#miriamschapiro

[fairfielduam]

Direct from the Director Spring 2023

Spring has sprung, and we have a new exhibition opening this Thursday in the Bellarmine Hall Galleries to celebrate the new season! In Their Element(s): Women Artists Across Media is a landmark exhibition that is the 1st in the museum's history to have been solo-curated by a student, Phoebe Charpentier '23, the 1st to feature recent acquisitions to the collection, and one that marks our 1st collaboration with the Westport Town Permanent Art Collection (WestPAC) which kindly lent 7 artworks.

I am particularly proud of this exhibition because it reflects some of the work we have accomplished during my tenure as museum director in terms of diversifying the collection (both through donations and through purchases from the Black Art Fund, which we created in 2020). In Their Element(s) is quite truly a show of recent acquisitions, as all of the works in this exhibition were donated or purchased since I became the director in 2019. Our student curator chose to focus on work by women artists, and we now have over 360 works by women in the collection from which she was able to choose. We acquired 42 works by women just in the last year! Work by women artists now makes up about 13% of our collection of over 2600 objects – an improvement from where we started, at less than 10%, but we know we still have a long way to go.

You may wonder how we acquire artworks for the museum, so I thought I would take this opportunity to provide some brief insight into the process. As a young museum, just in our 13th year, we do not yet have an acquisitions budget or fund, except for the small Black Art Fund, which we have used to purchase 34 works to date (of which 15 are by women). All other artworks acquired by the Museum come to us as donations or bequests through planned giving; most are solicited, but some come unsolicited from a variety of sources including University alumni, local collectors, artists and dealers. Solicited gifts are specific artworks that we ask people if they would consider gifting to the museum – these are objects that we know will fit into our collecting goals and plans. Some of these sources include Museum Exchange, artist foundations and estates, living artists, and collectors with whom we have close relationships. All donations (accessions) of artwork to the museum's collection must be approved first by me and then by the Museum's Collections Committee to ensure that they meet all of our Collections Plan criteria. Our Collections Committee is comprised of collectors, artists, and museum and gallery professionals, many of who are alumni.

As a young academic art museum, we are committed to assembling a collection that is broadly diverse and representative of the lived experience of the many communities that use our museum. As we continue to thoughtfully grow our collection, we increase the opportunities for object-centered learning, both in the study of individual artworks, in class-specific sessions for undergraduates and Art in Focus session in the galleries led by our Curator of Education and Academic Engagement, and in exhibitions such as this one. I hope that if you have a museum-quality artwork that would augment our collection you will consider donating it or making a bequest to the museum so that it can become a part of our teaching mission.

I would like to end with a quick preview of our fall 2023 exhibition. Both of our galleries will be dedicated to the work of Polish Jewish artist Arthur Szyk (1894-1951), in a remarkable exhibition created by the Magnes Collection for Jewish Art and Culture, at UC Berkeley, and now on view at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. At Fairfield, Dr. Philip Eliasoph is the exhibition coordinator, and will be presenting the opening night lecture. I know it seems far away, but we are hard at work readying a fantastic experience for you that will open in late September, with lots of exciting programming. Please take the time to read about it on the exhibition website.

The Women's Rights Are Human Rights international poster exhibition was extended through July 1, so also please don't miss the chance to see it in the Walsh Gallery, if you have not already done so.

Wishing you a lovely art-filled spring. I hope to see you in the galleries.

Artfully yours, Carey

Captions: Lucy Sallick, Studio Floor Still Life #4, 1975. Oil on canvas. Lent by Westport Public Art Collections, 530. Bicentennial Trust for Westport Art, 1976-1978. © Lucy Sallick Sonya Clark, Afro Blue Matter, 2017. Offset lithograph on paper. Edition 38/70. Partial gift of the Brandywine Workshop and Archives and Museum Purchase with funds from the Black Art Fund, 2022 (2022.17.10) © Sonya Clark Miriam Schapiro, Shrine, 1962. Oil on canvas. Gift of Charles P. Regensberg, 1991. (2022.36.01) © 2023 Estate of Miriam Schapiro/ Artist's Rights Society (ARS), New York Arthur Szyk, Thomas Jefferson's Oath, watercolor, gouache, ink and colored pencil on board. Courtesy of Taube Family Arthur Szyk Collection, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, UC Berkeley Nancy Hom, Catalina’s World, 2011 © Nancy Hom

