Exploration #6 Part I: Contemporary Art as Public Pedagogy Curricula

Making Room for Women

Enduring Idea: Gender is a culturally constructed idea that has been used to suppress the female artist in the cannon of western art.

Overview: Making Room for Women addresses the underrepresentation of women in the arts across the western history of art. Diverging from the traditional path of the art history survey course, this unit will call attention to this disparity in representation, reveal gender inequality, highlight women in the arts, and discuss their place and influence in the movements of which they are situated.

Lesson 1: Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists (Linda Nochlin)

Key Concepts:

• ·      Culture
• ·      Identity
• ·      Gender

Essential Questions Addressed in Lesson One:

• ·      How has and does culture define the artist and his/her role?
• ·      Within this definition, who is excluded?
• ·      What do these exclusions reveal about the culture?
• ·      What is gender?
• ·      What does it mean to be a female artist? 

Rationale: Introduces the gender inequalities that are present in the under representation of women in the history of art. Identifies women throughout history who have been excluded from the cannon and begins the questioning of this practice.

Lesson 2: The Forgotten Female (Kara Lysandra Ross)

Key Concepts:

• ·      Position
• ·      Power
• ·      Artistic Lineage

Essential Questions addressed in Lesson Two:

• ·      Who are these women?
• ·      What is Western art history’s viewpoint?
• ·      How do this viewpoint and the idea of the museum institution as the authority on art address the role of the female artist?
• ·      What does it mean to be marginalized?

Rationale: Identify where women are traditionally placed within the art “community” and explore how the institution of the museum influences and propagates the suppression of women in the arts.

Lesson 3: Vision, Voice and Power (Griselda Pollock)

Key Concepts:

• ·      Power
• ·      Voice
• ·      Adding to the cannon.
• ·      Recognition, inclusion and dispelling the myth.

Essential Questions addressed in Lesson Three:

• ·      Who should be added to the discussion of art?
• ·      Is the art world biased today?
• ·      What challenges do women artists face today?
• ·      How have ideas of gender changed?
• ·      Where do we go from here?

Rationale: Through questioning and research, students will challenge and seek change in both past and present representations of the female artist.