Chicago, Judy, 1939-

Interviewee Judy Chicago (1939- ) is a feminist artist and author who lives and works in Belen, N.M. Interviewer Judith Olch Richards (1947- ) is former executive director of iCI in New York, N.Y.

Judy Chicago (1939-) is a noted feminist artist, author, and educator. She was born in Chicago as Judy Cohen, but later changed her name in protest of the male social dominance reflected by traditional naming practices. Chicago received her bachelor of art degree in 1962 and her master of art degree in 1964, both from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has also been granted five honorary doctoral degrees, three in fine arts and two in humane letters. She currently resides in Belen, New Mexico. Chicago pioneered a feminist approach to art and art education at California State University, Fresno, in the early 1970s. She then brought her program to Cal-Arts, where she team-taught with Miriam Schapiro, producing with their students the ground-breaking Womanhouse project. In 1974, Chicago turned her attention to the subject of women's history to create her most well-known work, The Dinner Party, which was executed between 1974 and 1979 with the participation of hundreds of volunteers. Other artwork Chicago produced over the next several decades includes: Birth Project; PowerPlay; The Holocaust Project: From Darkness into Light; Resolutions: A Stitch in Time; If Women Ruled the World; and Judy Chicago Tapestries Woven by Audrey Cowan. Chicago has also worked with her husband, photographer Donald Woodman, to develop various community and inter-institutional art projects. Her art is marked by an attention to process, collaboration, and a feminist analytical viewpoint. Her work has been exhibited in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and featured in international publications as well. In 1999, Chicago returned to teaching with a succession of appointments at various institutions around the United States, including: Indiana University, Bloomington; Duke University; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Western Kentucky University; and Vanderbilt University. Chicago is the author of numerous books, including two autobiographies: Through the Flower: My Struggle as a Woman Artist, 1975, and Beyond the Flower: The Autobiography of a Feminist Artist, 1996. She has also received many honors, from National Endowment of the Arts grants in 1976 and 1977 to the Visionary Woman Award from the Moore College of Art and Design in 2004 and the 38th Governor's Award for Excellence from New Mexico in 2011.

Artist, feminist, and writer Judy Chicago was born Judy Cohen on July 20, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of California, Los Angeles, where she received her M.F.A. degree in 1964. Increasingly sensitive to the need for an environment in which women artists could express themselves freely without regard to the male-dominated art world, Chicago pioneered feminist art education programs at California State University at Fresno (1969-1971) and at the California Institute of the Arts (1971-1973), where she and artist Miriam Shapiro directed an installation called Womanhouse (1971). In 1973 she organized the Feminist Studio Workshop, the first independent feminist art education program in the country.

Chicago is best known for The Dinner Party, a multi-media installation honoring the achievements of women in Western civilization. Executed between 1974 and 1979 with the participation of hundreds of volunteers, The Dinner Party was viewed by approximately one million people in exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad between 1979 and 1988. Committed to using art as a vehicle for intellectual and social change, Chicago created The Birth Project (1982), a series of birth and creation images for needlework executed by skilled stitchers around the country, and the Holocaust Project (1994) in collaboration with her husband, photographer Donald Woodman. In 1978, Chicago established a non-profit organization, Through the Flower Corp., to support the completion of The Dinner Party. Since 2002, The Dinner Party has been permanently housed at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York.

Artist, feminist, and writer Judy Chicago was born Judy Cohen on July 20, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of California, Los Angeles, where she received her M.F.A. degree in 1964. Earning considerable recognition for her minimalist sculptures in an exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1967), she also had a one-woman show at California State University at Fullerton (1970). Increasingly sensitive to the need for an environment in which women artists could express themselves freely without regard to the male-dominated art world, Chicago pioneered feminist art education programs at California State University at Fresno (1969-1971) and at the California Institute of the Arts (1971-1973), where she and artist Miriam Shapiro directed an installation called Womanhouse (1971). In 1973 she organized the Feminist Studio Workshop, the first independent feminist art education program in the country.

Chicago is best known for The Dinner Party, a multi-media installation honoring the achievements of women in Western civilization. Executed between 1974 and 1979 with the participation of hundreds of volunteers, The Dinner Party was viewed by approximately one million people in exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad between 1979 and 1988. Its significance was underscored by a 1996 exhibition of the work at UCLA's Armand Hammer Museum, and the publication of Sexual Politics: Judy Chicago's Dinner Party in Feminist Art History (1996).

