Mid-century mainstay to reflect artists’ exploration of home
by Julia M. Dendinger, News-Bulletin, May 5, 2022
Wo/Manhouse 2022: 50th Anniversary
What is home? For some, it is a place of refuge and calm; for others, it’s the source of strife and conflict, even violence.
In 1972, a group of students and Los Angeles artists transformed the rooms of a dilapidated house into a series of imaginative installations and performance spaces dedicated to the idea of home. This was the original Womanhouse, part of the first Feminist Art Program, established by Belen artist Judy Chicago at California State University, Fresno, and later expanded at CalArts.
Now, 50 years later, Wo/Manhouse 2022 is exploring what home is again, with 19 New Mexico artists from across the gender spectrum, transforming the rooms of a mid-century home on North Fifth Street in the city of Belen. Six of the artists participating in the retrospective are from Valencia County.