User:Stylegirl627

All About Me
Hi, everyone! My name is Lainie, and I am a college student who has a newfound appreciation for Wikipedia. This is to be my first time performing edits to a Wikipedia page, and I am very eager to begin learning and experiencing Wikipedia for my Gender & Women Studies class.

My Chosen Artist
The chosen artist for my GWS project is Judith Scott. I chose Judith Scott because I was able to gain a lot of insight on her and her work through another presentation I have created through this class during the semester. I really connected to her and her story, and I appreciate the impact she has made on the modern art world for artists with disabilities. Judith Scott is an artist with Down Syndrome, who also is mostly non-verbal. Her contemporary fiber art starts with a stationary object like a cardboard cylinder, where she then incorporates many different textures and articles such as: yarn, wires, threads, twine, fabric, and even an occasional cone or bicycle wheel sticking out somewhere in the art. The idea behind Judith’s art is to express herself and her thoughts and feelings through art as she cannot through her words. More information about Judith that I will use in my Wikipedia-A-Thon edit can be found at this external link to the Textile Artists website.

Who is Judith Scott?
Judith Scott (May 1, 1943 – March 15, 2005) was an American fiber sculptor. She was deaf and had Down Syndrome. She was internationally renowned for her art. In 1987, Judith was enrolled at the Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California, which supports people with developmental disabilities. There, Judith discovered her passion and talent for abstract fiber art, and she was able to communicate in a new form. An account of Scott's life, ''[https://www.amazon.com/Entwined-Sisters-Secrets-Silent-Artist/dp/0807051403#:~:text=Entwined%20is%20a%20penetrating%20personal,other's%20love%20and%20through%20art. Entwined: Sisters and Secrets in the Silent World of Artist Judith Scott]'', was written by her twin sister, Joyce Wallace Scott, and was published in 2016.

Biography
Judith was born into a middle-class family in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 1, 1943, along with her fraternal twin sister Joyce. Unlike Joyce, Judith was born with Down Syndrome. During her infancy, Judith had scarlet fever, which caused her to lose her hearing. As this remained unknown until much later on in her life, Judith was never taught to sign, lipread or speak as a child.

Judith Scott spent her first seven and a half years at home with her parents, twin sister and older brothers. Although the developmental gap between the two girls was apparent, "the parents consciously sought to treat these youngest members of the family alike."

However, when it was time for the girls to start attending school, Judith was found to be "ineducable." There was only one classroom for children with disabilities, and Judith was not able to pass the verbally-based entrance tests, due to her still undiagnosed deafness'''. ''' Consequently, on medical advice, her parents placed Judith in the Columbus State Institution (formerly the Columbus State School), an institution for mentally disabled people, on October 18, 1950. This separation had a profound effect on both twins.

The records from Judith Scott's first few years at the Institution indicate that she had an IQ of 30 (based upon oral testing before her deafness was recognized). For this reason she was denied any training opportunities. Deprived of her twin, Judith became severely alienated, and behavioral problems soon surfaced. Her Clinical Record states that "She does not seem to be in good contact with her environment. She does not get along well with other children, is restless, eats messily, tears her clothing, and beats other children. Her presence on the ward is a disturbing influence." Soon after, she was moved to a smaller state institution at Gallipolis, Ohio.

In 1985, after 35 years of complete separation and lengthy and difficult negotiations, Joyce Scott became her sister's legal guardian, and brought Judith to live with her in California, a state where all mentally disabled citizens are entitled to an ongoing education.

Judith Scott died of natural causes at her sister's home in Dutch Flat, California, a few weeks short of her 62nd birthday. She outlived her life expectancy at birth by almost fifty years.

Art
On April 1, 1987, Judith Scott began attending the Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, one of the first organizations in the world to provide studio space for artists with disabilities. For almost two years, Judith showed little interest in any artistic activity. She was unexceptional with paint. She scribbled loops and circles, but her work contained no representational imagery, and she was so uninterested in creating that the staff was considering ending her involvement with the program.

It wasn't until Judith casually observed a fiber art class conducted by visiting artist Sylvia Seventy, that she had her artistic breakthrough. Using the materials at hand, Judith spontaneously invented her own unique and radically different form of artistic expression. While other students were stitching, she was sculpting with an unprecedented zeal and concentration.

'''Judith Scott's artistic style remained consistent over the course of her eighteen years of object-making: totemic and cocoon-like sculptures created of layered fibers, textiles, and other materials expertly woven over an armature of everyday objects. Her creations vary in style from a monochromatic nothingness of neatly coiled thread broken up by purple industrial tubing to more flamboyant shapes made of vibrantly patterned fabric strips that are twisted and frayed to create a tactile appeal. Spools of yarn, wire hangers, clothes, foam padding, and bicycle wheels are among the identifiable components of the intricately constructed armatures that are occasionally left exposed but are frequently hidden beneath the textured surface.'''

