Judy Chicago’s Art Education Award ceremony in Belen

BELEN — Judy Chicago and Through the Flower will honor this year’s two recipients of the Judy Chicago Art Education Award at 5:30 p.m., Friday, July 24, at the Through the Flower Art Space, 107 Becker Ave., Belen.

The award’s ceremony will have a limited in-person guest list, and incorporate both virtual and physical presentations by award recipients, along with remarks from Chicago that will be live-streamed on Instagram and Facebook.

The Judy Chicago Art Education Award, funded by Mary Ross Taylor, was established in 2011 by Through the Flower (a non-profit arts organization dedicated to overcoming the erasure of women’s achievements). This award supports projects by educators, artists, and scholars who use the Judy Chicago archives found at any of the three institutions comprising the Judy Chicago Portal with an annually awarded cash prize and certificate.

The Judy Chicago Portal brings together the Judy Chicago archives collectively housed at Penn State University Libraries Eberly Family Special Collections Library, which houses the Judy Chicago Art Education Collection and the K-12 “Dinner Party” Curriculum Project; the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center, home of the Judy Chicago Visual Archive; and Harvard University’s Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, where Judy Chicago’s extensive paper archives are found.

This year, 31 applicants from around the world applied for the Judy Chicago Art Education Award. The applicant pool was extremely competitive, with outstanding applicants who demonstrated a broad range of evidence of primary research.

The criteria for the award encompassed feminist goals such as understanding and appreciation for the achievements of women, gender equity/justice, and/or use of Judy Chicago’s Participatory Art Pedagogy.

The applicants exhibited the diverse range of influence that the Judy Chicago Portal has on educators, artists and scholars; therefore, two recipients will be honored with a cash prize.

The 2020 recipients of the Judy Chicago Art Education Award are Camellia Termini, of Los Lunas and an educator at Belen Middle School; and Sarah Walser, a third-year medical student at Penn State College of Medicine in Pennsylvania.

Termini’s proposal will use Chicago’s archives to support Belen youth artists’ exploration and documentation of gender identity related to environmental concerns through reflective practice and image-making. She will work with Belen-area youth to develop critical arts-based skills connected with empowerment and social action. Chicago’s butterfly motif, “an image of liberation and resurrection,” will also be used as a reference point for student dialogue and making.

Wasler’s two-part project explores medical language and the ways that accepted terminology can foster oppressive and outdated social constructs, specifically around the concept of virginity. She will work with medical providers and students using archive materials from the At Home project housed at Penn State to discuss ignorance and shame that is often present in hidden issues such as rape, prejudice and body image, and the role of the medical community in perpetuating this ignorance.

The applicants’ projects will include a public presentation, such as a lecture, publication or class activity. Both awardees will participate in the ceremony and their awards will be presented by Judy Chicago.

Reservations may be made at throughtheflower.org or by calling 864-4080. Seating is limited and all guests must wear masks.