[majofrancom]

Miriam Schapiro y su femmage del Pattern and Decoration movement la amo diosa feminista divina la mejor la amo la amo

[bm-feminist-art]

Anonymous was a Woman, Miriam Schapiro, 1976, Brooklyn Museum: Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art

© Miriam Schapiro Size: 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm) Frame: 2 x 33 3/4 x 25 3/4 in. (5.1 x 85.7 x 65.4 cm) Medium: Acrylic and collage on paper

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/5171

[bm-contemporary-art]

Agony in the Garden, Miriam Schapiro, 1991, Brooklyn Museum: Contemporary Art

© Miriam Schapiro Size: 90 3/16 x 72 3/16 x 2 in. (229.1 x 183.4 x 5.1 cm) Medium: Acrylic on canvas with glitter

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/146910

[moma-prints]

Poster, Miriam Schapiro, 1964, MoMA: Drawings and Prints

Gift of Kleiner, Bell & Co. Size: composition (irreg.): 19 13/16 x 16 1/8" (50.4 x 40.9cm); sheet: 24 7/16 x 20 1/2" (62 x 52.1cm) Medium: Lithograph

http://www.moma.org/collection/works/76811

[rafeny]

#canitellyou it’s hip to be square. / 🤗🔲🌈 . . . . . #spillingoverpaintingcolorinthe1960s #josefalbers #richardanuszkiewicz #alvinloving #miriamschapiro #frankstella #geolovers #paintingsfromthe60s #spillingover #geometricartwork @whitneymuseum (at Whitney Museum of American Art) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzK8CE_pnOh/?igshid=10dydmluntqsg

[ciaranchristie]

Miriam Schapiro “Heartland" 1985 Collection of the Orlando Museum of Art for @jill.carman_ because she loves hearts and this fantastic piece of art! #hearts #miriamschapiro #oma #member #art #soulmate #3hreebees #sicviresco (at Orlando Museum of Art)

[dujourmedia]

Behind the Exhibit: Miriam Schapiro at MAD

The seminal feminist artist’s “femmages” slyly subverted the patriarchy

[visuallycurious]

Recommended read/visual-feast. The “Pattern and Decoration” movement — both thrilling and garish? This great catalogue from LA MoCA is sparking a lot of ideas! #patternanddecoration #feministart #artcraft #decorativearts #artbooks #miriamschapiro @moca https://www.instagram.com/p/CHEiWDWAXjo/?igshid=zf6wx67ts0lu

[museutextil]

Miriam Schapiro, Canadian

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Miriam Schapiro foi uma artista americana-canadense conhecida por suas colchas vibrantes e geométricas e suas pinturas abstratas minimalistas. Seu trabalho muitas vezes abordava questões feministas através do artesanato tradicional, trabalho historicamente associado às mulheres e muitas vezes desvalorizado pelo mundo da arte. Nascida em 15 de novembro de 1923 em Toronto, Canadá, a artista logo se mudou para Nova York depois que seu pai foi admitido no Instituto de Artes Beaux-Arts. Depois de trabalhar ao lado de Expressionistas Abstratos em Nova York, ela fundou o Programa de Arte Feminista no Instituto de Artes da Califórnia com Judy Chicago, dedicada a promover as carreiras de artistas femininas. Schapiro morreu em 20 de junho de 2015 em Hampton Bays, NY. Hoje, seu trabalho está nas coleções do Brooklyn Museum, do Smithsonian American Art Museum e do Metropolitan Museum of Art, entre outros. @brooklynmuseum @americanart @metmuseum @calarts

