Sampler
MIRIAM SCHAPIRO’S SAMPLER (1974) captures the Feminist Art Movement’s goal of recovering and elevating traditionally “feminine” modes of creativity, such as quilting and embroidery. Schapiro moved to California in the 1970s and founded the Feminist Art Program at the California Institute of the Arts with Judy Chicago. Together they worked to create the famous Womanhouse exhibition in Los Angeles in 1972. Sampler exemplifies Schapiro’s “femmage,” a term to describe the collage, assemblage, decoupage, and photomontage of “feminine” colors, designs, and techniques in her work. By foregrounding traditionally feminine art-forms, Schapiro critiques the art world’s devaluation of crafts practiced by women.