Committed to using art as a vehicle for intellectual and social change, Chicago created The Birth Project (1982), a series of birth and creation images for needlework executed by skilled stitchers around the country, and the Holocaust Project (1994) in collaboration with her husband, photographer Donald Woodman. A frequent lecturer, she is the author of Through the Flower: My Struggle as a Woman Artist (1975), Beyond the Flower: The Autobiography of a Feminist Artist (1996), and a number of books on her work.

Artist, feminist, and writer Judy Chicago was born Judy Cohen on July 20, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of California, Los Angeles, where she received her M.F.A. degree in 1964. Increasingly sensitive to the need for an environment in which women artists could express themselves freely without regard to the male-dominated art world, Chicago pioneered feminist art education programs at California State University at Fresno (1969-1971) and at the California Institute of the Arts (1971-1973), where she and artist Miriam Shapiro directed an installation called Womanhouse (1971). In 1973 she organized the Feminist Studio Workshop, the first independent feminist art education program in the country.

Chicago is best known for The Dinner Party, a multi-media installation honoring the achievements of women in Western civilization. Executed between 1974 and 1979 with the participation of hundreds of volunteers, The Dinner Party was viewed by approximately one million people in exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad between 1979 and 1988. Committed to using art as a vehicle for intellectual and social change, Chicago created The Birth Project (1982), a series of birth and creation images for needlework executed by skilled stitchers around the country, and the Holocaust Project (1994) in collaboration with her husband, photographer Donald Woodman. In 1978, Chicago established a non-profit organization, Through the Flower Corp., to support the completion of The Dinner Party. Since 2002, The Dinner Party has been permanently housed at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York.

Judy Chicago, an artist, writer, and feminist, was born Judy Cohen in Chicago, Illinois, July 20, 1939. The daughter of Arthur M., a labor organizer, and May (Levenson) Cohen, a medical secretary, Chicago adopted the surname Chicago in 1969. She was married to Jerry Gerowitz 1961 until his death in 1963, married and divorced from Lloyd Hamrol (1969-1979), and has been married to Donald Woodman since 1985.

After receiving her B.A. (1962) and M.F.A. (1964) from the University of California, Los Angeles, Chicago received recognition for her minimalist sculpture through an exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1967) and a one-woman show at California State University at Fullerton (1970).

Increasingly sensitive to the need for an environment in which women artists could express themselves freely without regard to an art world dominated by males, Chicago pioneered feminist art education programs through her experience as assistant and founder of the Women's Art Program California State University at Fresno (1969-1971) and as instructor and co-founder of the Feminist Studio Workshop at the California Institute of the Arts (1971-1973). Her experience with the Feminist Art Program culminated in Womanhouse (1971), an installation she directed with the artist Miriam Shapiro. In 1973, Chicago organized the Feminist Studio Workshop, the first independent feminist art program in the country.

Chicago is best known for The Dinner Party (1974-1979), a multi-media installation honoring the achievements of women in Western civilization. Created with the participation of hundreds of volunteers, The Dinner Party was viewed by approximately one million people in exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad between 1979 and 1988. In 1978, Chicago established a non-profit organization, Through the Flower Corp., to support the completion of The Dinner Party . Through the Flower continues to this day as an "arts organization whose mission is to create a cultural legacy built upon the vision embodied in the work of Judy Chicago through education, exhibition and preservation" (www.judychicago.com). Since 2002, The Dinner Party has been permanently housed at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York.

Committed to using art as a vehicle for intellectual and social change, Chicago created The Birth Project (1980-1985), a series of birth and creation images for needlework executed by skilled stitchers around the country, and the Holocaust Project (1984-1993) in collaboration with her husband, photographer Donald Woodman. A frequent lecturer, she is the author of Through the Flower: My Struggle as a Woman Artist (1975), Beyond the Flower: The Autobiography of a Feminist Artist (1996), and a number of books on her work.

