Comparison Between “The Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse” by Miriam
Schapiro and “Bad-Dream House” by Sandra Burton
Laura Sato
LDR 101: How Do I Look?
Dr. Katherine Smith
Due November 12, 2015
Sato 2
I.
“The Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse” by Miriam Schapiro
In the article “The Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse” by Miriam
Schapiro, Schapiro mentions of her involvement in Womanhouse. The author is Miriam Schapiro
who was a feminist artist that worked side-by-side with Judy Chicago to create and carryout the
Womanhouse project. Schapiro had previously done a significant amount of art and one of her
most well-known work was Ox which was completed before Womanhouse. Due to fact that
Schapiro was in a male-dominated field, the point of view would be representative of all of the
women that participated in this project.1
The article “The Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse” was included in
Art Journal. Art Journal is an academic journal that is published by the College Art Association
of America. The audience is working professionals or professors that lie in art history
departments in colleges. Due to their being more men in this field, I believe that this journal was
more towards male readership. Point of view is very significant in this article. It does not come
from a female or feminist journal; it comes from a prolific journal that is very well-known.
Therefore, Schapiro has to emphasize the role of women in the project. Due to this being a
professional art journal, Schapiro feels as if she has to prove herself as well as her peers/students.
Schapiro uses the word “we” to furthermore push that women created art. Since the art world
consists primarily of males, Schapiro pushes the fact that the art was created by females and
pushes that it is hard for females to find their place in the art world.2
1
Summer Bosley, Karrie Jackson, Laura Sato, Catie Weeks, Presentation on Miriam Schapiro, Foundational Skills
Seminar How Do I Look?, Agnes Scott College, October 20, 2015
2
Summer Bosley, Karrie Jackson, Laura Sato, Catie Weeks, Presentation on Miriam Schapiro, Foundational Skills
Seminar How Do I Look?, Agnes Scott College, October 20, 2015
Sato 3
The thesis of the article is that Shapiro emphasizes the circular teaching style and the
differing educational environment in order to illustrate how the Womanhouse Project protested
women’s societal norms and illustrates how women can be skilled in the male-dominated art
world. Schapiro supports this thesis throughout four distinct sections that can be found in the
article that displays the process in which Womanhouse was created.
The parts are Methods of Teaching: Group Operation, History of Womanhouse:
Conception, History of Womanhouse: Creation, and Conclusion. In Methods of Teaching: Group
Operation, Shapiro describes the way in which classes were run. They had 21 female artists and
had circular conversations that allowed a “nourishing environment for growth.”3 In a circle, they
would discuss certain topics that were chosen and each would have to respond to it on their own
accord. They used technique in order to search for subject matter. They had a struggle in
deciding what subject matter was appropriate and what materials were appropriate. From these
discussions, the idea of Womanhouse was born. 4
In the next section History of Womanhouse: Conception, Schapiro mentions how the
idea of Womanhouse came to be. They found a location in Los Angeles to hold the exhibition.
However, there were many problems with the house. Firstly, it was far from the school.
Therefore, there would be a lot of commuting back and forth. Secondly, there was no water or
plumbing in the house. Therefore, they had to find another place with facilities they could use.
Schapiro mentions that although there were many inconveniences that came with the location,
3
Miriam Schapiro, "Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse." (Art Journal 31, Spring1972), 268.
Summer Bosley, Karrie Jackson, Laura Sato, Catie Weeks, Presentation on Miriam Schapiro, Foundational Skills
Seminar How Do I Look?, Agnes Scott College, October 20, 2015
4
Sato 4
she cites that “Womanhouse was conceived and executed with sustained energy and
commitment.”5
The third section of the article is History of Womanhouse: Creation and it states the
process of the building of the interior of the house and describes a significant amount of rooms
that were completed. She mentions the first challenges that occurred were replacing 23 broken
windows. Since the students before were not required to do this type of workmanship, they had
to learn how to replace the windows. Along with replacing the windows, they had to learn how
to use wallpaper and how to refinish floors. Shapiro then speaks about certain rooms in the
house. She mentions a significant amount of information about certain parts of the house. The
first was the kitchen. It was a “battleground where women fought with their mothers” and a place
of “which society would not encourage such an escape.”6 Therefore, they painted the whole
environment pink. This installation epitomizes the reality of the female stereotypical gender
role.7 It details Menstruation Bathroom which explains the menstruation cycle. The room is fully
painted white with a shelf holding feminine products along with a wastebasket filled with used
kotex. It expresses the amount that is used throughout women’s lifetime.8 The last one that was
discussed in detail is the Fright Bathroom. It contains a woman made of sand lying in a tub,
completely vulnerable. There is a medicine chest that is open showing several cosmetic bottles
filled with sand. This is a statement that aims to reverse the thought that women cover their
bodies in lotion, and presents the idea of how women are imprisoned by her cosmetics. The
5
Schapiro, "Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse," 268.
Ibid., 269
7
Summer Bosley, Karrie Jackson, Laura Sato, Catie Weeks, Presentation on Miriam Schapiro, Foundational Skills
Seminar How Do I Look?, Agnes Scott College, October 20, 2015
8
Schapiro, "Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse," 269.
6
Sato 5
Fright Bathroom is evident of not only women disappearing in society, but also the 70s.9 These
works were chosen due to the fact that they illustrate different aspects of female life and the
conflicts that occur.
