We want our independent study to investigate the representation of women throughout history. Our exploration of feminism will focus on the specific style of the time and the societal expectations of the period. We will focus on popular art styles and mix them with our techniques and how we normally paint. Our paintings aim to change the socially constructed lenses through which history depicts women. As young females, we have the goal of piecing together art throughout history that we admire deeply, as well as the roles women are commonly seen in today. As artists, we are especially focusing on detail, realism, and shadowing through color theory to develop our art better and learn more about our own abilities/the techniques of the artists from the period we are studying. At the end of our six-unit study, we hope to share our art in an exhibition in New House or a gallery in San Francisco. We want our art to reach as many women and artists alike. We will create a separate portfolio where our art can be better explained through our eyes as young women and historians. We want to acknowledge the path women forged behind closed curtains that historical art tends to forget or ignore, but in reality, they were vital steps in our background. Furthermore, as Branson students, we are excited to incorporate the core value of purpose throughout our study. With this opportunity, we will purposefully create pieces that highlight the feminism that we know and share today as women in this community, but also change the norms of old art to create something new. We want to help the women of the past rewrite their forgotten stories through our creative practice. 

At the beginning of each unit, we will research the time periods and get a big picture of the gender roles in that era. We will then dive into how women were seen and what kind of power they possessed, as well as look into different art pieces created during that time for our inspiration. We will take our knowledge of the time period and combine it with our lenses as young female artists to begin our process of painting. As we paint, we will bounce ideas off of each other and give constructive criticism to each other along the way. We also hope to have Ms. Seal, our advisor through this journey offer advice and supportive judgment, and we would also love the opinion of any other art or history teachers available. Furthermore, we will talk about how our views are different and how we each express our personal takes in our paintings. Once we are finished with all six units, we will once again look through all of our paintings in order to notice the differences and progress/setbacks made over time, and ask ourselves, “How did the art history of women evolve in this order?” 

Through our personal experiences in the craft, we know art can be informative and make a big difference, especially when it comes to changing narratives. We previously had somewhat investigated this idea of changing the perspective of others. Through some of our pieces this year, including Cat’s untitled painting uncovering the child-like imagination adults have, we are changing the stereotypes and norms society puts on people. Another example is Anina’s painting at the beginning of last year which depicted a child-like freedom that provokes a feeling of nostalgia. Whether it’s adults, children, or whomever, this idea matters a lot. So, throughout this year, we will combat the lenses society puts on us, and we will look back on how, again, and again, narratives were left unchanged. Even though we are acknowledging the difficulties of women from long ago, we are hoping to make a difference. Whether it informs fellow students or inspires others to take up art, they will know of the history undermined in art and will regain a new perspective.