Theorizing Experience: Four Women Artists of Color

In our daily lives, we women of color strip off the mascaras others have imposed on us, we see through the disguises we hide behind and drop our personas so that we may become subjects in our own discourses. We begin to acquire the agency of making our own caras. "Making faces" is my metaphor for constructing ones identity. You are the shaper of your flesh as well as of your soul. In our self-reflectivity and in our active participation with the issues that confront us, whether it be through writing, front-line activism, or individual self-development, we are also uncovering the interfaces, the very spaces and places where our multiplesurfaced, colored, racially gendered bodies intersect and interconnect. (Anzaldua, 1990, p. xvi)This article derived from a qualitative study in which Black American and Native American1 women artist educators shared their stories regarding feminism and ethnicity in relation to various components of their lives. As a Black American woman artist educator, I was interested in the impact (if any) of feminism and ethnicity in the lives of other women artist educators of color. In addition, a search of literature at the time of the study revealed limited research (case studies) specific to art education concerning feminism and ethnicity in association with women artists of color, especially noticeable in connection to Native American women artists.A large volume of data was garnered from interviews on this topic, in which the women talked about identity, education, professional activities, and artmaking in relation to feminism and ethnicity. Unfortunately, it was not possible to share the results of all the areas in this arride. For example, one participant revealed the need to become knowledgeable about her own history because of the gaps in this information during her public school education. She recalled feeling ashamed when Native history was taught because it only addressed battles and massacres, excluding the context that created the struggles, as well as the exclusion of the contributions of Native Americans to the dominant society (C. Teters, personal communication, September 11, 1999). Her experience was reflected in Allen's (1986) opinion that no Native American reaches adulthood without being informed that her people were savages, in addition to Huff's (1997) suggestion that distorted history is a part of the American mainstream. The American mainstream has not included the accomplishments of Native Americans and has contributed to generations of Native American students moving through school systems confused and fragmented with hidden and mixed messages negatively impacting their self-esteem.The scope of the article has been limited to artmaking and experience because of the significant role which art production plays in K-12 art classrooms, preservice, and in-service art education. This focus also has connected to Hicks' (1990) idea of art education informed by feminist interest in empowerment. Hicks suggested that educating students to value the various array of human experiences is important. She linked this suggestion to her three goals of a feminist art education: (a) education to diversity and difference; (b) education to context; and (c) education to a community of difference. Hicks advocated that the result of these goals is a learning process that recognizes the realities of cultural diversity of society.My personal experience teaching preservice and inservice teachers in addition to teaching courses specific to aspects of cultural diversity, has informed me of the limited, and sometimes lack of, knowledge that future and present K-12 art teachers have of non-European and non-Euro-American female (and male) artists. Educating the continuingly growing diverse student population to value their own experiences, the experiences of their peers, and to become knowledgeable about experiences of non-European and non-Euro-American artists has continued to be difficult for classroom teachers. …