Theresa Pollak Project celebrates life of VCUarts founder

Theresa Pollak was an influential figure in Richmond’s art scene who is credited as the founder of VCUarts and was the vice president of the Richmond Artists Association from 1958-1959. Photo provided by VCU News.
Theresa Pollak was an influential figure in Richmond’s art scene who is credited as the founder of VCUarts and was the vice president of the Richmond Artists Association from 1958-1959. Photo provided by VCU News.
Theresa Pollak was an influential figure in Richmond’s art scene who is credited as the founder of VCUarts and was the vice president of the Richmond Artists Association from 1958-1959. Photo provided by VCU News.
Theresa Pollak was an influential figure in Richmond’s art scene who is credited as the founder of VCUarts and was the vice president of the Richmond Artists Association from 1958-1959. Photo provided by VCU News.

For most students, the name “Pollak” means the VCUarts building with a rooftop garden across from Christian’s Pizza —but to others, the name identifies an important feminist figure who helped establish Richmond’s art scene.

The Theresa Pollak Project, a combination of installations, clothing and accessories and eventually a book detailing Pollak’s life and accomplishments, aims to regain recognition for the seemingly-obscure figure who founded VCUarts.

“She changed the course of history in our town,” said Bridget Gethins, a co-founder of the Theresa Pollak Project.

Pollak founded what would eventually become VCU’s School of the Arts, was the vice president of the Richmond Artists Association and received accolades from city and university officials. She passed away in 2002 at the age of 103.

Gethins and her partner Keri Wormald are feminists, historians and artists devoted to sharing the story of Pollak to inform Richmonders and students at VCU.

“I want a sense of pride in the city of Richmond, generally for being the city of arts that it has become as a result of this woman,” Wormald said.

Gethins said she took an interest in Theresa Pollak in the late 1980s after watching Pollak and her husband speak at a panel at the VMFA.

After attending the panel, Gethins said she started researching Pollak and visited the archives at VCU. Eventually, Gethins convinced Pollak to let her interview her.

Gethins said their interview was shot in Pollak’s apartment and lasted two hours and ten minutes. Pollak talked about her life, how she started the art school and her interests in modern art.

“It’s a city of art and I don’t think Richmond itself has done a great job of letting the world know that,” Wormald said. “An interesting narrative is the best way to involve people and bring them in.”

The project hopes to soon publish a book including excerpts from Pollak’s papers and first-hand stories about Pollak from her mentors, students and colleagues.

“We see this project as an autobiography/biography,” Gethins said. “We’re going to print her words. We’re annotating it, talking to the people she mentions.”

The project is accepting donations online to support the publication of the book.


Staff Writer, Sophia Belletti

Sophia Belletti, Photo by Brooke MarshSophia is a sophomore print/online journalism major with a minor in gender, sexuality and women’s studies. She enjoys writing about current events and sports and hopes to one day be a sports reporter, covering soccer, basketball and baseball. You can usually find Sophia drinking way too much coffee and laughing at her own jokes. // Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

bellettisr@commonwealthtimes.org

1 Comment

  1. Thanks to Sophia for the interview and article. Just a couple of clarifications. “…a combination of installations, clothing and accessories” means we will be doing some pop-up art at First Fridays (installations), that art involves a “skirt screen” (cllothing), and we have lovely “Richmond City of Arts/Theresa Pollak Project” wristbands (accessories) available to support the Theresa Pollak Project–which is a book Bridget Gethins and I are writing based on an AUDIO interview Bridget recorded with Theresa Pollak in 1989. Go to http://www.womensmercury.com to hear Theresa Pollak in her own words and to donate to the project. All VCU arts students (perhaps all students!) should be aware of the accomplishments of this remarkable woman and how she changed the landscape of Richmond. –Keri Wormald (President, The Women’s Mercury, MFA graduate, VCU)

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