2009-2015

The Penn State University College of Arts & Architecture Alumni Office forwarded an alumna email to me, Professor of Art Education and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. The alumna encouraged Penn State to hold an Art+Feminism edit-a-thon.

Prior to this email, I had been introduced to wikistorming through my involvement with FemTechNet, and from the fembot@lists.uoregon.edu. Also, importantly, I learned from Melanie L. Buffington, who at the 2009 Lobby Activism event during the National Art Education Convention in Minneapolis, shared her attempts to edit Wikipedia with her students and what she learned. Melanie was a catalyst for my critique of Wikipedia from a feminist art educator’s lens.

Advisee Leslie Sotomayor, a candidate in the dual-title doctoral program in art education and women’s, gender, & sexuality studies, assisted me in facilitating the first art+feminism wikistorming event held in-person in the second floor of the Arts Cottage built in 1889 and became the Arts Cottage on the main Penn State campus in 1975, where in 2011, I established the Judy Chicago office, a visiting scholars office, a seminar teaching and socializing space, a feminist art education suite with resources, and my office. 

2016

After facilitating my first art+feminist event at Penn State in 2015, I meet the co-founders (Siân Evans, McKensie Mack, Michael Mandiberg, and Jacqueline Mabey) at Teachers College, Columbia University in NYC. We were invited speakers at the March 2016 Symposium “Feminist Art Pedagogy. Why Talk About Gender?” They described how they began a small group and soon others joined in the process with hubs throughout the world.

To bring more attention and participation to the Art+Feminism wikistorming, I invited a keynote speaker, Susan Hill, who was Head of Needlework during the creation of Judy Chicago’s monumental art installation, The Dinner Party (1975 – 1979). Hill co-authored with Chicago, “Embroidering our Heritage: The Needlework of The Dinner Party” (1980, Doubleday), and is narrator of Johanna Demetrakas’ documentary film, Right Out of History (1980, Johanna Demetrakas, 75 min). After working with Judy Chicago to create The Dinner Party, and while traveling with the exhibition, Hill was Community Outreach staff for SPARC (Social and Public Art Resource Center) with muralist and SPARC founder Judy Baca.  At that time, The Great Wall mural was in production, depicting the history of Los Angeles from the point of view of the people rarely included in the history, engaging historians, community residents, educators, and working teams of artists and local young people.

Having a keynote speaker increased participation, especially graduate student and librarians.

2017

Penn State University Libaries’ Associate Dean for Technology and Digital Strategies, Karen Estlund, participated in the 2016 wikistorming event in the Arts Cottage and invited for the one-day event to be held at Penn State’s Special Collections Mann Assembly Room. Archivist Julie Porterfield brought in library resources and involved librarians, some joining online from the more than 20 commonwealth campus of Penn State, throughout Pennsylvania. 

2018

Combined with Judy Chicago Art Education award ceremony

2020 Pandemic — switched to online 

2021-online

2022-online

2023-Arts Cottage and online

2024-Arts Cottage and online