WKU News & Events

November 27, 2001

'At Home' Project At WKU
Opens Dec. 9

Bowling Green, Ky. - (See note about exhibit preview at the end of the release).

Dec. 9 marks the grand opening of "At Home: A Kentucky Project with Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman," at Western Kentucky University.

Internationally acclaimed artist Chicago is best known for her collaborative projects: "The Dinner Party," "The Birth Project," "The Holocaust Project," and "Resolutions: A Stitch in Time." The art installation in Bowling Green, facilitated by Chicago, revisits the subject of home 30 years after the famous "Womanhouse" project in Los Angeles.

Every space in the house at 522 University Blvd. has been transformed into an art installation, from the basement, the kitchen, the closets, and even the garage. Details from its residential history have been handlettered onto the dining room walls; implements of the elderly fill the "Golden Dreams" room; and a harvested garden has recently sprung up in the backyard.

The culmination of a whole semester's work, "At Home" examines such adult issues as marital conflicts, eating disorders, rape and sibling rivalry. It also includes such themes as the kitchen as "heart of the home," the historic changes in "living room" space over the past half century, and the accommodations families make for their aging parents.

Twenty-two participants—including women's studies scholars, student and professional artists, and writers—have turned the entire house into an installation that explores the cultural meanings of gendered space. Meanwhile, three photographers, under the direction of award-winning photographer Donald Woodman, have been documenting the project.

The Dec. 9 grand opening will include a reception hosted by WKU President Gary Ransdell at the Kentucky Museum from1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Guided tours of the "At Home" project house will depart by shuttle bus from the museum every 15 minutes.

The museum exhibit will feature a comprehensive photographic view of the collaborative process and a scale model of the project house by local artists John Oakes and Andee Rudloff. Examples of parallel projects by K-12 students from Cumberland County High School, East View Elementary School (Owensboro), Glasgow High School, and Warren Central High School will be displayed both at the Kentucky Museum and at Lot 916 in downtown Bowling Green.

The photo documentation exhibit at the Kentucky Museum runs Dec. 9-18, 2001 and Jan. 2-May 30, 2002. The hours are Tuesday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

The house exhibit at 522 University Blvd., runs Dec. 9-18, 2001 and Jan. 2-March 31, 2002. The hours are Wednesdays 1 p.m.-8 p.m. and Thursday-Saturday 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

More information about the exhibit is available from the project's website at www.wku.edu/athome or by calling Women's Studies at (270) 745-6477.

MEDIA PREVIEW
Members of the news media are invited to a preview of the exhibits on Dec. 7. Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman will conduct tours of the two exhibits. Refreshments will be served.

The preview will be from 10 a.m.-noon beginning at the Kentucky Museum at Western Kentucky University. Following opening remarks, Woodman will give tours of the photo documentation exhibit. Chicago will then give tours of the house exhibit.

PHOTO CAPTION
Participants in “At Home: A Kentucky Project with Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman” pose in front of the house they are turning into an art installation.

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