Through The Flower Art Space in Belen, NM opened a timely and thought-provoking exhibition, Lessons for Today: Revisiting The Dinner Party, which will run through the end of March 2023 in celebration of Women’s History Month.
The show consists of illustrated panels about each of the thirty-nine women represented in Judy Chicago’s landmark work The Dinner Party, which is permanently housed at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City, along with several original test plates, drawings, and archival material as well as a virtual tour of The Dinner Party narrated by Chicago.
Created between 1974 and 1979, The Dinner Party, a symbolic history of women in Western civilization, introduced women into history at a time when they were struggling to have their voices heard and to fight for equality, thereby challenging all the omissions that existed in the way that history was taught. With the current reversal of women’s rights and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Chicago, a pioneer of the Feminist Art Movement and a life-long advocate for social justice, believes there is an urgent need to revisit the women of The Dinner Party to use their struggles and triumphs to empower and engage people in the present to stand up to an antiquated and patriarchal ideology. Says Chicago, “It is more important than ever that young people learn about women’s history because these brave women and their allies stood up to society and made impactful changes—changes that need to happen again or we are going to find ourselves losing many of the gains that have been achieved because of centuries of struggle.
Visit the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art to learn more about the Dinner Party table components.
In 1996, Through the Flower donated over 1000 books by and about women and women’s achievements to the UNM – Valencia Campus Library where it is housed in its own area. This collection was Judy’s personal reference library while creating The Dinner Party.