Feminist artist speaks on women’s creativity
By Ann Stack
Senior Reporter
Miriam Schapiro, the University of
Nebraska President’s Distinguished
Visiting Artist, spoke to a group of
aspiring artists Tuesday about her ex
periences in pioneering the field of
feminist art.
From New York City, Schapiro is
visiting Nebraska all week. She spoke
twice Tuesday, at an open forum for
students and the public in the after
noon, and at a lecture that evening.
She is speaking at the University of
Nebraska at Kearney today and at the
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Thursday.
Her talk — which was held in
Roan 102 of Richards Hall—focused
not only on the state of being a femi
nist artist but also on helping young
artists establish themselves and get
their work recognized.
She made it clear that because of
her experiences, she had a different
view of the term “feminist” from
what’s usually thought of today. The
women’s movement in the 1970s, in
the sense of being an artist, paved the
way for both women and men, she
said.
“Before the women’s movement,
networking didn’t exist,” she said.
“Hie idea of survival was coined in
the women’s movement. I think what
we did for ourselves was template for
what anyone could do. I think we im
proved conditions for not only women
but men too.
“It’s important for men to under
stand that the women’s revolution had
nothing to do with individual men, but
with institutions and the way society
is run,” she said. “I think things are
changing as women find their own
voices.”
Schapiro was bom in Toronto in
1923 and received her bachelor’s and
master’s degrees from the University
of Iowa in Iowa City. She started at an
art gallery in New York City immedi
ately after college, spending 12 years
there. She became known for feminist
art simply because she wanted to be
called Miriam Schapiro rather than
Mrs. Paul Brock.
“I didn’t want a perception of my
self as Mrs. anything,” she said.
“That’s kind of a metaphor for my
whole life, struggling as an artist.”
She began work on the project
“Womanhouse” in 1970 with Judy'
Chicago. The abandoned Hollywood
mansion stands as an homage to
women and roles in society.
“I didn’t see my art as making me
valuable,” she said. “Something about
it was making me miserable. When
we did ‘Womanhouse’ — the idea
came from students doing an exercise
in consciousness-raising—I began to
understand what I wanted. It appeared
in my art.
“That’s what I mean when I say
feminism chose me,” she said. “It’s
about expansion, opening up the art
world. The fact is that women added
to the art world. But feminism is some
thing every woman has to define for
herself.”
Gotta have faith
Matt Miller/DN
DAVE ZACH, foreground, stags with The Zach Band at a Gospel Rally la the Nebraska Union's Centennial Room Tuesday. The free coocert
was held by Chapter Snmmary. “The goal of this is to let the people know about ear faith,” Zach said.
Quality films ignored in theaters released on video
By Gerry Beltz
Film Critic
This isn’t exactly a “big-name” week for
the new releases, but still some fine perfor
mances. The pick-of-the-week should appeal
to both action and comedy couch potatoes.
“The Spitfire Grill” — This thought-pro
voking drama was a winner at the 1996
Sundance Film Festival, and it was largely
missed by most moviegoers during its main
stream release.
Percy (Alison Elliott) is an ex-con with a
shady past who is trying to put her life back
together and eventually lands a job at a small
diner in Maine, run by nasty old lady Hannah
(Ellen Bursty).
Considering some of the other mindless
tripe coining through the video stores and movie
theaters lately, this one is definitely worth a
lode.
“Sleepers”—You want stars? You got ‘em.
Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro, Jason Patric and
Brad Pitt, just to name a few.
Four boys pull a prank which goes awry,
and they quickly find themselves in a juvenile
home filled with brutality, rape and a twisted
guard (Bacon, in an incredible performance).
Years later, the quartet plans its revenge.
PICK-OF-THE-WEEK—The “buddy-ccp”
film has become a genre of its own in movie
making, and the teaming of Mel Gibson and
Photo couhtssy of Caotle Rock EyremiNiiENT
“THE SPITFIRE Gflttl” is jast one tf the Alias that was released to video store shelves this
week. The fHa stars (froai left to rt|ht) ARsee EIHett, Ellee Berstye aad Marcia Gay Hardeo.
Danny Glover for “Lethal Weapon is one of
those “often-imitated-but-never-duplicated”
originals.
The chemistry between these two clicked
perfectly, with Glover as the straight family man
and Gibson as the wild-eyed-possibly-suicidal
youngster.
This is great stuff here, and the two sequels
to the film had an equal amount of excellent
chemistry.
Make a night of it. Check *em all out.
Clinton targets
liquor industry
to restrict ads
WASHINGTON (AP)—President Clinton,
who scored political points in taking on the
tobacco industry, targeted liquor distillers’ TV
ads Tuesday.
“Liquor has no M
business with kids,
he said.
But even as
Clinton argued he
was protecting chil
dren and helping
parents, he
struggled to explain
why his move
against liquor ads
— which stopped
just short of recom
mending a regula
tory ban — did not
touch the far more
pervasive television
advertising for beer
or wine.
He acknowl
edged that his aim,
for now, is a return
to the status quo last
fall—before distill
ers lifted their 50
year, self-imposed
ban on radio and
TV ads. Vintners
and brewers, a po
litically powerful lobby that spends millions of
dollars in Washington, have freely advertised
all along.
“I think we ought to start with the principle
of no backsliding,” Clinton said in outlining
his request that the Federal Communications
Commission study the inpact of lifting the ban
and make recommendations for possible fed
eral action.
“We must do nothing — nothing — that
would risk encouraging more of our young
people to drink hard liquor,” Clinton said in a
Roosevelt Room ceremony with Vice President
A1 Gore.
Distillers voted in November to end the ban
after Seagram’s ran a limited number of ads in
Texas. Ever since, FCC Chairman Reed Hundt
has sought an official inquiry but the commis
sion remained deadlocked 2-2 on the question.
Hundt hoped Clinton’s announcement
would sway dissenting commissioners James
Quello and Rachelle Chong, and allow die in
vestigation to proceed.
While saying he hoped the industry would
voluntarily agree to stay off the airwaves,
Clinton said that if the agency finds liquor ads
harmful to youngsters, “1 think the FCC has
grounds to act.”
Pressed several times to explain why beer
and wine ads were left out of the directive,
Clinton said: “I think the liquor industry itself
once thought that there was a distinction to be
drawn, if for no other reason than alcohol con
tent, between beer and wine and hard liquor,
which is why they observed this distinction for
Please see LIQUOR on 13
We must do
nothing —
nothing —
that would
risk
encouraging
more of our
young people
to drink hard
liquor.”
President Clinton
