Feminist Art Program

In 1971, Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro collaborated to establish the Feminist Art Program (FAP) at CalArts. This program was based on the experimental program that Chicago started at Fresno State College a year earlier. The FAP at CalArts was a groundbreaking program and among the earliest in the United States to offer courses in female art history, uniquely taught exclusively by women for women. In addition to the FAP, Sheila de Bretteville founded the Women’s Design Program (WDP), another one-year program that shared the FAP's commitment to exploring various facets of feminist cultural production. This program incorporated activities such as group consciousness raising sessions, performance workshops, and the study of feminist literature. During its inaugural year, the FAP welcomed approximately twenty-five young women artists into its fold. The hallmark of their collaboration was the ambitious project known as Womanhouse, which commenced on November 8, 1971. The primary objective of Womanhouse was to offer an intimate insight into the world of women artists, allowing them to express their perspectives and experiences within a predominantly male-dominated art community. These artists collaborated to convert a vacant Los Angeles mansion with seventeen rooms into an exhibition space. Each artist had the freedom to utilize her chosen space within the house to explore and express different facets of the female experience through her artistic work. Regrettably, the FAP dissolved in 1974, primarily due to the departures of Judy Chicago in 1973 and Miriam Schapiro in 1975. Despite its relatively short existence, the Feminist Art Program and the Women’s Design Program left an indelible mark on the art world, significantly advancing the visibility and recognition of women artists and their unique perspectives. (Source)

Links

• Reverberating Feminisms: Chronologies of Feminist Art Movements at CalArts: Feminist Art Program (1971–1974)
• https://judychicagoportal.org/projects/womanhouse
• https://judychicago.com/gallery/womanhouse/pr-artwork/
• Miriam Schapiro, "The Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse'", Art Journal 31:3, 1972, pp 268-270.
• Natalie Musteata, "Judy Chicago, Miriam Schapiro, and the CalArts Feminist Art Program, Womanhouse, 1972", in The Artist as Curator, 2015.
• David Senior, "Feminist Publishing", SFMOMA, 2019.
• Kathy Carbone, "Dear Sister Artist: Activating Feminist Art Letters and Ephemera in the Archive", Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies 3:3, Dec 2020, pp 1-24.