The last part is the Conclusion and it mentions the impact that it had on the artist
alongside the teachers. It acted as a learning teaching experience that allowed for Schapiro and
Chicago to transition from being an artist to being a teacher. It taught the students to express
their womanly art as they saw fit. They faced extraordinary demands which went against the
societal expectations. It taught them how to be an individual while also being in a group
setting.10 It was a difficult learning experience and the audience “cried when they saw the
cosmetic performance piece. They gasped in the kitchen… and… allowed them to respond with
fullness to the honor, joy and beauty of the house which, in the end, was really theirs.”11 This
statement defined why this piece was important to so many individuals.
II.
“Bad-Dream House” by Sandra Burton
“Bad-Dream House” was written by Sandra Burton, who was the first woman
correspondent for Time Magazine. This was her first article for Time Magazine. She was not
involved in Womanhouse but wrote a review about it. Due to the fact that Time Magazine was a
national news source, it caught the attention of many different people. It was written after
Womanhouse so it illustrated her views of the project.12 She felt strongly for it and thought that it
was important for many people to know about it. The main idea of this review is to illustrate the
9
Summer Bosley, Karrie Jackson, Laura Sato, Catie Weeks, Presentation on Miriam Schapiro, Foundational Skills
Seminar How Do I Look?, Agnes Scott College, October 20, 2015
10
Ibid.
11
Schapiro, "Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse," 270.
12
Summer Bosley, Karrie Jackson, Laura Sato, Catie Weeks, Presentation on Miriam Schapiro, Foundational Skills
Seminar How Do I Look?, Agnes Scott College, October 20, 2015
Sato 6
powerful and unique features of the project as well as celebrate female artists.13 Burton illustrates
the main idea throughout the review. She gives information about the house and quotes from the
creators of the project. She mentions short descriptions of three pieces: Sheet Closet, Bridal
Staircase, and Nurturing Kitchen. She provides black and white images for each of the pieces
that she mentions.14 She picked the pieces that stuck a cord with her the most. Much of what she
include illustrated the stereotypes of women and illustrated how women often felt trapped in
domestic work.
III.
Compare and Contrast
The articles “The Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse” by Miriam
Schapiro and “Bad-Dream House” by Sandra Burton have strengths and weaknesses that can be
seen throughout the articles. A strength that can be found in both articles is that they eloquently
wrote about how individual parts of Womanhouse illustrated a woman’s life. In both articles the
author’s wrote about two art pieces in particular. One was the Menstruation Bathroom and the
other was the Nurturing Kitchen. The listed works of art illustrates the difficult nature of a
woman’s life at home (motherhood) and in society (beauty). 15
Strength of the Schapiro article is that it acts like a process log. It describes how
Womanhouse was created and the thoughts behind certain works of art. By doing this, Schapiro
clarifies the reasons why Womanhouse was important and very different compared to other
projects of its times. This information is unique and is not found in other readings aside from
first-person accounts. A weakness of the article could be the expression. In the presentation, the
13
Ibid.
Sandra Burton, "Bad-Dream House."( Time Magazine, 20 March 1972), 77.
15
Summer Bosley, Karrie Jackson, Laura Sato, Catie Weeks, Presentation on Miriam Schapiro, Foundational Skills
Seminar How Do I Look?, Agnes Scott College, October 20, 2015
14
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publication and point of view was stressed. Schapiro was trying to prove validity of the project.
Therefore, certain acts may be exaggerated. It does not harm the importance but does question
how much work the women did.16 Overall, the reading helped in understanding Womanhouse.
The article gave a first-hand account by one of the leaders about the process of Womanhouse and
gave information about the struggles that each female individual endured while completing this
project.
Strength of the article by Sandra Burton is that it was distributed among a variety of people.
Due to it being in Time Magazine, it was spread nationally. The writing was strong and one
could fully comprehend why the movement was influential. However, if the review was longer
there would be a lot more clarity of the importance of the project. Unique information that can be
found in the article is quotes from the creators of Womanhouse. This information can be found in
first-hand accounts. However, this is unique for being found in an art review. A weakness of this
article is that it was published after Womanhouse was closed.17 The article states the way in
which Womanhouse was successful in attracting people to the project and how it caused change.
It would have made a more logical argument if one could read the review then go and view the
works and come up with their own personal meaning of the piece.
Despite the weaknesses found in both articles, Schapiro and Burton successfully demonstrate
how the project is significant and relevant for its time period. Schapiro does this by having the
sections chronologically.18 From this we can see how certain parts affected them as females and
16
Ibid.
Kayla Bolden, Rose Boyce, and Sydney Pegues, Presentation on Sandra Burton, Foundational Skills Seminar
How Do I Look?, Agnes Scott College, October 20, 2015
17
18
Summer Bosley, Karrie Jackson, Laura Sato, Catie Weeks, Presentation on Miriam Schapiro, Foundational Skills
Seminar How Do I Look?, Agnes Scott College, October 20, 2015
Sato 8
which pieces are meaningful to her. Burton does this by including quotes from the artists
themselves. 19 By having the quotes, we are able to see the impact it had on them as well as the
impact it has on the audience. Although they had different relationships to the project, both
authors were influential in spreading the ideas of Womanhouse.
19
Burton, "Bad-Dream House," 77.
Sato 9
Bibliography
Kayla Bolden, Rose Boyce, and Sydney Pegues, Presentation on Sandra Burton, Foundational
Skills Seminar How Do I Look?, Agnes Scott College, October 20, 2015
Summer Bosley, Karrie Jackson, Laura Sato, Catie Weeks, Presentation on Miriam Schapiro,
Foundational Skills Seminar How Do I Look?, Agnes Scott College, October 20, 2015
Burton, Sandra. "Bad-Dream House." Time Magazine, 20 March 1972, 77.
Schapiro, Miriam. "Education of Women as Artists: Project Womanhouse." Art Journal 31
(Spring 1972): 268-270.