Starke House provides haven for opinionated art

Zaynah Akeel

Staff Writer

This past Thursday, VCU’s Women’s Studies Department held an opening reception for their fall art show. Art majors, Gender, Sexuality, Women’s Studies majors and other students and community members enjoyed art primarily by VCU undergraduate students, some of whom were not art students.

Each semester, a new show is opened, and for the rest of the semester, the Starke House on Franklin Street plays double as an academic building and an art gallery. “We got the idea when we first moved in and the walls were bare,” said Liz Canfield, VCU Women’s Studies Advisor and Professor. The show also doubles as an open house for the department, where students can come in any time during the day and get pamphlets, handouts and fliers for pertinent support groups or active groups on campus.

“We got over 150 submissions, but we can only show 15 or 20,” said Cassie Mulheron, VCU Women’s Studies and photography major, who curated the show with Canfield. This was one of the first juried shows they have held, but those who were turned down were told to resubmit for the next show.

“We considered size and what pieces would work well together,” Mulheron said. “We aren’t able to show things like sculpture just because we don’t have enough space.” Artists had the option to present anonymously. The department dedicated space to a featured piece on loan from the Anderson Gallery, with which they maintain a close relationship.

The exhibit moved in place of this past summer’s photo-documentary exhibit focusing on Queer Activism and the LGBTQ Community.

“It’s great to have a space where pieces won’t be turned away for being too political,” said VCU student Safiya Bridgewater.  Zoë Shenkle Donald, an artist featured in the show with the piece “Les Businesswomen,” said, “It’s refreshing to see artists engaging in a feminist conversation with the art world.”

Shenkle Donald said that many people who looked at her painting would immediately assume that her subjects were lesbians, but she wants people to question this assumption. Questioning was an idea pervasive throughout the show, particularly questioning identities.

Cookies and lemonade were offered on a table which also displayed zines describing the Women’s Studies major, copies of Bitch Magazine and various fliers for other related events or groups. As VCU student Kaitlynn Slaughter pointed out, “It’s all empowering.”  Many of the people in attendance knew each other or would come in groups, and engaged in concentrated conversations about the work on the walls, often stemming to broader issues.

“I love that the Women’s Studies Department has given a place and a way to showcase artists who are diverse and do important work that might not otherwise have a home,” said VCU student Morgan Krug. The art raised questions and opened conversations about struggle, acceptance and identity. It evoked a passion that was hard to put into words, and the Women’s Studies Department was the perfect setting for this passion.