A WHOLE MUSEUM DEDICATED TO WOMEN

In Washington D.C. there is a museum called the National Museum of Women in the Arts. This museum has been around since 1987 and promotes women not only in the past but also the current strong women artists of today. Their mission: "The National Museum of Women in the Arts brings recognition to the achievements of women artists of all periods and nationalities by exhibiting, preserving, acquiring, and researching art by women and by teaching the public about their accomplishments."
The NMWA is located in the heart of Washington D.C. and is in a gorgeous "Renaissance Revival" style building. This building holds over 4,000 works from the Renaissance to Contemporary all by women.

Great Hall and Mezzanine taken by Tom Field

But enough of the advertising, which I don't get paid for anyways, this is one of the few museums that is fully dedicated to women. By that I mean that this museum began by two women who were simply art historians collecting art. It then grew into this non-profit statement for women. It's not just any museum it's renown and has many advocates. This is a large support for women in the art world. This is a place to be seen and to be comfortable. It's definitely a place to visit if you're ever in Washington D.C.

Citations:
http://www.nmwa.org/

"REINVENTING THE "F" WORD: FEMINISM!"

There is this super hero group of feminists called the Guerrilla Girls, if you weren't already aware. These women take on the names of dead female artists as they promote women's rights and when in public making speeches they wear guerrilla masks so that their identities do not distract from what they are promoting. This organization is very secretive and works worldwide so they have many anonymous people working to put up posters in various cities. Here are some of their posters:

Guerrilla Girls, [no title], 1985-90, screen print on paper

Guerrilla Girls, [no title], 1985-90, screen print on paper

Guerrilla Girls, [no title], 1985-90, screen print on paper

These are in the Tate museum(s) in Great Britain and they're apart of the the Guerrilla Girls Talk Back series of many screen prints about their views. The group's official opinion about their philosophy on their art is:
"We try to be different from the kind of political art that is angry and points to something and says 'This is bad.' That's preaching to the converted. We want to be subversive, to transform our audience, to confront them with some disarming statements, backed up by facts—and great visuals—and hopefully convert them. We carefully craft everything we do. We try to twist an issue around and present it in a way that hasn't been seen before. We usually test-drive a project by showing it to a few people beforehand to gauge their response. We've also learned that focusing on one aspect of an issue is better than trying the change the whole world in a single work."
The Guerrilla Girls even made an art history book titled "Guerrilla Girls: A Guide to Western Art" which includes all of the behind the scenes looks at women's rights in the art world. This book isn't just a whim, but it's used as a college textbook worldwide.
Don't start to think that this group is all done protesting, they still are holding exhibitions of their screen prints across the world as well as writing books and putting up billboards. So keep a look out!

Citations:
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/guerrilla-girls-no-title-p78793
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/guerrilla-girls-no-title-p78797
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/guerrilla-girls-no-title-p78796
http://www.guerrillagirls.com

WOMEN IN ART: JUDY CHICAGO

If you've never heard of Judy Chicago you cannot call yourself a fan of Feminist Art. She created one of the most influential and important pieces of art in Feminist Art History. The Dinner Party is her claim to fame in 1979 and will keep people talking for many years to come. If you still have no idea, then keep reading.

The Dinner Party is an installation piece of art which included 39 place settings for historical or mythological women. Even though it has toured continents, it is now permanently based in the Brooklyn Museum, New York. 

Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1974-1979, ceramic, porcelain and textile, Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10. © Judy Chicago. Photo: © Aislinn Weidele for Polshek Partnership Architects

One of the most amazing things about this piece is that the floor is made of white triangular tiles with 999 notable women inscribed, this is called the Heritage Floor. "Chicago states that the criteria for a woman's name being included in the floor were one or more of the following:

1. She had made a worthwhile contribution to society
2. She had tried to improve the lot of other women
3. Her life and work had illuminated significant aspects of women's history
4. She had provided a role model for a more egalitarian future."

The women that have place settings range from three time periods: Prehistory to the Roman Empire, Beginnings of Christianity to the Reformation, and American to the Women's Revolution. 

Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party (Hildegarde of Bingen place setting), 1974–79. Mixed media: ceramic, porcelain, textile. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10. © Judy Chicago. Photograph by Jook Leung Photography

Judy Chicago (American, b. 1939). The Dinner Party (Margaret Sanger place setting), 1974–79. Mixed media: ceramic, porcelain, textile. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10. © Judy Chicago. Photograph by Jook Leung Photography

 Each of the separate table settings have a "vagina butterfly" theme to them. This alone has created both criticism and praise. People still feel uncomfortable about this and they vocalize their thoughts. While others find it very empowering and amazing and fully support the forward thinking. It's amazing to think that this piece can still cause great controversy even though it came out 35 years ago.
What's your opinion?

Citations:
Image: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party/
Quotes: Chicago, Judy. The Dinner Party: From Creation to Preservation. London: Merrell (2007) , Heritage panels , page 289.
Information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dinner_Party#cite_note-Chicago_2007-5

FEMINIST ART MOVEMENT

It's March and that means it is Women's History Month! This entire month I'll try to stick to talking about women in the art world. To start it off let's talk about the Feminist Art Movement, a movement that brought all genres of art into one strong force. A great book to look up would be WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution because it has many many examples of artists who defined the Feminist Art Movement and pushed for equality.

In the 1970s, Art moved from Modernism to a movement that opened doors to many different types of artists with many different ideas of what art could be. One of the most interesting things about this movement is that if you were a woman artist and making art, you were in the feminist art movement no matter what. It didn't have to be controversial or make a statement about women in the art world it just needed to be art. Of course there were many pieces that were speaking their minds and they were in the forefront of the revolution. 

Some think that one of the inspirations for the Feminist Art Movement was Yoko Ono. Especially her piece "Cut Piece" where she invited anyone to come up and cut her clothes as she just sat there unemotional. In 1965 this was pretty huge in the art world, and this piece was considered one of the most shocking art performance pieces ever done. You can see parts of this performance here:

Inspired by Yoko Ono's performance piece, another performance artist, Marina Abramović did a piece titled "Rhythm 0: 1974". In this performance Marina sat there just as Yoko did unemotional and had a table with a rose, feather, honey, whip, scissors, scalpel, gun, and a single bullet. In the end, it was a test of how people react which started off more passive and ended very aggressive. At one point a person even aimed the gun at her. Brave as she was, Marina Abramović is someone who put her idea before her personal boundaries just to get the point across. 

In total the many artists of the Feminist Art Movement were trying to express sexual, material, social, and political views on women. Here's a list of just a few important feminist artists that were apart of the Feminist Movement or inspired by it: Jenny Saville, Helen Frankenthaler, Grace Hartigan, Bridget Riley, Mary Beth Edelson, Yvonne Rainer, Silvia Kolbowski, Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Kiki Smith, Chantal Akerman, Lynda Benglis, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Valie Export, Mary Heilman, Sanja Ivekovic, Ana Mendieta, Alice Neel, and Annette Messager and many many many more. 

+Stay tuned this month for more about women in art+