Moving Day

Thanks for stopping by!

This blog has moved.

All of its content has been merged into Way Ahead Threads.

Drop on by. I'd love to see you there.

Happy Valentine's Day

From my postcard collection.

You gotta love any conversation that includes anthropomorphic vegetables

facebook rocks!

After months of hearing people say I should be on Facebook, I caved on Thursday and signed up . . .

I've done lots of cool things online, but Facebook is the first that comes under the heading . (Among other good qualities, it's the first time ever that British and American sides of my family have been in the same place at the same time.)

My point, though, is that after a Kentucky Foundation for Women grants workshop yesterday, some of us decided to form a Friends of the Kentucky Foundation for Women group on Facebook.

KFW does more than give grants to feminist artists; it also intentionally seeks ways for those women to be in community, encouraging and empowering each other. Facebook, it seems to us, is another vehicle for doing so. We'd love to have you come on over and join on up!

Mary: The Paper Doll Project

If you live in or near Durham, North Carolina, scoot on over to St. Philip's Episcopal Church to see Mary: The Paper Doll Project by artist and Duke grad Carole Baker. This interactive exhibit offers 4 different cultural depictions of Mary, the mother of Jesus - and did I say they're paper dolls? That means you can change their clothes, just like you did when you were a kid.

I'm so sorry I can't be there for the opening on December 11.

One of the sponsors for this event is the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South. This organization, founded and directed by Jeanette Stokes, has offered energy, expertise, and (when circumstances have permitted) financial assistance to women pursuing creative and spiritual activities for more than 25 years. Current emphases are writing and visual arts, with a full calendar of events and workshops. Click on over and get on their mailing list; it's invigorating even if you don't live in the South.

Only in Kentucky

KFW director Judi Jennings enjoyed the festivities.

And while you may have seen less fuzzy photos of Sallie Bingham, you've seldom see photos of a woman as radiant as she is here. Her glee is well-deserved. Her $10 million gift in 1985 created the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Through the granting of funds to feminist artists in Kentucky, the Foundation has birthed, nursed, and nurtured a vibrant community committed to feminist expression and to social justice.

Bingham's commitment is even more remarkable in light of an article in LEO, one of Louisville's alternative weeklies. In that 2005 piece, which celebrated KFW's twentieth anniversary, writer Molly Cunningham cited figures from the National Committee for Responsible Philanthropy that show nationwide only six to seven percent of philanthropic donations go to women's issues and less than one percent go toward social justice issues.

Feminist artists and art at Hopscotch House

I love the glimpses of art behind the people in these photos.

KFW Day 2008

Saturday was KFW Day, an annual gathering of Kentucky Foundation for Women grantees. It was a chance to meet, network, and brainstorm. Visual artist Joyce Ogden was presented with this year's Sallie Bingam Award. That's Joyce on the left in the photo above.
A longer shot in which you can see engaged spectators and two wonderful art pieces by feminist artists in Kentucky.
KFW director Judi Jennings telling us of the numerous awards and activities that led to Joyce Ogden being honored by KFW this year. Incidentally, back when Hot Flash Fan was being created, Joyce made the airport runs when Judy Chicago came to town.
In her remarks, Joyce said that when she began doing community art projects, the only funding source that responded was the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Do you suppose that's because feminists are smarter than other people, or is it because feminists value community art more than other people? In any case, it was a pleasure to see Joyce honored for her contributions to the people of Louisville.

hell_no_my_birth_control

hell_no_my_birth_control
Originally uploaded by Angela Hayden ART GODDESS

And I really like this piece of art, too! You can get to the flickr site by clicking here: http:///flickr.com/groups/feministart/pool/

masturbation liberation symbol

masturbation liberation symbol
Originally uploaded by Elaine Vigneault

Another piece from the Feminist Art and Documentary group on flickr! The comment posted with the symbol reads as follow: "Part of ridding the world of misogyny is encouraging love, all forms of love, including self-love."

The Sky is Now Her Limit - 1920

The Sky is Now Her Limit - 1920
Originally uploaded by rosewithoutathorn84

Flickr now has a group called Feminist Art and Documentary where you can add your feminist images or start a slide show to see what has been posted to date.

Kentucky Girlhood Project call for artists

I've taken this information about the Kentucky Girlhood Project's call for submissions from KFW Hot Flash, the e-mail newsletter of the Kentucky Foundation for Women and a quick trip to the Project's blog.

The Kentucky Girlhood Project, a statewide contemporary art project promoting Kentucky female visual artists, writers, musicians, performance and video artists, announces a call for submissions.
Who's eligible? Women artists working in Kentucky or from Kentucky.
What's the theme? "Submit your signature work."
Where will the exhibit be held? The Clara M. Eagle Gallery at Murray State University.
When is the deadline? The deadline for submissions is November 15th.
Where can I learn more? At the Kentucky Girlhood Project blog.

I'm encouraged to submit to this project by the fact that I know what I want to submit as my signature work. Rules require two pictures of one work and a one-page artist statement. Those requirements feel doable. Now to put the date on my calendar.

