Institutional Time: A Critique of Studio Art Education Hardcover - 2014

“In this characteristically tenacious book, feminist artist and educator Chicago, best known for her 1979 installation The Dinner Party, shares her struggles and successes as an art instructor—at CalArts (where she helped establish the feminist art program), Indiana University, Duke, Western Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and elsewhere—and boldly calls for a systematic restructuring of studio art programs, which she finds ‘deficient, dishonest, and lacking in standards,’ as well as androcentric. Chicago’s critiques and proposals are powerful conversation-starters, presented earnestly and without academic jargon. She contends, for example, that studio art educators should have teaching credentials; that students should be exposed to a greater variety of art practices and practitioners, such as muralists and community-based artists; women’s studies should be fully integrated into the core curriculum; and, finally, ‘artists might consider joining forces to combat an art system that is bad for art and toxic for artists.’ Disillusioned students and educators will benefit from this rousing book.” —Publishers Weekly

“As the most prominent artist of the what is known as the 'Second Wave' of feminism, Chicago helped lay the groundwork for a later generation of more art-world-savvy female artists, like Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman and Jenny Holzer. As feminism evolved—or perhaps devolved—into just another subspecies of postmodern word games, Chicago remained true to her roots : engaged, political, and always aimed at a wide audience. She has lasted long enough now to be declared both passe and prescient, and there are critics who see her consistency of political vision as a strength that will only be recognized perhaps decades from now.” —The Washington Post

A preeminent artist, author, feminist, and educator, Judy Chicago's work and life have been devoted to expanding women's presence in the arts and in art history. Her art is frequently exhibited in the United States and internationally. The Dinner Party is her best-known work, a celebration of women's history that is a permanent installation at the Brooklyn Museum's Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.