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The National Trust for Historic Preservation is pleased to announce the second round of Dorothy C. Radgowski Learning Through Women’s Achievement in the Arts grants to three Historic Artists' Homes and Studios (HAHS) sites. This grant round, made possible with funding from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, continues and expands the successful partnership between the Where Women Made History program and HAHS. With these awards, the National Trust has provided $118,365 in grants during the first year of the program to support the exploration of women’s wide-ranging influence at sites of creativity across the HAHS network.

These projects represent groundbreaking work in gender equity, public engagement, and student education at historic places, with imaginative approaches to connecting women to the arts and sciences that embrace new partnerships in the sciences and education, elevate diversity and inclusion, and adopt multiple program types including in-class, after school, and online options.

The projects will receive a total of $49,865 in awards this July and will become part of the virtual casebook of educational models for historic sites that the National Trust plans to document and share widely in 2024:

Thomas and Mary Nimmo Moran Studio (East Hampton, New York) for “Artistic Identities: Using STEAM, History, and Artmaking to Understand Gender, Race, and Class.” Mary Nimmo Moran’s and Sarah Fowler’s lives intersected at the Moran Home & Studio in the 1880s and 1890s. Through the etchings of Nimmo Moran and the beading and basket weaving of Fowler (a member of the Montaukett Indian Nation), this afterschool program will explore how both women used science to create artwork expressing their identity and heritage. An intensive 28-week OST (Out of School Time) program will center on opportunities to learn science and history while incorporating a comprehensive art program featuring artmaking with professional artists and members of several Long Island Indigenous communities. The program is designed to help students meet NY State learning standards for grades 4-6, improve student achievement, school attendance, and social and emotional learning. A potential “in-class” version of the program available for all five local school districts will be considered as well.

Mabel and Victor D’Amico Home and Studio and Art Barge (Amagansett, New York) for “Mabel D’Amico Full STEAM Ahead: A Found Object Art Tour and Workshop.” This project will celebrate and amplify the experimental art-making and innovative teaching of Mabel D’Amico with a five-phase, multi-day program that can be adjusted to fit the needs of educational partners. Mabel’s pedagogy, lifestyle, and artmaking are the sources of inspiration for the program, encouraging children to learn about the natural environment around them through engagement in the creative process. Hands-on, found-object construction experiences align with Mabel’s artwork and build on her connection to the natural environment and wildlife around her home, studio, and the art barge. Students will consider scale, balance, stability, and materials used in Mabel’s work, and explore the skills used in building and sculptural construction. A new, free online video will highlight Mabel’s deep connection to the local environment in her artwork and collections, and will include descriptions of Mabel’s construction process along with detailed steps for creating found-object construction.

Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts (Alta Loma, California) for “Alfreda Maloof and Art, Math and Science Lessons of the Maloof Historic Home.” In partnership with the Ontario Montclair School District (88% Latino/Hispanic student population) and the Smithsonian Institution’s “Leadership for Change” internship program, the Maloof Foundation will expand its four-week K-6 curriculum beyond its current focus on art to incorporate science and environmental teaching. A new “Guide to Science Learning in the Maloof Discovery Garden” will conduct new archival research about the life and work of Alfreda Maloof in the management of the family’s citrus groves, creating up to six new bilingual lessons (in English and Spanish) relating to science, environment, and climate change. The guide will be developed in collaboration with teachers from science academies in local public schools and piloted with students before, during, and after their field trip visits to the Maloof Foundation, and also will be made available as a free, online resource.

"We are confident each of these will produce outstanding projects to address the considerable demand for educational content that allows grade schools students to understand women’s achievements across the arts and sciences in the context of the physical places and environments where they made their impact," said Chris Morris, senior director of preservation programs at the National Trust.

On September 20, 2022 the National Trust for Historic Preservation hosted the last of three events celebrating "Women's Work." This event "Women's Work: A Conversation with Lucy Lippard and Harmony Hammond " was developed by the National Trust’s Where Women Made History program in conjunction with the “Women’s Work” exhibition at Lyndhurst—a National Trust Historic Site located in Tarrytown, New York.

Writer, activist, curator, co-founded various artists’ feminist and activist organizations and publications, and author of 25 books on contemporary art and cultural criticism, Lucy Lippard, will be joined by Harmony Hammond, a leading figure in the development of the feminist art movement in New York in the early 1970s, and co-founder of A.I.R., the first women’s cooperative art gallery in New York. You won’t want to miss this spirited and thought-provoking conversation between two leading figures of the feminist art movement—and two long-time friends—as they reflect on their careers from the 1970s up to the present, and the evolution of “women’s work” in the art world as reflected in the artists and artwork of the Women’s Work exhibition at Lyndhurst.

On September 7, 2022 the National Trust for Historic Preservation hosted the second of three events celebrating "Women's Work." This event "Women’s Work: Beatrice Glow, Daisy Quezada Ureña, Nafis M. White in Conversation with Rebecca Hart" was developed by the National Trust’s Where Women Made History program in conjunction with the “Women’s Work” exhibition at Lyndhurst—a National Trust Historic Site located in Tarrytown, New York.

How do contemporary women artists draw on personal histories and cultural heritage to create a unique body of work? Independent curator Rebecca Hart leads a panel discussion with three contemporary artists who are featured in Lyndhurst’s “Women’s Work” exhibition. Beatrice Glow, Daisy Quezada Ureña, and Nafis M. White each use their artistic vision to address complex social and political issues that include migration, colonialization, gender and racial discrimination, and cultural identity.

