When the word "feminist" comes up, it's possible in 2013 to shrug and murmur dismissively, "Whatever was that about?"
We have after all come a long way, baby, from a time when women's career options were largely defined by nursing, typing or teaching. Women routinely do everything now -- run companies, courts, jackhammers, space shuttles, even museums. So why is a spate of feminist exhibitions, talks, film screenings and other events now opening in the Twin Cities?
The activities celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Women's Art Registry of Minnesota and its offshoot WARM gallery, organizations that were huge contributors to the national dialogue about women's roles and options in art. Exhibitions involving more than 100 local and national women are being staged at Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota and Robbin Gallery in Robbinsdale. Part reunion and part nostalgia trip, the events are driven by a deeper motivation.
"The older people have a fervent desire to pass on to another generation, not what we did but that we did it; this is a house we built," said Joyce Lyon, a founding member of WARM and associate professor of art who co-organized the Nash show.
Recalling a time when local art colleges had no female faculty members, art history books ignored women, and museums and galleries were male turf, she said that young women today need to understand the stakes in the contemporary art -- and political -- scene.
"Young people today assume that things they have were always there, and we know they weren't," Lyon said. "Not every victory is secure."
From the start, WARM was a place where women could tell their stories, support one another's ambitions, dream big dreams and test new ideas about art. Some pushed for acceptance of previously ignored subjects, especially female experiences like menstruation or childbirth. Others championed materials (fabric, ceramics) and crafts (lace-making, tapestry) that the art establishment had long trivialized as "women's work." Others launched new organizations and promoted new ideas about sex and gender.
The Nash Gallery show will span the decades, featuring pieces from the '70s, recent work and a contextualizing timeline. It will be organized thematically along such topics as the body, identity and political oppression. National stars among the 72 featured talents include Chicago painter Ellen Lanyon, New York sculptor Nancy Azara, multimedia provocateur Judy Chicago and New York painter/filmmaker Howardena Pindell.
