LOOK, DO YOU MIND
IF I SAY SOMETHING ?

APPLE TASTING
By: P. McCrum

I’ve been trying to write an article
all week and I’m finding it rather dif-
ficult. It’s about women in art, their
art and their role in the history of art.
About which I know very little. So
you can see why it’s giving me such a
problem. In fact I didn’t even realize
it was a problem until it was brought
to my attention by some people and
their reaction to some art and the lack
of exposure to women’s role in the
history of art. They began to talk
about women in art, about the depic-
tion of women in art, and all that
stuff that’s been talked about ump-
teen times. I did a lot of listening
because I didn’t have much to say.
When I did say something I reacted
by supposing, that we’re not
presented with women’s role in art
because they really had’t contributed
to the history fo art very much. My
faulty logic was quickly exposed’ and
I listened again. The more we talked
about the problem the more apparent
it was that we all knew very little. It
was also apparent that there was little
help coming from the curriculum of-
fered at the school and so we decided
to educate each other while educating
ourselves. We began by collecting
data and deciding what kinds of
things we would like to see and came
up with ideas about presenting films,
having female artists coming and
discussing their work, videos of

women’s art, and a display case
where people could contribute their
own research on this subject and
display it for everyone to see. To do
this we had to find out when we could
get films and videos, and find books
and research material we wanted for
the display case. What we found was
that all the materials we needed were
practically at our finger tips, just a
dollar width out of reach and
sometimes several. We were surpris-
ed that everything we needed was so
readiy available and even more sur-
prised that the response we en-
countered from people we talked to
was so positive (we had been a little
worried about the reaction, not wan-
ting to tread on any toes, instead we
just found ourselves barging up the
wrong channels). In fact everyone we
talked to also saw it as a problem and
was sympathetic and supportive and
soon we had all the moral backing we
were ever going to need. Support
from the student society who pledge
to back us spiritually, support from
Western Front who like our idea
despite the fact we were students at
Emily Carr and support from a
member of the faculty who has helped
us clarify our ideas and got us talking
about how to put them into action.
We’ve even got some films, video
(which are very expensive) and
speakers coming to the school, and
plans for further displays and ex-
plorations into that dark area of

women’s role in art —
* * *

TOWARDS
INTEGRATION

By: Cynthia Lyman

Art in our society is largely male
art. A comonplace observation,
almost a cliche, yet this fact bears still
further investigation. Artists receive
a certain sanction in our society.
They are allowed, even expected, to
indulge their emotion, their intui-
tion, imagination, eroticism and
whimsy. This sanction is of course
rare only when received by men. The
emotional, intuitive, playful domain
belongs naturally to childhood and,
by extension, to womanhood. As the
caretaker of the child, and as a kind
of overgrown child herself, woman
has become identified with the right
hemisphere faculties, the sources of
artistic creation.

Artistic ability has, moreover,
been encouraged in women; interior
decoration, needlework, weaving,
ceramics — all are laudable
housewifely pursuits. What
cultivated Victorian lady would be
admired were she not well versed in
drawing and music?

Yet, for all their talent, for all their
skills and accomplishment, women
have been virtually ignored as serious
artists. Serious artistic endeavor, the
pursuit of art as a vocation whereby
the really important art is produced
— the art that directs and reflects the
course of our civilization — _ has
belonged, like other forms of power
in our society, to the men. Women’s
work is the care and entertainment of
these men.

It may well and rightly be argued
that all really important art is univer-
sal: it transcends age, race, nationali-
ty, religion and culture, and surely
the mere sex of its creator. So let
history be the judge and time weed
out the culture-specific, the insignifi-
cant. But history is fickle. It records
not necessarily greatness but
whatever represents the momentary
trend. Those works survive that
reflect the values of their time.

It is no wonder then, that few
women are represented among the
important artists of our civilization.
Women, after all, do not exemplify a
patriarchy. To the extent that a
distinct female aesthetic exists, it will
not shine in a male-dominated socie-
ty. Nor, in such a society, will women
receive the support necessary to suc-
ceed as artists. How many men will
share the exhaustive demands of child
care, that their mates are freed to get
on with their work?