I would like to introduce you to Chiara Atoyebi and welcome her as my new Co-Editor of the Art Insights Blog. Chiara is currently a MFA student at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and new member of the WCA Art Writers Committee. She joins me on the blog, as we say thank you and farewell to Susan Platt. On behalf of the WCA Art Writers Committee, I want to express our sincere appreciation Susan for her work to reboot and co-edit the blog, and thank her for her contributions as long time member of WCA.
The daughter of two colonels, Chiara Atoyebi was born in Detroit, MI and raised as an Army brat. Moving around a lot played a large role in the formation of her worldview. At one point, Chiara attended four different high schools in four years, graduating from school in Seoul Korea.
Chiara’s creative work extends beyond fine art and writing. She began acting at the age of 13; her first movie Pigeon Toes was shot in Berlin, Germany where she was “discovered” while riding the bumper cars. Chiara went on to numerous lead and guest-starring roles in films and on television. As an author she has written two books, 3 AM Musings of Love Lost Love Found and Flight of the Phoenix: Broken Heels. Chiara describes her work as “decidedly feminist, centering women who have typically been voiceless back into their power, and creating new power dynamics.”
Chiara’s upcoming MFA thesis surrounds women’s connection to the land, reclaiming resources, and exploring spirituality at the intersections of art and agriculture. As a visual artist, she endeavors to create spirit vessels and reliquaries, using both sacred and found material while incorporating elements from nature. Chiara believes in the energy of materials and their ability to live on through the artwork and connect with viewers on a personal level.
Our current WCA Art Writers Committee’s 50th Anniversary Interview Project will be a perfect fit for Chiara, as she “is happy to be in the company of trailblazing feminist artists.” I am looking forward to working with Chiara and hope you will keep an eye out for her upcoming posts.
Chiara Atoyebi (Left) Let All The Other Names, 2021; Acrylic and Paper on Canvas. (Right) Spirit Vessel 1, 2021; Mixed Media on Wood.Chiara Atoyebi(Left) Good Morning, 2021; Mixed media on canvas; (Right) Waves, 2021; Acrylic on rice paper.
Chiara Atoyebi Artist Statement First and foremost, I am a storyteller. My medium can be either written, visual or both. For most of my life I have communicated with words. Beginning in 2012, I experienced several life-altering experiences that made it difficult to write at all. That is when I turned to painting and craft. Visual language helps me express the places that words can’t take me. Through the process of art making, I learned that color is equally as powerful as words on the page. My work is meditative and abstract. Working in this way allows for fluidity in both the creation and experience of it. I work in layers simultaneously pushing and pulling paint to reconcile issues and make meaning. Mark making and pattern help me to reveal the interconnectedness of humanity and my personal relationship to all of it. Time of day and environment are important to my process. I like to work outside or late at night when things are still. Working in this way helps me have the most important conversations with myself. Through painting I use colors to explore balance and harmony. I use text written directly on the canvas to guide me or to convey a concept that disrupts. My belief is that words, language, and rhetoric form our world. Our lives are a result of what we say, what we hear and what we do. Therefore, I use repetitive text on canvas to convey messages. Most times these messages are hidden beneath the paint but reappear visually. I chose visual language to share stories about my life in hopes of creating connections and dialogues. My roles as wife, mother, daughter, and woman are at the forefront of my paintings. My heritage of African American, LatinX, West Indian are ever present and inform my materials. I explore stories surrounding, spirituality, family, place, race, suffering, and nature. My hope is that my work dialogues with the viewer, in an intimate way, long after they leave it. -Chiara Atoyebi
You can find more of Chiara’s work on Medium and at Chiaratoyebi.com.
A few weeks ago I was introduced to WCA member Margaret Parker. It was suggested that her story would be perfect for the blog. One of the things I appreciate about being a member of WCA is connecting with other women artists, art historians and curators from all over the world. Through correspondence and FaceTime conversation I learned about her project, the Castine Bicentennial Quilt. This collaborative creative project, designed by Parker and produced by a large group of talented, dedicated women, continues to educate and delight both locals and visitors of Castine, Maine.