Judy Chicago, an artist, writer, and feminist, was born Judy Cohen in Chicago, Illinois, July 20, 1939. The daughter of Arthur M., a labor organizer, and May (Levenson) Cohen, a medical secretary, Chicago adopted the surname Chicago in 1969. She was married and widowed by Jerry Gerowitz (1961-1963), married and divorced from Lloyd Hamrol (1969-1979), and has been married to Donald Woodman since 1985.

After receiving her B.A. (1962) and M.F.A. (1964) from the University of California, Los Angeles, Chicago received recognition for her minimalist sculpture through an exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1967) and a one-woman show at California State University at Fullerton (1970).

Increasingly sensitive to the need for an environment in which women artists could express themselves freely without regard to an art world dominated by males, Chicago pioneered feminist art education programs through her experience as assistant and founder of the Women's Art Program California State University at Fresno (1969-1971) and as instructor and co-founder of the Feminist Studio Workshop at the California Institute of the Arts (1971-1973). Her experience with the Feminist Art Program culminated in Womanhouse (1971), an installation she directed with the artist Miriam Shapiro. In 1973, Chicago organized the Feminist Studio Workshop, the first independent feminist art program in the country.

Chicago is best known for The Dinner Party (1974-1979), a multi-media installation honoring the achievements of women in Western civilization. Created with the participation of hundreds of volunteers, The Dinner Party was viewed by approximately one million people in exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad between 1979 and 1988. In 1978, Chicago established a non-profit organization, Through the Flower to support the completion of The Dinner Party . Through the Flower continues to this day as an "arts organization whose mission is to create a cultural legacy built upon the vision embodied in the work of Judy Chicago through education, exhibition and preservation" (www.judychicago.com). Since 2002, The Dinner Party has been permanently housed at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York.

Committed to using art as a vehicle for intellectual and social change, Chicago created The Birth Project (1980-1985), a series of birth and creation images for needlework executed by skilled stitchers around the country, and the Holocaust Project (1984-1993) in collaboration with her husband, photographer Donald Woodman. A frequent lecturer, she is the author of Through the Flower: My Struggle as a Woman Artist (1975), Beyond the Flower: The Autobiography of a Feminist Artist (1996), and a number of books on her work.

Judy Chicago, an artist, writer, and feminist, was born Judy Cohen in Chicago, Illinois, July 20, 1939. The daughter of Arthur M., a labor organizer, and May (Levenson) Cohen, a medical secretary, JC adopted the surname Chicago in 1969. She was married and widowed by Jerry Gerowitz (1961-1963), married and divorced from Lloyd Hamrol (1969-1979), and has been married to Donald Woodman since 1985.

After receiving her B.A. (1962) and M.F.A. (1964) from the University of California, Los Angeles, JC received recognition for her minimalist sculpture through an exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1967) and a one-woman show at California State University at Fullerton (1970).

Increasingly sensitive to the need for an environment in which women artists could express themselves freely without regard to an art world dominated by males, Chicago pioneered feminist art education programs through her experience as assistant and founder of the Women's Art Program California State University at Fresno (1969-1971) and as instructor and co-founder of the Feminist Studio Workshop at the California Institute of the Arts (1971-1973). Her experience with the Feminist Art Program culminated in Womanhouse (1971), an installation she directed with the artist Miriam Shapiro. In 1973, JC organized the Feminist Studio Workshop, the first independent feminist art program in the country.

JC is best known for The Dinner Party (1974-1979), a multi-media installation honoring the achievements of women in Western civilization. Created with the participation of hundreds of volunteers, The Dinner Party was viewed by approximately one million people in exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad between 1979 and 1988. Its significance was underscored by a 1996 exhibition of the work at UCLA's Armand Hammer Museum, and the publication of Sexual Politics: Judy Chicago's Dinner Party in Feminist Art History (1996). Since 2002, it has been permanently housed at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York.

Committed to using art as a vehicle for intellectual and social change, JC created The Birth Project (1980-1985), a series of birth and creation images for needlework executed by skilled stitchers around the country, and The Holocaust Project (1984-1993) in collaboration with her husband, photographer Donald Woodman. A frequent lecturer, she is the author of Through the Flower: My Struggle as a Woman Artist (1975), Beyond the Flower: The Autobiography of a Feminist Artist (1996), and a number of books on her work.