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[ Miriam Schapiro was an American-Canadian artist known for her vibrant, geometric quilts and her minimalistic abstract paintings. Her work often tackled feminist issues through tradition crafts, work which was historically associated with women and often devalued by the art world. Born on November 15, 1923 in Toronto, Canada, the artist soon moved to New York after her father was admitted to the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design. After working alongside Abstract Expressionists in New York, she founded the Feminist Art Program at the California Institute of the Arts with Judy Chicago, dedicated to fostering the careers of female artists. Schapiro died in June 20, 2015 in Hampton Bays, NY. Today, her work is held in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. ]

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Para saber mais [ To learn more about ]: http://www.artnet.com/artists/miriam-schapiro/ https://www.theartstory.org/artist/schapiro-miriam/ @artnet @the_art_story_org

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#museutextil #fiber #design #contemporaryart #textileart #tapestry #artist #fibreart #textileartist #embroideryart #contemporarytextileart #fiberart #quiltart #feminism #miriamschapiro

(em Toronto - Canadá)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCqU3GCD2Rm/?igshid=1akpsm32j4fys

[vortexstreet]

Miriam Schapiro, Jigsaw, 1969. Acrylic on canvas, 80 × 72 1/8 in. (203.2 × 183.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

[herchive]

She told to Lakeland (Fla.) Ledger in 1999 #Herchive #Miriamschapiro #illustration #arthistory #womenmakinghistory #archive #women #artist #womenartist #femaleartists #feminism #visualartist #artistsofig #womenempoweringwomen #equality #herstory #womenhouse #equality #gendergap #art #femmage #movement (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1l82lvluPu/?igshid=1870t503bg2d8

[bm-feminist-art]

Anonymous was a Woman, Miriam Schapiro, 1976, Brooklyn Museum: Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art

© Miriam Schapiro Size: 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm) Frame: 2 x 33 3/4 x 25 3/4 in. (5.1 x 85.7 x 65.4 cm) Medium: Acrylic and collage on paper

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/5171

[bm-contemporary-art]

Untitled, Miriam Schapiro, 1962, Brooklyn Museum: Contemporary Art

© Miriam Schapiro Size: Plate: 4 3/4 x 5 13/16 in. (12 x 14.8 cm) Medium: Etching on wove paper

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/90505

[moma-prints]

Untitled, Miriam Schapiro, 1962, MoMA: Drawings and Prints

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene V. Thaw Size: plate: 11 7/8 x 14 3/4" (30.1 x 37.4cm); sheet: 20 3/16 x 25 13/16" (51.3 x 65.6cm) Medium: Etching

http://www.moma.org/collection/works/70626

[mattiearchive]

Womanhouse: Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro

Womanhouse was an up and running installation from January 30 – February 28, 1972. It was built and located inside a borrowed dilapidated Hollywood Mansion. A group of students in a groundbreaking CalArts Feminist Art Program, led by their professors Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro, turned the mansion into a walkable art installation and performance space.

Above: Nurturant Kitchen

The all-female group of 30 Cal arts students who created the Womanhouse did so with the intention of subverting, exaggerating, parodying, and otherwise calling out the cultural and societal expectations of an American 1960s-70s housewife.

Above: Leah’s Room

Each room was designed to tackle a specific aspect of a woman’s role in society.The women held consciousness-raising sessions in which they discussed and brainstormed about how to approach individual rooms and projects, using their own experiences of home and femininity as the subject. Rooms include the Nurturant kitchen, where the woman’s duty to feed is treated as grueling uncompensated labor, and Leah’s Room, where an aging courtesan applies makeup continually as an effort to hide her aging and maintain her worth.

Above: Crocheted Environment

The Woman House was created using a multitude of materials and tools.The female students performed significant work on the house, learning traditionally masculine skills in the process, making the very act of its creation subversive at the time. 

Above: Menstruation Bathroom

I find this project inspiring in many ways. I love the collaborative aspect and the brainstorming sessions involved in its creation. I would love to be involved in something like this someday. I enjoy the idea of pushing the feminine aesthetic to the extreme. The combination of the familiar, the gaudy and the gross appeals to me. I think Womanhouse is interesting as it combines performance and handicraft into a physical space.