Faith Ringgold: Quilting Black Women's Stories & Activism

Feminist art historians like Linda Nochlin and Griselda Pollock have challenged the traditional art historical canon by questioning why women artists have been systematically excluded, revealing that the canon is not neutral but reflects male-dominated ideologies, and that women artists have been marginalized through institutional practices, biased nomenclature, and the romanticization of male genius while being reduced to biographical anecdotes rather than recognized for their artistic contributions.

Artistic canon refers to works and artists that academic institutions consider most representative and valuable. Feminist art historians like Griselda Pollock have argued that canon formation involves systematic exclusion of certain groups, particularly women. Linda Nochlin's 1971 article 'Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?' posed the fundamental question of why female artists have been excluded from artistic canon, arguing that canon formation was shaped by white, Christian, Western, heterosexual male interests. Feminist art historical research has developed three main approaches: viewing canon as a structure of exclusion and filling its gaps, recognizing canon as a system of power and domination and challenging its hierarchies, and accepting canon as a strategy for reproducing gender differences. Analysis of art history curricula reveals that courses are structured around male artists, with female artists included only as exceptions. Vasari's 'Lives of the Artists' includes only four female artists, while Gombrich's 'The Story of Art' (1950) included no female artists in its first edition.

Feminist art history emerged during the second wave of feminism in the 1970s, challenging the traditional art historical canon. Key works include Maria Pilińska-Bereś's 'Is a Woman a Human?' (1972) and Judy Chicago's 'Dinner Party' (1979). The movement revealed that the art historical canon was constructed by a narrow group of white, wealthy, male academics who systematically excluded women artists. Linda Nochlin's 1971 essay 'Why There Were No Great Women Artists' demonstrated that the concept of 'genius' is culturally constructed and that women were denied access to education and opportunities necessary for artistic greatness. Laura Mulvey's 1975 theory of the 'male gaze' analyzes how visual media are constructed from a male perspective, explaining that in many artworks, men are depicted as active subjects while women are shown as passive objects of visual pleasure.

The Feminist Art Project, founded in California in 1972 by Judy Chicago, ignited the feminist art movement. The Women's Caucus for Art (WCA) promotes art activism to get attention through art rather than destruction. Women artists have been systematically excluded from art history, with Jansen's History of Art containing no women until the mid-1980s. Today, women receive only 8% representation in galleries, museums, and universities internationally, though California has higher percentages. The National Museum of Women's Art in Washington D.C. was created as a solution to this exclusion, serving as a dedicated space for women's art that mainstream institutions have ignored.

The exhibition inserts itself into a long tradition of feminist analysis of visual arts. The first wave of feminism (mid-19th century) produced books dedicated to women artists to demonstrate their intellectual equality with men. The second wave (late 1960s-early 1970s) revived retrospective exhibitions, with the landmark 'Women Artists 1550-1950' at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The concept of the 'accidental canon' challenges the supposed solidity of the Western canon, which was built on heterosexual, white, middle-class men. The canon is not natural but historically constructed, with artists once considered canonical later being displaced.

In the 18th century, philosophers established a fundamental distinction between objects of fine art (paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings made for no functional purpose) and objects of craft or design (man-made items with primary functions). This distinction emerged from the idea that artworks have a special effect on us because they possess no function—unlike manufactured objects which serve practical purposes while possibly being decorative.

The distinction between craft and fine art historically comes down to utility—things traditionally considered craft are usable (quilts for beds, ceramic cups for drinking), while paintings can only be looked at and enjoyed. However, contemporary craft often cannot necessarily be used, though Butler's quilts could technically be used as bed covers. This distinction is changing as craft moves beyond functionality.

The five main fine arts are poetry, music (including dance and drama), painting, sculpture, and architecture. Craft is small-scale production of goods, requiring skills and often organized through guilds. Key differences: (1) Utility - Art serves aesthetic/decorative purposes; craft serves both aesthetic and functional purposes; (2) Creativity - Art represents individual creativity; craft involves collective production; (3) Nature of Work - Art has no structure; craft follows fixed forms like molding and carving; (4) Quantification - Art cannot be duplicated exactly; craft can be measured and replicated; (5) Source - Art comes from natural talent, heart, and soul; craft requires learned experience and thinking.

The only difference between Fine Art and craft (such as cake decoration, carding, and knitting) is the amount of stylistic interest in the piece. A painting doesn't exist for any other reason than to be a painting, unless used functionally (like covering a hole in the wall or encoding a treasure map). The distinction lies in the 'quotient' of stylistic interest.

The distinction between fine arts and crafts emerged in Europe during the 1500s-1600s. Vasari's Lives of the Artists was instrumental in setting painting apart from other types of arts. In England, Reynolds further developed this distinction through his writings and the founding of the Royal Academy, positioning painting within the liberal arts rather than alongside crafts. This historical development established fine arts as something distinct from craft traditions.

African-American quilting is a traditional art form that originated from practical needs like recycling materials for bed wear, but has evolved into a powerful medium for storytelling and cultural expression; master quilter Marion Coleman demonstrates how this craft preserves ancestral wisdom while empowering contemporary artists to share stories of African-American history, social justice, and womanhood through color, pattern, and narrative elements embedded in quilt designs.

African American quilting is a vital cultural tradition that has historically served as both functional art and a medium for storytelling, community building, and coded communication, with quilts featuring asymmetric designs and large-scale patterns that tell stories of pain, oppression, freedom, and power while strengthening bonds among Black women through quilting bees and preserving cultural heritage across generations.

Quilting holds profound significance within African-American cultural history, serving as both practical craft and covert resistance. For African Americans, quilts represented skill, aesthetic beauty, and utilitarian need while also becoming vehicles for storytelling and quiet defiance within oppressive social contexts. In recent decades, traveling museum exhibitions have brought African-American quilts to public attention, stimulating scholarly study and establishing these works as highly collectible artifacts. Dr. Carolyn Mazlumi discusses how quilts made in the African-American community represent a historical and cultural narrative spanning from improvisational traditions to contemporary art quilts.

Quilting serves as a powerful medium for cultural expression and storytelling, with quilts historically used to convey messages and preserve cultural heritage, particularly within African-American communities where quilts have been used to document history and celebrate Black culture.

The African American Quilt Circle of San Antonio, founded in 2017 by four women, uses quilting as a medium to preserve and share African American history and personal stories, transforming traditional quilting from a survival skill during slavery into a contemporary art form that documents family heritage, community leaders, and personal narratives through workshops and public exhibits.