The International Honor Quilt was meant to honor women from around the world and be a companion piece to Judy Chicago’s “The Dinner Party.” Photo provided.

By Darla McCammon
and DeeAnna Muraski
Guest Columnists

WARSAW — We return to our Art In America series, studying the cultural impact of art from the 1900s through the present day. We segue into the late 1960s and 1970s with a big bang. What started out as an idyllic time period full of hope ended in the tragic deaths of leaders and a tumultuous, divisive war in Vietnam, which disintegrated our “great society.”

Darla McCammon and DeeAnna Muraski

Saying the words peace, love, hippie, free expression, communes, Woodstock and psychedelic art evokes immediate images of the raging 1970s. The Equal Pay Act was established and the release of the landmark book “The Feminine Mystique” catapulted the nation into a fury. The book purported that women wanted to feel more fulfilled than their domestic duties supplied. While not connected to this book, Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs,” created in his 1943 paper, seemed to be the harbinger of women’s unmet needs. The female perception had taken an abrupt turn from sexy pinup girls, i.e., Hilda and Gibson Girls, to “burn the bras” ’70s (there was only one bra thrown in the “freedom trash can” and it never burned).

Enter this week’s artist, Judy Chicago, who was required to obtain her husband’s permission to legally change her name. Chicago was born in 1939 in (drum roll) Chicago. Chicago, the artist, was not against men or their role; however, she identified a disparity in the recognition of women artists, women’s artistic collections and the value placed on women’s art. These formed the impetus for her artistic feminist movement. Most importantly, she realized the need for a woman’s viewpoint.

Chicago attended classes at the Art Institute of Chicago and trained at the University of California, Los Angeles, receiving her master’s in fine art in 1964. Her father had died tragically in 1950 of a sudden massive stomach ulcer. Chicago’s first husband also died in a disastrous car accident in 1961, leaving her heartbroken. Finally, in 1969 she remarried but refused to take her husband’s name. She started a female-only art course at Cal State that quickly filled up. Still feeling an administrative push-back, she decided in 1979 to leave Cal State and start her own Feminist Studio workshop in Los Angeles. Chicago was most famously and shockingly known for interjecting the external female anatomy into her paintings and artwork. The art pieces forced the viewer to reconcile that women were more than “just” their sex organs. The “Dinner Party” is her most renowned and hotly debated installation. In fact, it was so tumultuous that after its first display in 1979, it was dismantled and not re-installed until 2007 when it obtained a permanent exhibit. Depicting a triangle with 39 place settings all for the female guests of honor. Each setting is embellished with intricate embroidery and represents women throughout history. The controversy was created by the place settings, of which many depicted symbolized external anatomy.

Indisputably, Chicago is the matriarch of the feminist art movement. Her work is incredibly versatile, thought-provoking and intricate. She uses an astounding variety of interesting tools to create her masterpieces: dry ice, spray paint, fiber optics, quilting, weaving, bronze relief. Many times, her art incorporates needlework, a nod to domesticity but not a bound chain.

Her work can be viewed in many notable prestigious museums throughout the United States and internationally. She has won numerous awards for her artwork and strides toward feminism, including inclusion in the National Women’s Hall of Fame in New York. Chicago and her third husband reside in New Mexico, where she still teaches, creates art and inspires the next generation.

Events

Warsaw City Hall: The current artist is Jackie Meier, featuring her work in vibrant and colorful landscapes and animals. The gallery is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, except holidays, and is located in City Hall at 102 S. Buffalo St., downtown Warsaw. The gallery is on the first floor and is handicapped-accessible.
Lakeland Art Association: Rotating workshops, exhibits and free art-related programs every month. More than 70 pieces of local art to view and buy. Located at 302 E. Winona Ave., Warsaw, and open from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. For more information, send an email to: [email protected].

Darla McCammon is an artist, columnist and author. DeeAnna Muraski is executive director of Operation Read USA Inc. Send an email to the mother/daughter team at [email protected].