About The Center
About The Center
The Center for Art and Social Engagement
New Programming
For Women’s History Month
March 1 – May 15th
I’m Speaking.
In recognition of Women’s History Month, Rowan University Art Gallery presents I’m Speaking., a selection of works by pioneering feminist artists. The exhibited works are drawn from the Sylvia Sleigh Collection, a group of 100 works of art that were acquired by Sylvia Sleigh over several decades and donated to the gallery in 2011. Sylvia Sleigh (1916–2010), a well-known feminist artist in New York, was actively involved in exhibitions of work by women, participated in combating patriarchal museum practices, and provided encouragement for younger artists. She specifically acquired the works of other women as a way of supporting them and honoring their achievements, regardless of whether they were critically acclaimed or financially successful. A number of the artists in her collection have become very successful and celebrated for their work, including Louise Bourgeois, Rosalyn Drexler, Audrey Flack, Judith Bernstein, Nancy Holt, Betty Parsons, and Nancy Grossman. Other artists included in this show are: Dottie Attie, Ann Chernow, Martha Edelheit, Pegeen Guggenheim, Jane Henry, Bibi Lenček, Marion Pinto, Felicity Rainnie, Lucy Sallick, and Selina Trieff.
Sisters Speak
Sisters Speak is an immersive sound experience inside The Sister Chapel produced in collaboration with College of Performing Arts and the University Libraries Digital Scholarship Center. The paintings come alive with in-character audio recordings written and performed by student actors under the direction of Dr. Christopher Marlowe Roche, Associate Professor and Musical Theatre Coordinator in the College of Performing Arts. Performances were recorded by Michael Benson, Coordinator, Rowan University Libraries Digital Scholarship Center, Campbell Library. Two of the subjects offer multilingual performances in Spanish and in Italian.
Student Actors:
Angelica Cabral: Frida Kahlo
Elliot Colahan: Marianne Moore and Lilith
Emily DeRose: Betty Friedan and Superwoman
Erica Gerold: Joan of Arc and Artemisia Gentileschi
Magdelyn Kelly: God and Woman Hero
Emilia Weiss: Durga and Bella Abzug
The Center for Art and Social Engagement is a new initiative of Rowan University Art Gallery at Westby Hall. It serves as a venue for investigating social issues through arts-based methods. Anchored by a permanent display of The Sister Chapel, a historic collaborative feminist installation, the Center draws inspiration from the cooperative spirit of the women’s art movement. Programming at the Center encourages interdisciplinary collaborations that explore diverse and timely social issues through multidisciplinary practices, broadly conceived to include a variety of mediums such as photojournalism, film and video, historical ephemera, faculty and student research presentations, info-graphic presentations, STEM/STEAM installations, and public programming.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The themes embodied in The Sister Chapel paintings provide a broad range of topics in which to explore programming. They are diverse and expansive from women’s issues to investigations of mythology, science, world religions, LGBTQ, literature, politics, and more. If you would like to submit a proposal to The Center for Art and Social Engagement, review the guidelines found in the Request for Proposals. Proposals will be accepted on an on-going basis.
For more information about this program please contact Mary Salvante at salvante@rowan.edu.
About The Sister Chapel
The Sister Chapel was conceived in 1974 by Ilise Greenstein, who envisioned a monumental “hall of fame” in which women’s achievements would be presented from a female perspective. Greenstein’s participation in several feminist consciousness-raising groups and all-women activist organizations prompted her to question the enduring androcentric view of history. Using a nominal pun on the Sistine Chapel, she proposed a secular, nonhierarchical alternative to the patriarchal system embodied in Michelangelo’s renowned ceiling fresco.