Gee's Bend quilts

Quilt by Nettie Young of Gee's Bend.

If you want to see more interesting quilt art, click on over to the Auburn University site showing the Gee's Bend quilts.
Fabulous colors and strong designs.

Quotation of the Day

"The artist is always pregnant from within, a container of endless potential transformations, abandoned to the fertilizing powers of the imagination, actualizing unknown faces parthenogenetically... whether we are weaving tissue in the womb or weaving imagery in the soul, our work is sexual: the work of conception, gestation and birth." Meinrad Craighead

My friends at the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South are deeply involved with the production of a documentary about Sacred Feminine artist Meinrad Craighead. For more information,you can go to the documentary website, to the artist's website, and to the RCWMS website.
Support the Meinrad Craighead documentary project. Purchase notecards with this Meinrad Craighead art.

Yellow Orange to Red

Yellow Orange

Gold

yellow

Center medallion

You don't notice the center medallion so much from a distance.








It's only when you get up close that you see the rich colors and detailed stitching.








I read the book Ann Stewart Anderson kept about the Hot Flash Fan, and there I read about knots.








Can these be them? How long would it take to tie this many knots?

Participating Artists N - Z

Pat Obye
Joyce Ogden
Jacque Parsley
Liz Quinton
Lizi Ruch
Felize Sachs
Betty Senn
Kate Simon
Peg Smith
Marilyn Swan
Rebecca Tobias
Elizabeth Watkins
Donna Weiner
Jeanne Whitty

Participating Artists E - M

Marcia Fogelson
Frima Gelbard
Mary Clay Goodwin
Jean Guy
Shirley Hewitt
Peggy Sue Howard
Naomi Judd
Kathy Kaulitz
Suzanne LaValley
Anne Lindstrom
Micky Lorber
Anne Maiken
Martha March
Shana McMahan
Beverly McKinzie
Betts Meehan
Margaret Merida
Ann Miller
Jacquelyn Moore

Participating Artists A - D

Here are the names of contributing artists (A - D) to the Hot Flash Fan, created in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1985.

Aline Barker
Allis Eaton Bennett
Annie Barnes Bird
Marion Boomer
Lindsey Burns
Ann Coates
Mary Cobb
Miriam Corcoran
Pat Dereamer
Betsy Dienes
Franzee Dobeare
Sheryl Doerr
Nancy Durham

Embellishments

Ribbon









Picture, birth control pills, netting







Dried flowers held in place with netting

Beading

Before the Hot Flash Fan exhibit ended, I went back and took many more photos. I'm glad I did, because it gave me the chance to see details I missed the first time. The participating artists did an amazing job.

I love the sense of randomness within this carefully planned work of art. It's in keeping with the energy of the piece.

Creators of Hot Flash Fan

The creation of the monumental feminist artwork Hot Flash Fan required numerous hands, brains, and hours. I'm going to post lists of all of the documented participants, in small steps.

These women had primary roles in the creation of the artwork:

Ann Steward Anderson, Originator and Principal Coordinating Artist
Judy Chicago, Facilitator
Ada O'Connor, Principal Embroidery Artist Coordinator
Judith Meyers, Quilting Coordinator

I'll post more of the artists' names tomorrow.

Another Fiber Art Exhibit: At the River's Edge

Saturday, August 9, 2008, is the last chance to see At the River's Edge, a dynamic fiber art exhibit in the Charlotte Price Gallery at the Water Tower in Louisville, Kentucky. The postcard above shows one of the art pieces: Water, Mountains, and Trees; she watches over me by Valerie C. White.

According to the gallery guide, "the art ... focuses on both pictorial and abstract representations of rivers and the landscapes, bridges, and communities that border them." The six participating artists -- Pat DaRif, Kathleen Loomis, Marti Plager, Joanne Weis, Valerie White, and Juanita Yeager -- embarked on the river theme in 2003. With five years to explore the theme in depth, the artists developed pieces that "conjure up the essence of the river; you feel the movement of the water, ... the ancient draw to live close to a body of water."

The pieces are wildly different and yet I saw in each a reflection of the predominant fact about a river: its constant movement. Perhaps most striking is the piece by Kathleen Loomis, whom, incidentally, I know because of my involvement with another art quilt group. Two of Loomis's piece are simultaneously tiny and enormous. Small pieces -- an inch? half an inch? -- of fabric, multi-colored and/or embellished, are strung together both horizontally and vertically, creating a whole that shifts and moves gently in the breeze from a passing observer. The colors merge into each other and separate, just as the river itself does. Stunning works.

As are Marti Plager's bridges. Hot colors and precise angles offer the comfort of bridges in the midst of the textile rivers. Her pieces, lovely in their own right, add the same element that bridges offer in the course of a long car ride: the joy of geometry in the midst of natural shapes. (By the way, I know Marti as well.)

You can see more examples of the art work at the website of the Louisville Visual Art Association. They give you a hint of what's happening in the gallery, but only a pale hint of the remarkable power of this exhibit.

