The things they carry: exploring the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s VESSELS exhibit
From staff reports
The Glen Arbor Arts Center’s current VESSELS exhibit offers an out-of-the-box look at bowls, baskets, urns, pods, and other objects that store and carry things. This juried exhibition is on display until Oct. 27 and features 28 exhibitors from Michigan, California, Illinois, and Rhode Island.
Of particular note, the exhibit includes the Creation of the World 6/9, a needlework tapestry from Judy Chicago’s “Birth Project”—a feminist initiative from the early 1980s, in which Chicago collaborated with more than 150 artists to create dozens of images combining painting and needlework that celebrate various aspects of the birth process; from the painful to the mythical. This series celebrated the birth-giving capacity of women along with their creative spirit.
Creation of the World 6/9 is loaned to the Arts Center courtesy of the Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) in Traverse City. A traveling installation of the “Birth Project” was exhibited at NMC in 1986, before the Dennos was built.
With women’s reproductive rights under siege, and the arts reemerging as a forum of social and political expression, we chatted with the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s gallery manager Sarah Bearup-Neal about VESSELS and the inclusion of a work from “Birth Project.”
Glen Arbor Sun: What inspired the Vessels exhibit at the Arts Center? How did this come about?
Sarah Bearup-Neal: I’ve noticed, over the past decade, a lot of exciting, envelope-pushing work being done by people who work in baskets, clay, and sculptural forms of fiber. These particular media get boxed in by perceptions about their function: they’re only intended to do a job, no need to think about aesthetics. The thing that got me thinking about a vessels exhibition was this envelope-pushing I’d observed: wonkier shapes, unexpected surface design, additions to the composition/shape/object that didn’t deny traditional function, but threw a curveball into the idea that the object was ONLY functional. I like things that poke a stick in the side of a sacred cow.
As with all our exhibitions, I also try to think about the theme beyond the obvious responses [e.g. in this case bowls, baskets], and look for other ways to think about an idea. For instance: Boxes can be cardboard; or they can be situational, e.g. being boxed in/trapped. Realistic, abstract, conceptual: I want to encourage as many different responses to a theme as I possibly can.
And even though vessels are generally thought of as three-dimensional objects, I wanted to create opportunities for people who work in 2D media— painters, collagists, photographers—to find a way into the exhibit idea.
Sun: As you observe or experience this exhibit, what stands out for you? What surprises you?
Neal: What stands out? The wide-ranging creativity evidenced by the work in this exhibit. The wonderful way the exhibitors took on the exhibit’s theme, and ran with it – in so many unexpected directions. I think I’d substitute the word “delight” for “surprise.”
The other thing that is a standout in this show is the use of so many construction techniques: twining, felting, assemblage, collage on paintings. This exhibit also showcases surface design: hand stitching, a constellation of ceramic glazes that are as much about the process as the end product. If nothing else, VESSELS is a celebration of hand work.
Sun: How did the needlework tapestry from Judy Chicago’s famous “Birth Project” come to be included in this exhibit? What sparked the collaboration between the Dennos Museum and the Glen Arbor Arts Center?
Neal: During a brainstorming session about the VESSELS show, Sarah Kime, GAAC executive director, wondered if the Dennos Museum Center had work that might fit well with the vessels theme. Her question unlocked a part of my brain; I remembered that Judy Chicago’s Through The Flower Foundation had made a gift of four pieces from the “Birth Project” to the Dennos in the 1991. Those works are now part of Dennos’s permanent collection. I contacted Craig Hadley, Dennos executive director and chief curator, about the possibility of borrowing a piece, and it all rolled along from there. I worked with Kim Hanninen, Dennos’s registrar and exhibits preparator, to select a piece. This re-telling makes it all sound so perfunctory. In reality, the generosity and collegiality we experienced in the process of borrowing Judy Chicago’s Creation of the World 6/9 moved me more than I can express. It did not, however, surprise me. I’ve always felt so blessed and fortunate to have so many supportive relationships with the arts and museum professionals in this part of the world.
