Cheri Gaulke
Encyclopedia
Feminist art movement
The feminist art movement refers to the efforts and accomplishments of feminists internationally to make art that reflects women's lives and experiences, as well as to change the foundation for the production and reception of contemporary art. It also sought to bring more visibility to women within...
in southern California in the 1970s and her current work on gay and lesbian families. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit four-year and postgraduate college specializing in the visual arts. Located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, MCAD currently enrolls approximately 1,000 students offering curriculum that includes...
and a Master of Arts degree (in Feminist Art/Education) from Goddard College
Goddard College
Goddard College is a private, liberal arts college located in Plainfield, Vermont, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Goddard College currently operates on an intensive low-residency model...
.
In 1975, Gaulke moved to Los Angeles and became involved with the Feminist Studio Workshop at the Woman's Building
Woman's Building
The Woman's Building was an non-profit arts and education center located in Los Angeles, California, in the United States. The Woman's Building focused on feminist art and served as a venue for the women's movement and was spearheaded by artist Judy Chicago, graphic designer Sheila Levrant de...
. At the Feminist Studio Workshop, Gaulke focused primarily on performance art. There she created a character she called Cinderella, who Gaulke describes as not conforming to any specific sex or gender role and thus "in a constant state of transformation." In addition to her solo work, Gaulke collaborated with Anne Gauldin to produce The Malta Project, in which the two performed rites related to female spirituality at prehistoric temples throughout Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. Gaulke has been a co-founder of two collaborative feminist performance groups: Feminist Art Workers (1976–81), co-founded with Nancy Angelo, Candace Compton, Vanalyne Green
Vanalyne Green
Vanalyne Green is an American artist who also writes about culture and who also teaches. She has screened her video work extensively in the United States and abroad, including The Whitney Biennial , American Film Institute, Rotterdam International Film Festival, the Videotheque de Paris, The...
, and Laurel Klick, and Sisters of Survival (SOS), co-founded in 1981 with Nancy Angelo, Jerri Allyn
Jerri Allyn
Jerri Allyn is a feminist performance and installation artist and educator based in Los Angeles, California. Allyn earned an MA in Art and Community from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont and also attended The Feminist Studio Workshop at the Los Angeles Woman's Building.Allyn was active in the...
, Anne Gauldin, and Sue Maberry.
Though Gaulke has moved away from performance, the feminist art strategies that she helped to innovate in the 1970s in southern California continue in her work. Her art continues to be a vehicle for social commentary and as a way to tell the stories of individuals and groups under-represented in society. She works in a variety of media, but mostly video, installation, artist’s books, and public art. Such projects have included a video in collaboration with lesbian and gay teens, a photographic wall installation about lesbian and gay families, a video installation with Latino teenagers about the L.A. River, and a video installation about kids’ perspectives on a river in North Carolina. Gaulke has completed three public art projects—a Metro-Rail Station in Los Angeles that tells stories about an oft-ignored urban river, an outdoor sculptural piece for a library in Lake View Terrace, and three stainless steel and glass glowing “Pillars of Community” for the City of Lakewood, California
Lakewood, California
Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 80,048 at the 2010 census. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west and south, Bellflower on the north, Cerritos on the northeast, Cypress on the east, and Hawaiian Gardens on the southeast. Major thoroughfares...
. http://www.lakewoodcity.org/more/emagazine_archive/07_2005_pillars_of_community_art_project.asp A black granite memorial honoring the service of Filipino WWII veterans was dedicated on November 11, 2006 in a park in Historic Filipino Town, Los Angeles, the first such monument in the U.S. http://www.ci.la.ca.us/council/cd13/cd13press/cd13cd13press13242318_11132006.pdf
Gaulke has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, and the Brody Arts Fund. She has exhibited her work in numerous formats all over the world, including exhibitions at the Los Angeles Art Association
Los Angeles Art Association
The Los Angeles Art Association is a non-profiting organization that has existed. The organization accept's artist's for the membership and provides support in the ends of their artistic careers...
(LAAA) and Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
as well as on buses and in churches. In 1986 she received the Vesta Award from the Los Angeles Woman's Building for Contributions to Performance art , and she was honored with a mid-career fellowship from the Cultural Affairs Department (COLA grant) in 2004-05. http://www.thesilverlakenews.com/index.php?pageId=47729