Many thanks again to Margaret Parker for sharing her work and contributing to the blog this month. I truly enjoyed meeting her and learning about the Castine Bicentennial Quilt. It prompted me to think about other textile works from art history and revisit the Bayeux Tapestry – What connections do you find in the quilt? As always, if you have an idea for a post, we welcome your contributions. – Marianne McGrath
Margaret Parker
Margaret Parker grew up in an art making family and continues that path with artwork that invites viewers to interact with the complex issues of our day. Early experience in dance and theatre led her to collaborations that cross media boundaries. Her art has been shown nationally, in Canada and Mexico, is in the permanent collection of the United States Capitol, the State Department Art Bank, the Maine Maritime Academy, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the UM Rackham Graduate School, the Chelsea Medical Center, and many private collections. Since 2014 she has been bringing her poetry to the public as well.
Parker attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago during middle school, Bennington College for two years, and received a BFA from the University of Michigan School of Art and Design in 1969. Parker lived in Ann Arbor after graduating and began painting and showing her work. She also designed for theatre and the University Opera. She met her husband, Mark Hodesh, there and in 1979 they moved to New York City. From 1981 to 1997, Margaret and her family moved to Castine, Maine, where they owned and ran the Castine Inn. She continued to paint, and became increasingly interested in public art, making her first public art works as community projects in Castine. Creating the design for the Castine Bicentennial Quilt and working with the community throughout the project was the largest and most intricate project she’d done, which took 80 people to complete and a year to finish. In 1997, the family moved back to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she continues to work. Parker’s a founding member of the Michigan Chapter of the WCA, Chapter President from 2015-19, and was on the National WCA Board from 2016-18.
Castine Bicentennial Quilt, 1996 A community project of the Town of Castine, ME, designer Margaret Parker 6’ H x 24’ L Quilt, cotton face and backing, appliqué, embroidery, couching, beading, overlapping fabric, all hand made, hand quilted by community members Period: 1 year; Size: approximately 144 sq. ft. Contacts: Castine Historical Society, http://www.castinehistoricalsociety.org/history.html, Charlene Wiseman, Tarratine St., Castine, ME, 04421, Coordinator Quilt Project. Image courtesy of Margaret Parker.
How the Castine Bicentennial Quilt was Made
By Margaret Parker
In 1995, my husband, daughter and I were living in Castine, Maine, a small town on a peninsula in the Penobscot Bay where we owned and ran a twenty room summer hotel, the Castine Inn. I was also painting murals of the town and coastline, including one that circled the dining room of the Inn which was very popular. With the bicentennial of Castine approaching, a group of women in town proposed making a quilt to commemorate the town’s changing role in the early European settlement of the continent, and they asked me to design it. My mother, Pauline Parker, had made many quilts, so I was familiar with the process, though I hadn’t done it myself. So I depended completely on the skills and compatibility of the steering committee and all the participants. The core group of quilters had already collaborated on several quilts, one of the churches in town, another of boats built there, they had established a working relationship. Charleen Wiseman, an established quilter and quilting teacher, led the group. The steering committee had secured funds for the project, and a permanent exhibition space for the finished piece had been reserved in the newly renovated Castine Historical Society building. My only job was to come up with a design.
The Castine Bicentennial Quilt Steering Committee: (From left) Sylvia Larsson, Charleen Wiseman, Sylvia Muszala, Margaret Parker, Caroline Livermore, Lois Cyr. Image courtesy of Margaret Parker.
I attended many early meetings where the themes for the quilt were endlessly discussed – the history of the area, it’s rich natural habitat, the ships that had been built or sailed into the harbor, and of course the flags! I researched the history for months, found old photographs, and began drawing that summer. I aimed to include as many of the themes as possible.
Margaret Parker Original drawings for the Castine Bicentennial Quilt, c. 1995 The quilt design started with Margaret Parker’s drawings. Each drawing was then turned into a blueprint so quilters on the committee could work from at home. Images courtesy of Margaret Parker.
The historical themes suggested a long horizontal format, eventually seven historic scenes became the backbone of the design. On each side of them were eight nature panels, that were tall and narrow. Above the history squares, descriptions of each scene were stitched in embroidery. Six flags fit above the nature panels, filled out on the two ends with the sun and moon, a tribute to the indigenous peoples.
A strip of water all along the bottom made room for the boats, ships, canoes and kayaks that had sailed through the town’s 200 year history. Above and below, the piece is framed by a dark curve suggesting the edge of the earth, a world view, stitched with white clouds.