Sun: It seems fitting to include Judy Chicago’s feminist work at this moment, given current political developments and threats to women’s reproductive rights. What does the Birth Project and her work mean to you?
Neal: I’m always a little gobsmacked when something happens in the world beyond the GAAC gallery – such as the June U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that overruled Roe v. Wade – and world events coincide and connect to an exhibit. This kind of synchronicity stops one in one’s tracks. Having said that, I began planning the VESSELS exhibit more than a year ago, and I certainly didn’t see the SCOTUS case or decision coming when we thought to include the Chicago tapestry in VESSELS.
The “Birth Project,” however, isn’t about abortion. Judy Chicago’s goal for the “Birth Project” was to celebrate women’s birth-giving capacity, the vessel that is a woman’s body. The needle works in this mammoth project are interpretive, full of mythic symbols and magic realism, rather than being gynecologic and obstetric illustrations. Like all the work Chicago does, she’s interested and committed to restoring women, and women’s creative contributions, to the art historical record. Prior to the “Birth Project,” few images of birth existed in Western art, which is a conspicuous omission. Birth is a central focus of many women’s lives. It’s universal. Everybody gets born. Art history is full of paintings that depict women after they’ve given birth, and are knee deep into motherhood. These works usually present a sanitized, idealized version of motherhood: the kids are always tidy, and no one has a meltdown in the grocery store. Judy Chicago’s depiction of birth, which leads to motherhood, is full of power and energy, and it’s not tidy. In some of her tapestries, it’s explosive. Ecstatic. I like the “Birth Project” not only for the ideas Chicago takes on, but the exquisite, brilliant craft and work[wo]manship that each piece displays. Chicago brings every art-making principle – design, composition, line, shape, color – to the creation of these tapestries, which by their very nature ask viewers to question why the needle arts have for so long been relegated to the place where all the red-haired step children get sent. Judy Chicago takes on the whole art vs. craft ridiculousness without saying a word. She lets her work speak for itself. It’s confident. It doesn’t ask for permission. I like this.
Sun: Tell us more about including the multimedia aspects of the Vessels exhibit, featuring Anishinaabek baskets and the Muslim Women Storytelling Project.
Neal: The GAAC’s Exhibitions Program operates on the premise that exhibitions are more diverse and dynamic than simply installing pictures on the gallery walls. Because there are so many ways to explore an idea, because not everyone feels comfortable in a gallery, we always create a variety of companion programs that explore the exhibit’s central theme from other avenues: visual art, literature, music, science, popular culture. The visual arts don’t exist in a vacuum. It’s all connected.
So, again, in our own backyard: the Leelanau Historical Society Museum has a top-drawer collection of historic baskets made by the Anishinaabek people who occupied Leelanau County for centuries before white settlement in the region [1839], and who are very much present today. I interviewed Laura Quackenbush, a Leelanau country curator, who worked with the LHSM to develop the exhibition, and – more importantly – to put all the objects in context. The LHSM has a tremendous section on its website that explains it all. It’s a visual feast, a priceless teaching tool, and fills in some conspicuous gaps in local history. Laura Quackenbush is a fount of knowledge about this particular aspect of local material culture.
The other recorded interview I did was with Alison Kysia about her “99 Clay Vessels” project. Several years ago, Alison – an artist and teacher living in Maryland— became the object of some Islamophobic aggression. Instead of letting it crush her, she headed into her studio and started making clay vessels. In the process of making, an idea began to develop, and she eventually created “The Muslim Women’s Storytelling Project.” It tells stories of Muslim women healing from experiences of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry. The stories are accompanied by visual art, vocal recitation, and poetry. The arts – all of them – give us powerful tools for talking about difficult subjects. Through working with clay, Alison found a new vocabulary and a new voice for talking about hatred. Additionally, she found a way to link her contemporary work in clay to ancient Muslim traditions.
Both of these interviews are viewable on the GAAC website,. In addition to these recorded conversations, there are other companion programs: a writing workshop that uses the VESSELS exhibit as inspiration; a slide lecture called “Wait! This Is A Basket?”; and a materials exploration workshop that explores basketry techniques.
