Leila Daw
Encyclopedia
Leila Daw is an American installation art
ist and art professor; her work uses diverse materials to explore themes of cartography
and feminism
.
, Maryville College
, and Forest Park Community College, from 1976 through 1990 at Southern Illinois University
, and from 1990 to 2002 at the Massachusetts College of Art
. In 2002 she retired from teaching to become a full-time artist.
Daw's works include permanent installations at the Bradley International Airport
and the New Haven Free Public Library
; she has also participated in group exhibits at the Contemporary Arts Center
and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
. Daw was one of a group of artists who took part in the design of the St. Louis MetroLink light rail system, and she became a member of the MetroLink project management team. Her work Red River (1991) at Centenary College of Louisiana
, a pattern of wildflowers in a public lawn, is imbued with symbolism of menstruation
and menopause
. Art by Daw originally commissioned for the Massachusetts Turnpike
– a set of steel park benches painted to look like oversized folded paper maps – is on exhibit at the DeCordova Museum
in Other works of Daw have been more ephemeral: her Pre-Historic River Channel (1981), for instance, used skywriting
to map the course of the Mississippi River
at an earlier age when it bypassed the current location of St. Louis.
Over the years, Daw has incorporated a great diversity of materials into her work. As Joanna Frueh writes, “Since the early 1980’s she has used acrylic, pencil, bronzing powders, metal leaf, Mylar, foil, and other mixed media on paper and canvas in order to create maps that replicate the terrain in regions where she has lived – St. Louis and Boston – and traveled, by car, plane, and imagination, such as the American desert West.”
s by Daw, Doesn't Stand a Chance...
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
ist and art professor; her work uses diverse materials to explore themes of cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
and feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
.
Life and work
Leila Daw received her Masters of Fine Arts from Washington University School of Fine Arts in St Louis, Missouri and her Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She was a professor of art from 1974 through 1976 at Tusculum CollegeTusculum College
Tusculum College is a coeducational private college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church , with its main campus in Tusculum, Tennessee, United States, a suburb of Greeneville...
, Maryville College
Maryville College
Maryville College is a private four-year liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee, near Knoxville. It was founded in 1819 by Presbyterian minister Isaac L. Anderson for the purpose of furthering education and enlightenment into the West. The College is one of the fifty oldest colleges in the...
, and Forest Park Community College, from 1976 through 1990 at Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a state university system based in Carbondale, Illinois, in the Southern Illinois region of the state, with multiple campuses...
, and from 1990 to 2002 at the Massachusetts College of Art
Massachusetts College of Art
Massachusetts College of Art and Design is a publicly-funded college of visual and applied art, founded in 1873. It is one of the oldest art schools, the only publicly-funded free-standing art school in the United States, and was the first art college in the United States to grant an artistic degree...
. In 2002 she retired from teaching to become a full-time artist.
Daw's works include permanent installations at the Bradley International Airport
Bradley International Airport
Bradley International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in Windsor Locks on the border with East Granby and Suffield, in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is owned by the State of Connecticut....
and the New Haven Free Public Library
New Haven Free Public Library
The New Haven Free Public Library is the public library system serving New Haven, Connecticut.The system began in 1887 in a leased location but quickly outgrew its space. The Ives Memorial Library is the main branch of the system and is located on the New Haven Green. The neo-Georgian building...
; she has also participated in group exhibits at the Contemporary Arts Center
Contemporary Arts Center
The Contemporary Arts Center is a pioneering contemporary art museum located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The CAC is a non-collecting museum that focuses on new developments in painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, performance art and new media...
and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, commonly referred to as MASS MoCA, is a museum in a converted factory building located in North Adams, Massachusetts, USA. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing arts in the country.MASS MoCA opened with 19...
. Daw was one of a group of artists who took part in the design of the St. Louis MetroLink light rail system, and she became a member of the MetroLink project management team. Her work Red River (1991) at Centenary College of Louisiana
Centenary College of Louisiana
Centenary College of Louisiana is a primarily undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is one of the founding members of the Associated Colleges of the South, a pedagogical organization consisting of sixteen Southern liberal arts colleges...
, a pattern of wildflowers in a public lawn, is imbued with symbolism of menstruation
Menstruation
Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining . It occurs on a regular basis in sexually reproductive-age females of certain mammal species. This article focuses on human menstruation.-Overview:...
and menopause
Menopause
Menopause is a term used to describe the permanent cessation of the primary functions of the human ovaries: the ripening and release of ova and the release of hormones that cause both the creation of the uterine lining and the subsequent shedding of the uterine lining...
. Art by Daw originally commissioned for the Massachusetts Turnpike
Massachusetts Turnpike
The Massachusetts Turnpike is the easternmost stretch of Interstate 90. The Turnpike begins at the western border of Massachusetts in West Stockbridge connecting with the Berkshire Connector portion of the New York State Thruway...
– a set of steel park benches painted to look like oversized folded paper maps – is on exhibit at the DeCordova Museum
DeCordova Museum
The DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is a sculpture park and art museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts focused on modern and contemporary art, and holds a collection focused on work in all media, especially works by artists with connections to New England...
in Other works of Daw have been more ephemeral: her Pre-Historic River Channel (1981), for instance, used skywriting
Skywriting
Skywriting is the process of using a small aircraft, able to expel special smoke during flight, to fly in certain patterns to create writing readable by someone on the ground...
to map the course of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
at an earlier age when it bypassed the current location of St. Louis.
Over the years, Daw has incorporated a great diversity of materials into her work. As Joanna Frueh writes, “Since the early 1980’s she has used acrylic, pencil, bronzing powders, metal leaf, Mylar, foil, and other mixed media on paper and canvas in order to create maps that replicate the terrain in regions where she has lived – St. Louis and Boston – and traveled, by car, plane, and imagination, such as the American desert West.”
Additional reading
. As cited by .. Review of a show by Daw at the Atrium Gallery in St. Louis.. Review of a show by Daw at Boston Sculptors at Chapel Gallery in Boston... Review of a group exhibit at the Mystic Art Association, featuring a four-part painting of natural disasterNatural disaster
A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard . It leads to financial, environmental or human losses...
s by Daw, Doesn't Stand a Chance...
External links
- Artist's web site
- Leila Daw on FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...