Press release for "Doin' It in Public: Feminism and Art at the Woman's Building"

              Media Release: Doin’ It in Public / Pacific Standard Time / Ben Maltz Gallery / Pg 2 of 3 The major focus of Doin’ It in Public is revealing the WB’s emphasis on developing, teaching, and executing collaboration. The work of collaborative groups such as Ariadne: A Social Art Network, Chrysalis Magazine, Feminist Art Workers, Feminist Studio Workshop, The L.A. Women’s Video Center, Madre Tierra Press, Mother Art, Sisters Of Survival, The Waitresses, and the Women’s Graphic Center is presented and contextualized through the exhibition, programs, and publications.
Otis is releasing a two-volume publication in conjunction with the exhibition. Volume I: From Site to Vision: the Woman’s Building in Contemporary Culture, is a collection of 14 essays originally published online in 2007, edited by Sondra Hale and Terry Wolverton. Essayists include Sheila Levrant de Bretteville and Lucy R. Lippard, activist and writer on contemporary art and culture. Volume II: Doin’ It in Public: Feminism and Art and the Woman’s Building includes research and writing by a prestigious team of scholars who assembled in 2008-09 to shape the curatorial focus of this project.
On October 15 and 16, to complement the exhibition, Otis is producing Still Doin’ It: Fanning the Flames of the Woman’s Building, with a performance by the Feminist Art Workers. Part convening, part symposium, part reunion, part performance, the two-day event is a dialogue between feminist artists then and now. Doin’ It in Public scholars Alexandra Juhasz, Jennie Klein, Michelle Moravec, and Jennifer Sorkin present tours of the exhibition on Saturday afternoon, and WB writers read from their work in the evening at Antioch University. Sunday includes a no-host reunion breakfast with keynote speaker Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, plus interactive dialogues and performances including one by the Feminist Art Workers. On Sunday afternoon Phranc, the all-American Jewish lesbian folksinger, hosts “This Is Your Life: the Woman’s Building” at the Skirball Cultural Center. The complete schedule and tickets are available at http://www.otis.edu/public_programs/ben_maltz_gallery/wb_tickets.html
Otis has organized multiple Doin’ It in Public programs and events, spanning four months, including:
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Beginning October 6, Show n’ Tell will occur most Thursdays at Noon throughout the run of the exhibition at the Ben Maltz Gallery. A case in the exhibition is opened to share a closer look at some of the artists' books, graphic materials, and historical artifacts on display.
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On November 5, a premiere of the film Mother Art Tells Her Story, followed by a tour of the show by feminist art cooperative Mother Art in the Ben Maltz Gallery.
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On January 14, a presentation by Feminist Art Workers: Cheri Gaulke and Laurel Klick in the Ben Maltz Gallery.
Otis has collaborated with other Pacific Standard Time participants to host interactive workshops and film screenings about related exhibition themes. Public programs include receptions, tours, and poetry readings, in addition to an extensive website with an ongoing oral ‘herstory’ project linking to YouTube and Facebook. Otis students will participate in curricular activities and produce an electronic news magazine that surveys feminist art today, and Otis’ position in the evolution of the L.A. art scene. The full events calendar can be viewed at http://www.otis.edu/public_programs/ben_maltz_gallery/wb_events.html
Doin’ It in Public project directors at Otis are Meg Linton, Director of Galleries and Exhibitions, Ben Maltz Gallery and Sue Maberry, Director of Library and Information Technology and former Project
Director at the Woman’s Building. Former Woman’s Building artists as well as Otis faculty members advising on the project include Suzanne Lacy, Director of Otis’ Graduate Public Practice program, as well as Cheri Gaulke, Jerri Allyn, Terry Wolverton, Nancy Angelo and Sondra Hale.