Navel Casting Ceremony and Fireside Conversation to explore the body as a site of connection, lineage, reproductive experience, and transformation
BROOKLYN, NY — October 8, 2026 — Mama Glow Foundation is honored to announce two intimate gatherings with multidisciplinary artist Molly Gochman, bringing together art, ritual, sound, and conversation to explore the deeply personal and universally resonant experiences held within our bodies.
Taking place October 21 and 22 at The Soft Space by Mama Glow in Williamsburg, the events center Gochman’s ongoing Navel Casting practice, a participatory artwork that considers the navel as a site of connection—to our bodies, our mothers, our lineage, and the reproductive experiences that shape our lives.
The two-day program begins with a series of Navel Casting Ceremonies on Wednesday, October 21, created in collaboration with Molly Gochman Studio. Participants will be invited into an intimate ritual of reflection, remembrance, and storytelling centered on motherhood, pregnancy and infant loss, healing, memory, and transformation.
Each casting session will be accompanied by a live sound bath led by Amanda Gloria Valdes, founder of AV Studios LLC. Her sound practice will accompany the casting process, creating a grounding environment for presence, reflection, and connection.
The program continues Thursday evening with “The Body, Memory & Motherhood: A Fireside Conversation with Artist Molly Gochman,” moderated by Tara Clark, founder of Modern Mom Probs. The conversation will explore the origins of Gochman’s Navel Casting practice and the larger questions it raises about motherhood, identity, ancestry, grief, reproductive experience, and the ways private experiences can become part of a collective story.
“The navel is one of the smallest marks on the body, but it carries an enormous story—it is the place where one body was once connected to another,” said Molly Gochman. “Through this work, I’m interested in what happens when we pause to consider that connection, and the memories, relationships, losses, and transformations that continue to live within us.”
The fireside conversation will include a moderated discussion followed by audience Q&A, offering an opportunity for attendees to engage directly with Gochman and explore the intersections of art, ritual, motherhood, memory, and healing. Guests will also have time before and after the conversation to gather, connect, and experience The Soft Space.
Together, the events create a space for experiences that are often deeply private—but widely shared—to be witnessed, honored, and explored through collective participation and conversation.
Navel Casting Ceremony
Date: Wednesday, October 21 Sessions: 12:00 PM | 3:00 PM | 6:00 PM
Location: The Soft Space by Mama Glow 208 N 8th Street Brooklyn, NY 11211
The Navel Casting Ceremony is a collaborative project between Mama Glow Foundation and Molly Gochman Studio. Through the intimate process of casting the navel, participants will be invited into a ritual centered on connection, motherhood, pregnancy and infant loss, lineage, healing, memory, and transformation.
Live sound bath by Amanda Gloria Valdes, founder of AV Studios LLC.
The Body, Memory & Motherhood: A Fireside Conversation with Molly Gochman
Date: Thursday, October 22 5:30–8:00 PM
Location: The Soft Space by Mama Glow 208 N 8th Street Brooklyn, NY 11211
Moderator: Tara Clark, Founder of Modern Mom Probs
The evening will feature an intimate conversation between artist Molly Gochman and Tara Clark exploring motherhood, memory, lineage, reproductive experience, grief, identity, and the stories we carry in our bodies. The conversation will be followed by audience Q&A.
About Molly Gochman
Molly Gochman is a multidisciplinary artist whose work engages with themes of care, memory, connection, collective experience, and the systems that shape our lives. Her ongoing Navel Casting practice begins with one of the body’s smallest marks—the navel—and expands into questions of motherhood, ancestry, pregnancy and infant loss, healing, memory, and transformation. Her Navel Casting ceremonies are traditionally intimate, private experiences.
About Tara Clark
Tara Clark is the founder of Modern Mom Probs, a media platform and community exploring the realities of modern motherhood with humor, candor, and connection. Clark will moderate the fireside conversation with Molly Gochman.
About Amanda Gloria Valdes
Amanda Gloria Valdes, founder of AV Studios LLC, is a sound practitioner whose work uses sound as a tool for grounding, reflection, presence, and connection. Valdes will lead a live sound bath accompanying the Navel Casting Ceremonies.
About Mama Glow Foundation
Mama Glow Foundation creates spaces for education, connection, healing, and collective care, with a focus on supporting people through reproductive and maternal experiences. Through gatherings, partnerships, and community-centered programming, the Foundation works to make room for the complexity of birth, motherhood, loss, healing, and transformation.
