Celebrating Women, Celebrating Art
By Jean West Rudnicki
There is an art to celebrating art, and if the excitement that is already evident for the "10 Women, 10 Perspectives" exhibit scheduled in November is any indication, then The Arts Alliance Center of Clear Lake has a masterpiece in the works.
"I have never signed up with any event so fast as I did with this," admits Shirley Terry, CEO of Beyond Beaute. She, along with Carla Medlenka, Publisher of Change magazine and leader of the "Change Empowerment Series for Women," are co-sponsors of the exhibition, which will feature the works of ten emergent women artists from this area.
"'10 Women, 10 Perspectives' is an excellent venue to promote originality and creativeness on many different levels," says Carla. "It serves as a reminder that art is a powerful and moving force."
The show is the inspiration of Debra Kendrick, Curator of the Arts Alliance Center. Amid a busy schedule of assembling and disassembling exhibits, logging art works in and out, reviewing portfolios, and staying atop a myriad of details, Kendrick discussed "10 Women, 10 Perspectives," a show that holds a special place in her heart.
Her idea originated five years ago when she first joined the Arts Alliance staff. "Traditionally, women artists have been underserved, their works under-acknowledged and recognized," says Kendrick, who is an artist herself and former art educator at San Jacinto Community College. If you doubt her word, take this short quiz. First, quickly jot down the names of famous male artists you know. Now, jot down the names of famous women artists. If you are like me, you are hard pressed to get beyond Georgia O'Keefe.
Kendrick explains that in earlier times women were not allowed access to learning, and especially not studios with nude, male models. Typically only daughters of famous artists received such training, such as 17th century Roman artist Orazio Gentileschi and daughter, Artemisia. When women did paint they were relegated to doing family portraits and landscapes suitable for enhancing home décor. While the situation improved in modern times, a noticeable bias continued.
In 1985, The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art featured an exhibition of the most significant contemporary works. Out of the one hundred and sixty nine artists featured, only seventeen were women, giving rise to a colorful and flamboyant protest group known as the Guerilla Girls. Donning gorilla masks to hide their identity and protect their art careers from further limitations, the women adopted humor as a means to raise awareness. When it was discovered that less than 5% of the artists in the modern art section were women yet over 85% of the works depicted nude females, Guerilla Girls' billboards and placards asked, "Do women have to be nude to get into the Metropolitan Museum?"
While progress continues to be made, Kendrick believes there is room for improvement. As curator she realized she could help make a difference, even if only a small one. "How could I do less?" she asked.
She included a show with a similar theme on her first tentative gallery calendar for 2003. The idea didn't make it that year, nor in the ensuing years as it was continually bumped and shuffled around. But Kendrick, steadfast in her goal, never dropped the show from her list. In her mind, it represented another step in the Arts Alliance's mission of progressive objectives to identify, show, and grow area artists.
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