EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
This exhibition celebrates 30 years of Women & Gender Studies at Augustana College through a celebration of 30+ years of Guerrilla Girls' actions, reminding us of the role that art can take in protest, activism and conversation around issues of gender, racial and economic justice. It featured works from Augustana Teaching Museum of Art's recent purchase of the Guerrilla Girls' Portfolio Compleat, as well as archival materials from Augustana's Special Collections on the Women & Gender Studies program.
This exhibition was curated with Sami Turner, a student at Western Illinois University's Museum Studies Program. Ms. Turner and I worked to choose works from the Guerrilla Girls' Portfolio Compleat, and write accompanying interpretive materials that encompassed their decades-long practice, situated the works within their historical moment, and connected these works to the contemporary moment and to our own community.
Guerrilla Girls @ Augustana. Designed by Comet Blecha.
PROGRAMMING: GUERRILLA GIRLS' GIG
For more than 30 years, the Guerrilla Girls have been stirring up audiences with presentations in full jungle drag. In January 2017, Frida Kahlo, a founding member of the Guerrilla Girls descended upon Augustana's campus to share trade secrets about how they expose discrimination and corruption in art, politics and pop culture.
The gig was also part of Augustana College's Winter Symposium Day, which focused on conceptions of Privilege.
The gig was made possible by a number of funding partners at Augustana College, Quad City Arts, and our media sponsor WVIK.
PROGRAMMING: GUERRILLA GIRLS' WORKSHOPS
The day after the gig, Frida Kahlo led three workshops the Quad Cities' community. Two of the workshop focused on area high school students, while the third was made up of college students from Augustana College and St Ambrose University. The participants came to the workshop with an issue that they wanted to address, something they are angry about, or a question they have about their community. Then, Kahlo took the participants through the planning + brainstorming process for the Guerrilla Girls' own actions, and the participants left with a action plan for their own projects.
These workshops were in collaboration with Quad City Arts, and a number of funding partners at Augustana College.