Wisconsin Women Library Workers
Designer and Assembler: Christie Brokish
Quilt Coordinators: Kathy Rohde and Mary Knapp
Winner: Mary Sloan
"Barbra Streisand" by Cheryl Becker
My square depicts multiple ways Streisand has been involved in film--actress, singer, composer, producer, director. The gold figures are her
two Oscars--for Best Actress Funny Girl and for Best Song "Evergreen"
from A Star is Born.
"Mary Pickford" by Ann Clark
Mary Pickford was a child stage actress until she made her first film for Biograph, then a fledgling film company, in 1909. She soon became the international film industry's first great star, starring in over fifty feature-length films. Her golden curls and children's roles endeared her to millions, but she was more than America's Sweetheart. She was a capable businesswoman and was instrumental in founding
and directing a major film production company. A new book, Without
Lying
Down: Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood by
Ceci
Beauchamp, chronicles her support of other women who wrote,
directed, and acted in these early films.
"Mae West" by Kathy Rohde
Mae West's career spanned eighty years--from her first
appearance
on the vaudeville stage at age five to her role in the film
Sextette at
age eighty-five. Known primarily for her campy film appearances
in 30's and 40's in which she played bawdy women notorious for
one-liner
comebacks, West also wrote plays and screenplays. Her most
infamous was Sex, a 1926 play that caused such a commotion in New York, the
district attorney convened a Play Jury assigned to investigate charges of indecency and salaciousness. Sex won out, but continued to be
the subject of raids and criticism; West herself was arrested, jailed
and tried. Social historians today think West helped liberate female
sexuality;
feminists criticize her hyper-feminity. Either way, West avoided
fame in areas in which she had no control. My quilt square is a
copy of Salvador Dali's painting, Mae West's Face Which Can Be Used as a Surrealist Apartment, 1934-35. The original can be viewed at
the
Art Institute of Chicago.
"Lina Wertmuller" by Barb Sanford
Italian screenwriter and director Lina Wertmuller was born in
Rome in
1928. Her film career began almost by chance. In 1962, her
friend Flora Carabella, then married to Marcello Mastroianni, introduced her
to Federico Fellini, who took her on as assistant director of 8-1/2.
This encounter opened the way to Lina's own first film as a director,
The Lizards, in 1963. Her film credits include The Seduction of Mimi,
1972; Love and Anarchy, 1973; Swept Away, 1974; and Seven Beauties, 1975.
Critics have called her "the first totally unfeminine female
director" and "the most exciting woman director on the international scene."
She maintains that she is with the feminists on most issues "to the
death." She
points out that, if the women in her films are inadequate, the
men are worse. Lina is a short, slight woman with cropped reddish-brown
hair who invariably wears glasses with white plastic frames and who is
liable
to appear "draped in shawls and chains, clanking with bones
and driftwood, jingling with silver bracelets." Her "scratchy,
deep voice" is said to "generate excitement." She herself says that her
aim is to provoke,
and this she undoubtedly does.
"Dorothy Arzner" by Marge Loch-Wouters
One of the few American women directors of the Hollywood studio
era, Arzner wrote screenplays, edited, and directed films from the
1920's to
the 1940's. She was the first woman member of the Director's
Guild of America. This square, pieced by Jean Sandvidge Wouters,
represents
her 1940 film Dance Girl Dance. In this film a ballet dancer,
played by
Maureen O'Hara, confronts her male audience to tell them that
she is
not merely the object of their gaze.
"Jodie Foster" by Sue Searing
After appearing in several TV series while still a girl, Jodie
Foster
came to the movie-going public's attention with her portrayal of
a teenage prostitute in Taxi Driver (1976). She has won two Academy
Awards for Best Actress: for her gripping portrayal of a gang-rape
victim in The Accused (1988) and for her role as an FBI agent in Silence of the Lambs (1991). Most recently, she played a strong-willed scientist
in Contact (1997). In addition, Foster has credits as the director of Little
Man Tate (1991) and producer of Nell (1994), in both of which she starred. She heads her own company, Egg Pictures. Despite her
life-long career in the Hollywood spotlight, Foster maintains an enviable
privacy and reserve. Thus I chose the traditional Lone Star pattern to symbolize her life and work and to celebrate the marginalized but
determined women she has brought to life on film.