Still to Come

I have more photos to post, and I also plan to go back to Huff Gallery on Friday to take more photographs. This is the first time I've taken pictures of such a large piece, and in seeing them now, several weeks after the fact, I learned a lot about what I left out. At the time, I wasn't trying to be systematic; I focused on techniques that I especially liked or that were delicate enough not to show up in a full-size photo.

I still won't manage to photo every aspect of the piece, but there are a few important things to add. For instance, the hemisphere from which the rays emerge. I don't have a single close-up of the work on that part. It may not be as vibrant as the rays, but it's critically important to the whole.

So: more to come.

P. S. When I returned to take more photos of the Fan several weeks later and was able to concentrate on the hemisphere, I saw how vibrant it actually is. Strong colors, beautiful handwork -- it's a dynamic aspect of the whole.

Close-up of Lower Right Side of Hot Flash Fan

Close-up of Lower Right Side
Originally uploaded by Ka-ching

You can see, in the tan area atop the green ray, the words that appear above each ray: Menopause is.

All of the lines done in brown paint ( you see them clearly in this photo) were done by the facilitator, Judy Chicago.

Close-up of Right Side of Hot Flash Fan

Close-up of Right Side
Originally uploaded by Ka-ching

This close-up shows the hand-wrapped cord quite clearly. You can also see a good example of the couching that was done here and in several other places.

Close-up of Upper Right Section of Hot Flash Fan

Close-up of Upper Right Section
Originally uploaded by Ka-ching

From thjis angle you can see that each of the colored rays includes an image of a woman. From the lower left all the way around to this ray, the artwork is showing losses that come with aging/menopause. The purple section you see here, though, shows a wildness and freedom breaking forth. The figure looks down-right ecstatic to me.

Close-up of Center of Hot Flash Fan

Close-up of Center
Originally uploaded by Ka-ching

The pink section in the center of this photo pays tribute to the end of child-bearing years. The net holds various contraceptive devices.

Incidentally, can you see the gold cord that divides the pink section from the red and the purple sections? One of the participating artists told me that all of the cord was wrapped by hand, and that it took forever. She said everyone involved with the project wrapped cord at one time or another.

Close-up of Lower Left of Hot Flash Fan

Lower left
Originally uploaded by Ka-ching

In this view, you can see something of the intricacy of the Hot Flash Fan.

The figures in yellow are outline stitched, and embroidery fills the area between the figures.

The green section over their heads is closely quilted.

The orange section depicts the rigors of mastectomy. It includes several post-mastectomy photographs. It feels like a brave thing to have done in 1985.

Opening reception

you can get a sense of the size from this photo
Originally uploaded by Ka-ching

Another view

July 17, 2008 opening reception
Originally uploaded by Ka-ching

The piece looks different from every angle. The lighting made it seem to glow.

The Early Years

I'm having the kind of problems that are inevitable when you have 2 people, 3 computers, 2 cameras, and the occasional accidental erasure. I'll eventually be able to add the rest of the photos from the opening. Meanwhile, enjoy the above photo, which was taken in 1985.

The show at Huff Gallery runs through August 10, so if you're planning to go but haven't yet, now is the time.

The Expanding Universe

In sorting through goals and timeline for this project, I've concluded that to offer a website documenting the women who contributed to a major feminist art project without offering links to resources is silly.

Today I'm wandering through cyberspace evaluating sites and drawing conclusions about which offer the most pertinent information and resources for people who come to this site. Two benefits result: recommendations for you and a quick study for me on issues I haven't paid much attention to recently. For example: I had to check and be sure that the Guerrilla Girls are still "re-inventing the 'f' word -- feminism." Lo and behold, they're still with us. Guess their mission here on earth is not yet completed.

So -- I'm spinning through feminist art issues and art organizations today. Next up are oral history issues and organizations. I'm also working on a press release to alert Hot Flash Fan artists that this project is in place and shaping a questionnaire. Lots to do, and just the right amount of time to do it in.

The Hot Flash Fan

The Hot Flash Fan is currently on display in the Huff Gallery of the Spalding University library in Louisville, Kentucky. The link will take you to their web page so you can read more about the creation of HFF, learn when Huff Gallery is open, and find directions.

Hot Flash Fan is owned by the Kentucky Foundation for Women. At the opening reception last week, Ann Steward Anderson, the originator and principal coordinating artist, told how KFW came to purchase the HFF. She said Sallie Bingham was creating KFW at the time and urgently wanted the documentation Ann had collected (design sketches, letters between her and Judy Chicago, etc.) in the creation process. Ann told her that to get the documentation, the Foundation had to purchase the artwork. And so it came to pass that this monumental work of feminist art has been held and preserved for more than twenty years. According to the participating artists I spoke with at the opening, the piece has lost none of its luster, color, or embellishments.

Welcome!

The Hot Flash Fan blog documents the history of what we believe to be the first documented visualization of menopause: the Hot Flash Fan.

We'd like to hear from you if you did any of the following:

--worked on the Hot Flash Fan

--assisted in the Hot Flash Fan

--worked for the Louisville Visual Art Association in 1984-1985

-- worked on the companion projects sponsored by LVAA in 1984-1985