Correction from the Art Kettle – the use of the word “coddled”

submitted by Laura Earle,

The Art Kettle and the artists of Dear Womanhouse have been heartened by the response to our exhibit by some of the participants in the original 1972 Womanhouse. While filled with much encouragement and congratulations, some of the original artists took issue with the characterization of the 1972 students as “coddled,” a remark made during the recent lecture Q+A session and reported in the Manchester Mirror. The word choice reflected the socialized weakness of women at the time as put forth in the historic record by Judy Chicago, Through the Flower.

Wishing to clarify, some of the original participants described to us the hardships they endured to pioneer this groundbreaking educational experiment, and their motivation as being a dedication to artistic acuity rather than merely for course credit. We deeply appreciate hearing from them and wish to correct the record by including their perspectives. To learn more about their experiences, check out these resources:

In The Power of Feminist Art: the first three chapters
Faith Wilding, chapter in “By Our Own Hands”

Re-tracings by Ulrike Muller:
http://www.encore.at/retracing/index2.html
(1990s recollections of some of the participants solicited by Austrian artists Ulrike Muller)

Writings by Mira Schor:
“Authority and Learning” in Wet
“Miss Elizabeth Bennett Goes to Feminist Boot Camp” in A Decade of Negative Thinking (as well as “Email to a Young Woman Artist’
https://ayearofpositivethinking.com/2016/05/26/hey-jill-soloway-who-you-going-to-get-to-play-me-on-your-womanhouse-series/

http://www.womanhouse.net/
a collection of much of the information on Womanhouse available on line, assembled by Suzy Spence and Sascha Behrendt.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.