"Edith Head" by Nancy McClements
Edith Head (1897-1981) began her career as a teacher of French
and art. To supplement her income, she was hired at Paramount as a
sketch artist. She later became their head of design, and moved to Universal
in 1967. She was nominated for 34 Academy Awards and won for eight,
including The Heiress, All About Eve, Roman Holiday, Sabrina, and The Sting. I
wanted to contribute a non-actress square--someone who was
behind the
scenes. However, Head was hardly an unknown. Her many television
appearances and fashion columns made her well-known to the public. She
worked with the major directors and actors of the time, and was known
for her keen understanding of the technical issues that put limits on
costume
design.
My square depicts an enticing Head outfit from one of my
favorite movies, Notorious. Ingrid Bergman bares her midriff to Cary Grant in
this
slinky blouse/skirt ensemble. Worried that she'll be cold when
they take a drunken night drive, Grant comes up close behind her and ties
his handkerchief around her middle. The blouse was done in applique,
with trapunto used to fill out the bodice. I embroidered Head's striking
signature to form the "head."
"Katherine Hepburn" by Heidi Marleau
Born in 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut, actress Katharine Hepburn
received four Oscars for best actress and was nominated for twelve
Academy Awards. Hepburn made over 50 feature films, six of which are
portrayed in the quilt square. After receiving her first Oscar for Morning
Glory (1933), she was branded box office poison. During this period she
made the comedy, Bringing Up Baby (1938), (see leopard skin baby buggy). It wasn't until 1940 when she made the film version of The Philadelphia Story (see Liberty Bell and champagne glass) that she shook this
label and
was welcomed back to Hollywood.
1951's The African Queen (see rose fabric in middle of square)
paired
her as Rosie with Humphrey Bogart as Charlie. Hepburn won her
second Oscar for her portrayal of Eleanor of Aquitaine in (this quilter's
personal favorite) A Lion in Winter (see lion on snowflake
background). She
starred with Spencer Tracy in his last film, Guess Who's Coming
to Dinner (1967), (see black book with white writing) for which she
received
her third Oscar. The final Oscar was given for her role in On
Golden Pond (1981), (see loon on gold fabric). Her 1991 autobiography,
Me, (see
red outlined white book) detailed her life including her long
affair with Spencer Tracy.
"Dorothy Dandridge" by Christine Jenkins
Dorothy Dandridge (actor, singer, dancer, 1923-1965) was one of
the first African Americans to star in dramatic roles in mainstream
Hollywood
films. Her film career began at age 13 with a bit part in the
Marx Brothers' A Day at the Races (1937). She went on to become the first
African American to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for
her sensational performance in the title role in Carmen Jones (1954).
She also starred (with Harry Belafonte, Diahann Carroll, and Pearl
Bailey) in
Porgy and Bess (1959), but her career was limited and eventually
destroyed by the institutional racism of the American film industry.
Although
Dandridge also had a successful career as a nightclub singer, in
1963
she was forced to declare bankruptcy and finally took her own
life at age 41.
"Julie Dash" by Julie Anne Chase
Director-writer Julie Dash became the first African American
woman filmmaker with a feature film in theatrical release when Daughters
of the Dust opened January 15, 1992 at the Film Forum in New York. It
sold out
every showing and has gone on to become something of a cult
film. The
bottle tree represented in this square appeared next to the
Peazant's
shanty throughout the film. Bottle trees were for protection
from male violent or evil spirits. Dash explained in an interview with Bell
Hooks
that she understood that each bottle represented a deceased
family member or ancestor. These spirits radiate good will, protection, and
luck upon the family's house.
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Last update: November 10, 1999
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