'''Scott developed a nuanced and varied repertoire of techniques over the years, ranging from colorful combinations of layered and interlaced fibers to loosely tethered skeins and precisely placed woven loops. Occasionally, multipart, relational compositions wrap individually bound forms together. Her work became known for its sophisticated sense of color and material juxtapositions, which included strong dualities, unique tone schemes, and intricate layering of monochromatic palettes.'''

Judith worked on her art five days a week for eighteen years, producing over 200 pieces in total.

Judith had her first exhibition in 1999, at the Creative Growth Art Center where, some hours before the exhibition opened, she was reunited with pieces of work that she had not seen for years. She and, later, the visiting public gave the pieces a warm welcome. The exhibition coincided with the publication of John MacGregor's book Metamorphosis: The Fiber Art of Judith Scott. Together, these events helped propel her to worldwide recognition.

== '''“These elaborate, enigmatic forms capture our imagination. I think of this work as a language understood only by the artist; a lan­guage without words, for which there will never really be a translation.”''' == '''This quote, said by Tom Di Maria, director of the nonprofit Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California, truly captures the essence of Judith Scott and her personal relation to her work. Scott curates her art with the purest intentions of creating art and art only. The intention with each stitch, color, design, tool, fabric, yarn helps Scott express herself and her thoughts, as she is non-verbal. We may never truly know the intention behind Scott's art, but the reasoning or explanation behind her artwork is not necessary as the art in itself helps to highlight her innate talents.'''

Disability Aesthetics
'''The development of how individuals view artists with disabilities has evolved over time. More than ever, mankind is consciously focusing on the importance of equality, and categorizing all artists - no matter their biography - the same. The concept of disability aesthetics was introduced by Tobin Sieber's, a professor and co-chair on advocacy for disabilities. Siebers describes the idea of disability aesthetics as a concept that emphasizes the presence of disability in the tradition of aesthetic display in modern art. Additionally, disability aesthetics challenges traditional assumptions regarding mental abilities and beauty (in itself and art). Siebers focuses on the intersectionality between disability, art, and aesthetics, while also making sure to challenge those preconceived notions of beauty and normalcy.'''

'''Judith’s unintentional role in shaping the future of disability aesthetics helps to challenge the conventional separation between mental disability and artistic creation, and to help make the influence of disability on art more apparent. There once was a rigid divide of preconceived notions of individuals with disabilities and their ability to make art. Because of these preconceived notions, the artistic contributions of people with disabilities is diminished.'''

Therefore, Judith Scott’s work challenges the biases held within disabilities in comparison to art; her work has been used to display the newfound concept of disability aesthetics.

Collections
Scott's work has become immensely popular in the world of outsider art, and her pieces sell for substantial sums. In fact, towards the beginning of 2021, Scott's untitled (heart) sculpture tripled its low estimate and sold for $52,500 during the "Outsider and Vernacular Art" sale. Scott is now hailed as a contemporary artist, no longer just an outsider. Her art is held in the permanent collections of many museums, including: Museum of Modern Art (Manhattan, New York), the American Visionary Art Museum (Baltimore, Maryland), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of American Folk Art (Manhattan, New York), Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art (Chicago, Illinois), Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA. L'Aracine Musee D'Art Brut (Paris, France), Art Brut Connaissance & Diffusion Collection (Paris and Prague), Collection de l'art brut (Lausanne, Switzerland).

Solo Exhibitions
2018 – Judith Scott: Touchdown, Creative Growth Art Center, Oakland, California

2014-15 – Bound and Unbound, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York

2009 – Judith Scott: Retrospective, Ricco Maresca Gallery, New York City, New York

2002 – Cocoon: Judith Scott, Ricco-Maresca Gallery, New York City, New York

Bound and Unbound
Located in the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York is an exhibit that exemplifies the work of Judith Scott, an artist with developmental and physical disabilities. '''Most importantly, this exhibit focuses directly on the struggle to categorize and quantify art by people with disabilities into its own category. Scott's work demonstrates the essence of fiber and texture art, which can be seen throughout this exhibit.'''

Group Exhibitions
2019 – Memory Palaces: Inside the Collection of Audrey B. Heckler, American Folk Art Museum, New York City, New York

2019 – The Doors of Perception, Curated by Javier Téllez in collaboration with the Outsider Art Fair, Frieze Art Fair, New York City, New York

2019 – Flying High: Women Artists of Art Brut, Bank Austria Kunstforum, Vienna

2018 – Outliers and American Vanguard Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

2017 – Forget Me Not: Judith Scott, Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, Georgia

2017 – Viva Arte Viva, the 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy

2015 – Collection ABCD, La Maison Rouge, Paris, France

2013 – Create, Creative Growth Art Center, Oakland, California

2013 – Create, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, Florida

2013 – Extreme Art, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut

2012 – Rosemarie Trockel: A Cosmos, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City, New York

2011 – World Transformers, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

2000 – Visions, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland

2005 – Creative Growth, The Ricky Jay Broadside Collection, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California