Name five women artists? Easy!

March 11, 2016

Skidmore has lots of women in the arts

The National Museum of Women in the Arts has launched a March social media campaign: "Can you name five women artists?" Many people's first instinct calls up famous male names, but Skidmore can name scores of its women graduates whose artistic creativity and skills were honed as students and are still going strong in artistic careers. Here are just five who have found success due to their experiences in Art Studio, Art History, and beyond at Skidmore:

Diane Burko '66

Burko holds a BA from Skidmore and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. She has had over 30 solo exhibitions in galleries and museums across the United States, including the Zimmerli Museum of Art, Tufts University, and Michener Art Museum.

Since 2006, she has worked at the intersection of art and science, focusing on climate change. With the US Geological Survey and others, she visits and shoots aerial photos in polar regions, and then creates striking artworks based on the photos, often showing unprecedented glacial shrinking year by year. Burko has spoken about how the arts can communicate science at conferences of the Geological Society of America, American Geophysical Union, and other groups.

Arline Fisch '52

Fisch is well known for her innovative jewelry-making, including her knitting and weaving of metals. She was first inspired by the Egyptian jewelry she saw as a child at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After a Fulbright grant to Denmark, Fisch joined the faculty at Skidmore, and has exhibited extensively all over the world, in both group shows and solo exhibitions.

Her book Textile Techniques in Metal for Jewelers sparked wide interest among artists and also scientists, designers, and engineers. With expertise in strength-to-weight ratios and other engineering concepts, she has crafted volumetric and decorative forms without compromising their function or wearability. Fish holds a BS (and was awarded a 2002 honorary doctorate) from Skidmore, and she completed an MA from the University of Illinois.

Zaria Forman '05

Venues from the Huffington Post and Juxtapoz, to Fox News and Good Day New York, to the National Geographic, New York Times, and Smithsonian magazines have featured Forman's realistic pastel renderings of ice, waves, and water. In 2012 she led Chasing the Light, an expedition up the northwest coast of Greenland, and the dramatic effects of climate change quickly became the center theme of her work. Her travels also took her to Antarctica for an art residency aboard the National Geographic Explorer.

Forman earned a BS at Skidmore, and studied at the Student Art Centers International in Florence, Italy. She has exhibited in the UK and US, and her work was used on the set of the Netflix TV series House of Cards. Last fall she gave a TEDTalksLive NYC presentation, set to air on PBS television March 30 at 10 p.m. Eastern time. 

Julia Jacquette '86

Jacquette's work has been extensively exhibited, from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to Galerie Oliver Schweden in Munich. In 2004 her "I Dreamt" was at Skidmore's Tang Museum and featured in Julia Jacquette: I Dreamt, by the Tang's Dayton Director, Ian Berry.

Using mainly oils on linen or canvas, she has created "white paintings" of wedding cakes and wedding dresses, images of water, liquor, and hair, as well as images of food juxtaposed with texts about love. Her "Blue Plate Special" project uses overglazing and decals to refurbish used ceramics—and to create artworks that can be used to raise funds for schools and other nonprofits. A 2013 sustainability grant the Fashion Institute of Technology sent her to Oisterwijk, the Netherlands, to attend the Sundaymorning@EKWC ceramic artists' residency.

Jacquette holds a BS from Skidmore and an MFA from Hunter College. 

Courtney Mattison '08

A self-determined major, Mattison earned her BA in marine ecology and ceramic sculpture. She also has an MA in environmental studies from Brown University, plus coursework at the Rhode Island School of Design. 

Mattison's work blends marine biology and art into detailed hand-sculpted works inspired by coral reefs and the threats posed to them by human development. Her solo show Sea Change runs through April 17 at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art. Other works have been shown across the nation in both science and art venues, including the headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has also been featured in Grist, Colossal, Smithsonian, American Scientist, and other publications.