online premiere)