Topic Exploration Post

The protest I am discussing is the Feminist Art Program group’s collective art piece called “Womanhouse” (Chicago). This artwork was done in a run down Los Angeles mansion the women sought out for the project, and after writing a letter to the owner they were donated the house to contain their art piece (Chicago). What began as a school art project grew when the group transformed the house into a work of art in which they showed performance art as a protest against oppression of female artists and to work against the societal standards for women. One piece of performance art held in the building was a woman sitting at a vanity and applying makeup for hours, to showcase the societal expectations of women to look a certain way (Youdelman). The finished work of art transformed all of the rooms in the house, and was described by the program directors as “The age-old female activity of homemaking was taken to fantasy proportions (Chicago).


The identity of female artists created this program and work of performance art specifically to challenge the oppression of the art community on women.  Naming the program the “Feminist Art Program” and not a title that just referred to the group as a “Female artists program” or something similar states that their objectives with this group was to tackle women’s issues and oppression through artwork.

The Feminist Art Program created this work of art themselves, and Johanna Demetrakas created a documentary about the work of art at the time it was being made in order to preserve it long after the building was demolished (Chicago). For this assignment I will be examining Womanhouse and the documentary that was created as two objects of protest. This group was one of the first to make headway with female artists performing, however they were certainly not the first group of feminists or feminist artists to create protest against female oppression through art.

One thing I am concerned about through my research so far is obtaining clear protest goals from this work of art. With so many different people working together I have read many accounts of different things that wanted to be achieved through this work, some without intending it to be a protest at all. However this work is clearly a protest in its confrontation of the concept of “woman’s work” and what women artists were perceived to be able to achieve. I just need to research many more sources to support my argument. I am also concerned about being able to accurately describe the artwork done through words. I am not sure if this post is a place for questions but one that I have is would I be allowed to use pictures in my essay?
Works Cited:

Chicago, Judy, and Miriam Schapiro. "Original Exhibition Essay."WOMANHOUSE. NYFA, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Youdelman, Nancy. "Feminist Art Program." Fine Art | Mixed Media | Sculpture. N.p., 09 July 2011. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.