Many people were eager to work on this piece. So another design requirement was that it had to start with small sections that people could work on at home, that would then be sewn together into it’s completed form. This dictated how the composition was composed.
Castine Bicentennial Quilt, 1996. Details of work in progress of water and boats, ships, canoes and kayaks. Images courtesy of Margaret Parker.
Castine Bicentennial Quilt, 1996. Work in progress on square #6, late 19th and early 20th century history. Image courtesy of Margaret Parker.
Castine Bicentennial Quilt, 1996. (Left) Detail of work in progress of #7 history panel sewn by Charleen Wiseman. (Right) Detail of work in progress on the centerpiece of the quilt, which illustrates goods coming and going to the customs house. Images courtesy of Margaret Parker. Castine Bicentennial Quilt, 1996. (Left) Detail of work in progress of #5 history panel and #5 nature panel. (Right) Detail of work in progress on #2 history panel and #2 nature panel. Images courtesy of Margaret Parker.
Participants organized into groups and selection the section that they wanted to complete. The original drawings were printed as blueprints in sections, so each group could take home their section along with its selected fabrics. They then copied elements of the design from the blueprint and used those patterns to cut the fabric. This gave very exact replicas of the drawings. A great suggestion from Charleen was to leave extra fabric along the edges of the panels that could overlap onto the next panels. When the overlap was sewn down, the whole piece became seamless. The masts and sails of the ships also overlapped onto the panels above them, making it look like the boats were sailing in front of the scenes on land. This was one of the central unifying elements of the whole design.
The 24 ft. long, 6 ft. high quilted tapestry took a year to complete, using the labor of nearly 50 people, mostly women over fifty. I worked throughout the project, solving design problems at every step from fabric selection and thread color to techniques of couching and beadwork, and ensuring that the project was completed by the July 4, 1996, deadline. It is on permanent display at the Castine Historical Society.
Installation view. Castine Bicentennial Quilt, 1996 A community project of the Town of Castine, ME, designer Margaret Parker 6’ H x 24’ L Quilt, cotton face and backing, appliqué, embroidery, couching, beading, overlapping fabric, all hand made, hand quilted by community members. Image courtesy of Margaret Parker.
Welcome to the rebooted national WCA blog,Art Insights! Editors Marianne McGrath and Susan Noyes Platt are committed to offering fresh perspectives every month on women working in the arts, in the form of interviews, studio visits, and reflections. We think you’ll enjoy it and hope you’ll visit regularly. If you have an idea for a post, Marianne and Susan welcome your contributions.
Updating the WCA blog is one of the significant initiatives of the WCA Art Writers Committee which formed after the June 2020 Board Meeting as a way of enhancing the visibility of writers in the organization. Art historians helped to found WCA 50 years ago and continue to advance its mission alongside critics, essayists, and bloggers. Re-envisioning Artlines as a substantive arts journal has been our other project (with credit due former WCA President Susan M. King for starting the process).
The relaunched Artlines will be published on the national website this month. Edited by Rosemary Meza-DesPlas and Shantay Robinson, it features articles that consider the intersection of activist arts and social justice in relationship to the Black Lives Matter movement. An elegant new design by Allicette Torres and Sahiti Bonam makes space for longer form writing and ample illustrations. The managing editorial team of myself, Patti Jordan, and Jess Long are working on a call for participation for future issues—look for it here and in PULSE this spring.
After many years as a tenured professor of art history, Susan is currently an independent art historian and freelance art critic and curator, based in Seattle. Her most recent book is the first volume of her collected writings, Breaking Ground Art Modernisms, 1920–1950 (Ingram, 2020). She is currently working on Volume 2, to be titled Setting Our Hearts on Fire. She writes a monthly column for Leschi News and maintains her own website and blog at www.artandpoliticsnow.com
Marianne is an independent art curator. After a successful decade working in museums curating exhibits and presenting art and education programs, she founded MKM Art Consulting, which offers curatorial projects and consulting services to art institutions, galleries, and artists. Marianne holds a BA degree in Art, MA degree in Art History and her professional affiliations include ArtTable, College Art Association and the Women’s Caucus for Art. mkmartconsulting.com
