By SANDY STAGGS

HAIGHT -- Kerri Lawnsbury, curator of new art show in the Haight, has high hopes of raising awareness on women's issues, including juggling an art career with a family, and the seemingly taboo topic of breastfeeding.

"Art By My Mother," a collection of maternal works by seven painters and photographers, opened Aug. 2 (and continues through Aug. 15) at the Whiney Young Cultural Center Mansion. The event combined art with live music by jazz quintet All About Amy and discussions on breastfeeding and culture, and even sling-wearing demonstration.

Rik Livingston, director of Visual Arts, said he wanted to put on a show by women artists, and artist/mother Kerri Lawnsbury was especially intrigued by the prospect.

Lawnsbury, a painter (in watercolors and pastels) and mother of a three-year-old and a six-month-old infant, said the idea for "Art By My Mother" was to showcase and celebrate the women who have children and also pursue a fine-arts career.

"These women are taking on two huge tasks at the same time. I feel this celebrates the notion that an artist can have a family," she said. "They don't have to choose between family and their passion for art."

As strongly as she feels about the "Art By My Mother" theme, Lawnsbury is even more passionate about the "Nursing Mothers" component of the exhibit.

"As a nursing mother, I am very aware of our culture's resistance to public breastfeeding, and how difficult this can be for first-time (and experienced) moms," she said. "I wanted part of the exhibit to raise awareness in our communities that breastfeeding is a normal and necessary activity, and that it is something that people should feel more comfortable with seeing and doing."

"There is a stigma attached to breastfeeding in public and a lot of people are uncomfortable with it," said the artist, who cares for both her 5-year-old and 95-year-old mother."It's a very natural thing and more nutritious than formula, which was developed in the 1950s for undeveloped countries."

"We should be able to take care of our young like we have done for millenniums," Norton added.

Lawnsbury recruited two prominent organizations to assist with the show: La Leche League, which supports breastfeeding mothers through telephone support by experienced moms, and Attachment Parenting International, a global network of mothers who support the idea of "peaceful parenting for a peaceful world."

The nonprofit gallery has been open only since September 2002. Twenty percent of all sales will go to the Visual Arts Program for children at Whitney Young.

"We are all artists trying to run a career and a family, and we need other to support each other," Norton said.

There will be a discussion on Aug. 10 from 3-5 p.m. on "Weaning Your Child."

"All About My Mother" is available by appointment at (415) 346-8323. For more information, visit www.prolificmuse.com.