Feminist Art Resources in Education

I love feminist art. I keep a Carolee Schneemann book on hand to browse through when I need some brain coffee. Earlier this year I saw Lynn Hershman Leeson’s film !WOMEN ART REVOLUTION and I’m still talking about it constantly- which leads me to The Feminist Art Project, maintained by gender studies powerhouse Rutgers University.

According to its website, “The Feminist Art Project is an international collaborative initiative celebrating the Feminist Art Movement and the aesthetic, intellectual and political impact of women on the visual arts,art history and art practice, past and present.” It includes a searchable calendar of feminist art events across the world as well as my favorite part of the site – Feminist Art Resources in Education (FARE).

In order to access FARE, you need to create an account with the site – it only takes a minute and it’s 100% free. Once you create the account and log in, you can access a wealth of educational resources on feminist art, including downloadable lesson plans, multimedia resources, and adult education resources.

Artcyclopedia

Interested in learning more about a specific artist or art movement? Artcylopedia is an excellent (and free!) place to begin! My favorite part of the site is that you can browse artists by a number of categories, including alphabetically by name, medium, and nationality.

Artcyclopedia also includes art news from around the world, which is updated nearly daily and spans a wide range of periodicals.  Over 9000 artists and 2900 art-related sites are included!

Kathleen Hanna documentary

Director Sini Anderson recently finished shooting a documentary called “The Punk Singer” on Kathleen Hanna — using only 3% of their overall budget! Now they’re in the editing stage of the film and are raising money to continue making it. Sini has a Kickstarter page where anyone can pledge any amount of support money.

It’s only 6 days into Kickstarter fundraising and people have already pledged 70% of the target amount! This makes me really happy, as it’s a testament to all of the people whose lives have been impacted by this amazing radical activist, musician, and cultural artist. 23 days remain to reach Sini’s goal of $44K- we’ll make it happen!

 

Europeana

Interested in learning more about the treasures of Europe’s museums and libraries but can’t make the trip over? Europeana is definitely a good substitute, as it provides 15+ million images, texts, sounds recordings, and videos! The website’s stated goal is very close to my librarian heart, as it is to “make Europe’s cultural and scientific heritage accessible to the public.”

You can search the website’s holdings either via the search box on the homepage, or you can click “advanced search” for more refined search options. In order to better find what you are looking for, you can refine searches by provider, country, type, rights access, etc… Europeana is very tech savvy, as users are able to share search results with others via numerous social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Center for the Study and Research of African Women in Cinema

Good afternoon! I just learned about the Center for the Study and Research of African Women in Cinema, a website whose stated objective is “to provide a space for study and research of myriad topics relating to African women in cinema.” This is a very thorough and well-organized website, with ample film clips, bibliographies, and a frequently updated blog.

An index outlines the numerous sub-pages, including a guide to African women in cinema by country, a film timeline of works by African women, and a vlog which links visitors to the Center’s YouTube channel and Vimeo channel. I’m really impressed by the content and design of this site!

New Museum Digital Archive

For anyone interested in the cutting-edge work of NYC’s New Museum of Contemporary Art, it is now possible to access much of their holdings online! The New Museum Digital Archive presently contains 6000+ exhibition images and descriptions, publications, and public program chronology culled from the Museum’s 24-year history.

The site also includes a database of 3700 people and places associated with the Museum. If you would like to search the archive, there is a search box in the top right corner of every page associated with the site. The archive is a work in progress, and new material is constantly added by the Museum’s staff.

New York State Digital Collections

I lived in New England for 22 years and eventually will again one day, but for now I live in New York, and as such want to share as many resources showcasing the state’s rich history as possible! The New York State Digital Collections offers site visitors online access to materials held by 3 government institutions: New York State Archives, New York State Museum, and New York State Library.

At the Digital Collections website, you can either search the images by keyword if you know exactly what you’re looking for, or browse the collections. There are 8 main collections, including Business & Labor, People, Groups, & Cultures, and Environment & Landscape. I was particularly interested in a collection called Factory Investigating Commission 1911-1912. It’s pretty exciting to me that despite the fact that I live hours away from Albany and have never been, I can still have access to many of the state’s historical documents!

Call for submissions: Hoax #6

I’m delighted to announce that Rachel and Sari, my friends and comrades of feminist zine Hoax, are currently looking for contributors for their 6th issue. The topic of this issue is feminism and communication (which as a reference librarian greatly pleases me)!

You can check out their call for submissions here – and it was also noted that they’re looking for a great deal of artwork.  Here are some potential topics suggested:

• how  we utilize the various creative mediums to express ourselves: ie  art/music/playwriting/dance/zines etc.
• language: terminology / identifications / labels / who is allowed to use certain terms / reclamation
• media: various types / their historical & cultural relevancy / effectiveness for social change / the decline of print media / online activism & social justice movements
• visibility: how we choose to communicate our identities (verbally and non verbally) / how different communication styles “out” us / secrecy / how we talk & to whom / where do you draw the line in sharing certain information (online, at yr job etc.)
• non-verbal communication: how we “read” and then judge others / body politics & gendered expressions (“passing” and “body work”)
• consent: expressed vs. body language / legacy of shitty health class information / talking about queer and/or non-normative sex

• the self: self-care / where the self ends & community begins / expressing yr needs / creating & sustaining personal boundaries
• accessibility: geographic accessibility / accessibility to language / pretension / the “academic industrial complex”

Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories (San Francisco)

I usually limit blogging about events to those occuring in NYC, as that’s where I live, but could not pass up blogging about a new exhibit on Gertrude Stein at San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum. (After all, I did base this blog’s name on one of her books and have a postcard of her and Alice B. Toklas hanging over my desk). Titled Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories, the exhibition is up through September 6th.

According to the museum’s website, the exhibition focuses on “Stein’s life from the end of World War I through World War II, the exhibition explores her evolving public personae, lifestyle, relationships, landmark 1934-35 tour of the United States, and life in France during WWII.”

I was in San Francisco in March and am really disappointed that the exhibit wasn’t up yet – it makes me want to go back this summer! If you do make it to the exhibit, promise to describe it to me in detail afterward?

!WOMEN ART REVOLUTION (film)

I am going to go see the film !WOMEN ART REVOLUTION this weekend and I am literally counting down the seconds! Written, directed, produced, and edited by Lynn Hershman Leeson, !WOMEN ART REVOLUTION is the product of, according to the film’s website, “hours of interviews with visionary artists, historians, curators and critics who shaped the beliefs and values of the Feminist Art Movement and reveal previously undocumented strategies used to politicize female artists and integrate women into art structures.”

Many, many artists are featured, including Cindy Sherman, Carolee Schneemann, and Miranda July. You can watch a clip from the film of the Guerilla Girls here! If you live in NYC and want to go see the film, it’s playing at IFC until at least June 21st.

Also, not to forget, the soundtrack of the movie is supposed to be awesome, with a score composed by Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney!!!) and songs by bands including The Gossip and Tribe 8.