The staff at Through the Flower are proud to be certified as NM SAFE!
In the fall of 2018, Through the Flower began working with the community in Belen, NM on a new proposal that would re-open the Through the Flower building, this time as the Through the Flower Art Space, and serve again as a creative hub for local residents and visitors. The Through the Flower Art Space is a center for educational resources and creative opportunities that connect visitors to cultural institutions across the US. Through the Flower Art Space features changing art exhibitions, as well as a video and book library as well as a permanent exhibition about Judy Chicago’s life and work.
In 2022, Through the Flower celebrated the 50th anniversary of Womanhouse, the first openly Feminist art installation, which opened in 1972 in Los Angeles as part of the first Feminist art program, originally established by Judy Chicago at California State University, Fresno, then expanded at Cal-Arts. The goal of the program was to help young women realize their ambitions as artists without having to excise evidence of their gender from their work, something Judy Chicago had been forced to do in order to succeed as an artist in the male-centered L.A. art scene.
Chicago and her co-educator, artist Miriam Schapiro, worked with a group of students and local artists to turn a dilapidated house into a series of imaginative installations, establishing a performance space in the living room. During its month-long exhibition, Womanhouse was seen by over ten thousand visitors and the project captured global audiences through filmmaker Johanna Demetrakas’ documentary on the project that has been seen world-wide. The installation inspired numerous works of art around the world and has contributed to significant changes in the very nature of art that included an expansion of materials considered suitable for artistic expression.
The 50th Anniversary of Womanhouse was honored with a historical exhibition at the Through the Flower Art Space in Belen and a contemporary re-envisioning titled, Wo/Manhouse 2022 in a nearby mid-century house. Megan Malcom-Morgan, Executive Director of Through the Flower, organized a team of community volunteers who were involved in the planning of this exciting project. Wo/Manhouse 2022 received extraordinary reviews and was featured in international articles, expanding our geological demographics and bringing attention to the Art Space in New Mexico. Wo/Manhouse 2022 incorporated 19 New Mexico artists from across the gender spectrum.
The selected artists transformed sixteen rooms into works of art that explore the subject of the home, which can be a place of love and nurture, but also one of power dynamics, abuse, struggles over gender roles, parenting issues as well as cultural and socioeconomic constraints. Nancy Youdelman, a successful artist and one of Chicago’s Fresno students who went to Cal-Arts and participated in the original Womanhouse, facilitated the project with Judy Chicago as advisor. Wo/Manhouse 2022 is now closed – but it’s legacy in New Mexico, built by Judy Chicago, Through the Flower, 19 artists and countless volunteers, will live on forever.
107 Becker Avenue Belen, NM 87002
Phone: 505-503-1955
Email: [email protected]
Hours of Operation: Thursday - Saturday, 12:00 - 5:00 PM or by special appointment
Through the Flower Art Space Visit and Tour
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