Using a wide range of different media and sensory experiences, each artist explores identity, community, and the power of resilience in their vast body of work, community activism, and teaching. Rebecca Hart will engage these artists in conversation about their chosen methodologies and the ways in which they examine their role as artists within the historical context of artistic practice.

Speakers

• Beatrice Glow
• Daisy Quezada Ureña
• Nafis M. White
• Moderator: Rebecca Hart, Independent Curator
• Introduction: Chris Morris, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Where Women Made History

Related Links

• "Women's Work" at Lyndhurst
• A Curatorial Conversation and Studio Visit with Artist Suchitra Mattai, Curator Rebecca Hart, and Gallerist Doug Kacena
• Beatrice Glow: MA Curators Celebrate the Art of Collaboration
• Beatrice Glow and the Botanical Intimacies of Empire
• Daisy Quezada Ureña: Present Cartographers
• Nafis White: Women's Work on 60 Minutes (Video)

On August 4, 2022 the National Trust for Historic Preservation hosted the first of three events celebrating "Women's Work." This event "Preserving the Places Where Women Made Art" was developed by the National Trust’s Where Women Made History program in conjunction with the “Women’s Work” exhibition at Lyndhurst—a National Trust Historic Site located in Tarrytown, New York.

The places where women artists were inspired to produce their work is as significant as their artwork. Yet too often these sites of creativity are not considered critical when assessing an artist’s work, influences, or impact.

In this event, a panel of geographically, culturally, and thematically diverse places of women’s artistry and creativity will consider both “how” and “why” it is important to recognize and preserve these places where women made art. In doing so we’ll explore a range of approaches for tackling the challenges of preserving the place-based legacy of women artists, examine the manner in which the artists’ stories are presented to the public to bring women artists the recognition and respect they deserve, and how these historic places can continue to inspire education, activism, advocacy, and new artwork in their communities.

Speakers

• Valerie Balint, Director, Historic Artists Homes and Studios—a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Franklin Johnson-Norwood, Jr., Past President of VSU Alumni Association, owner of Azurest South, the self-designed home and studio of an LGBTQ Black architect and artist, Amaza Lee Meredith
• Dr. Lucha Martinez de Luna, Associate Curator of Latino Heritage at History Colorado and Director of the Chicano/a Murals of Colorado Project
• Victoria Munro, Executive Director of The Alice Austen House Museum
• Giustina Renzoni, Curator of Historic Properties at the Georgia O’Keefe Museum
• Nellie Scott, Director, Corita Art Center Studio of Sister Mary Corita of Immaculate Heart College
• Moderator: Chris Morris, Program Manager of Where Women Made History, National Trust

Related Links

• "Women's Work" at Lyndhurst
• The Colorful Past and Bright Future of Azurest South, Home of a Pioneering Black Architect
• Where Women Made History: Azurest South, Ettrick, Virginia (Video)
• Bringing New Perspectives Into Focus at New York’s Alice Austen House
• More Than a Pop Art Nun: Preserving the Studio of Sister Mary Corita Kent
• Sister Mary Corita on Art (Video)
• Endangered Public Art: Murals Hold Memories for Denver's Chicano/a/x Community
• Murals Are Hot in Denver, but Is Cultural History Taking a Hit? (Westword)

The Women’s Leadership Initiative of RAMSA (Robert A.M. Stern Architects) is collaborating with the National Trust for Historic Preservation on a twelve-month pilot program to provide pro bono design, planning, and technical services to support the Where Women Made History initiative.

Where Women Made History is a manifestation of the National Trust’s commitment to tell a more full and equitable national story, with an objective to uncover, uplift, and preserve the stories and sites of women’s achievement nationwide and bring more relevance, diversity, and gender equality to America’s cultural heritage. RAMSA is a 240-person firm of architects, interior designers, and supporting staff with an international reputation as a leading design firm with wide experience in residential, commercial, and institutional work.

RAMSA's Women's Leadership Initiative seeks to develop and promote women's growth in the profession through education, mentorship, and peer support, and will create opportunities for young women entering the field to gain in-depth experience from women professionals by joining the project team as part of their internship program.

The pilot program’s first project is at Stone Quarry Art Park in Cazenovia, New York, which features the Dorothy Riester House and Studio (also known as Hilltop House and Studio). Today, the former home, studio, and multi-acre art environment of artist and preservationist Dorothy Riester and her husband Bob is a member of the National Trust’s Historic Artists’ Homes & Studios program, helping to expand the impact of Riester’s art and add her work to broader conversations about the relevance and importance of midcentury design, art, and the environment.

The project team—led by women from the National Trust and the Women’s Leadership Initiative at RAMSA, along with the women directors and leadership at the site—will build on Riester’s legacy by helping shape Stone Quarry Art Park as a public place for the creative experimentation of art in conversation with the natural environment.

The project will include:

• Designing a concept for a multi-use space that unifies the site and serves the needs of the artists, staff, and the public;
• Reassessing the approach to the Hilltop House and Studio and creating a better, clearer arrival experience for visitors and staff;
• Recommending priorities for restoring Riester’s historic home and studio; and
• Recommending how to repurpose the more contemporary “art barns” as functional spaces while also referencing the visual/architectural language established by Riester.

Also as part of the pilot program, the National Trust and RAMSA will select an additional site of women’s history and achievement to receive donated design and planning services led by teams of women professionals and informed by local stakeholders. RAMSA will participate as well in a PastForward National Preservation Conference session or other National Trust-sponsored public event highlighting the partnership.

After the first year of the pilot, the National Trust and RAMSA will evaluate the partnership and process and consider how it might be expanded or improved as a model for other sites of women’s history. In addition, the organizations hope to build new relationships with key stakeholders at selected sites and across their professional fields.