The Kentucky Foundation for Women promotes feminist art and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

by awarding grants to individual artists and organizations, providing time and space for artists and activists at its retreat center, sharing information, and building alliances. The Kentucky Foundation for Women is a 501(c)3 private, independent foundation that was established in 1985 by author

Sallie Bingham Sallie Bingham (born January 22, 1937) is an American author, playwright, poet, teacher, feminist activist, and philanthropist. She is the eldest daughter of Barry Bingham, Sr., patriarch of the Bingham family of Louisville, Kentucky. Sallie ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. At the time, Ms. Bingham's philanthropic gift of $10 million was the largest endowment to any women's fund in the United States. The mission of the Kentucky Foundation for Women is "to promote positive

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or sociocult ...

by supporting varied feminist expression in the arts."Kentucky Foundation for Women website http://www.kfw.org The foundation funds two grant programs annually, they are ''Artist Enrichment'' and ''Arts Meets Activism''. Both grant programs are artist-centered, feminist in nature, and demonstrate high artistic quality. Applicants to both programs are expected to be able to express their commitment to

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and their understanding of the relationship between art and social change. Grant awards range from $1,000 to $7,500 per project. Social change, as defined by the foundation, includes "eliminating societal barriers to women: neutralizing discrimination against women based on age, ethnicity,

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

, physical ability, economic condition, and geographic origin; and producing actions, conditions, policies, attitudes, and behaviors that benefit women." Between 1985 and 2005 the Kentucky Foundation for Women awarded 1298 grants to individuals and organizations totaling $7,140,831. Hopscotch House is a program of the Kentucky Foundation for Women; it is first and foremost an artist retreat center for feminist artists. It is also used by a variety of groups and organizations that are working to better the lives of women and girls in Kentucky. Hopscotch House was purchased by the Kentucky Foundation for Women in 1987 and was first used by a group of

women writers Women have made significant contributions to literature since the earliest written texts. Women have been at the forefront of textual communication since early civilizations. History Among the first known female writers is Enheduanna; she is also ...

known as the Wolf Pen Writer's Colony. In the early 1990s Hopscotch House became available to other

women artists The absence of women from the canon of Western culture, Western Art history, art has been a subject of inquiry and reconsideration since the early 1970s. Linda Nochlin's influential 1971 essay, "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?, Why ...

and women's groups. Over the years, Hopscotch House has served hundreds of women including artists, activists, feminists, eco-feminists, art critique groups, drumming circles, quilting groups, social justice groups, girls' empowerment groups, arts organizations, and

social service Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

organizations. The property is considered a "classic" Kentucky farmstead and is located 13 miles east of

downtown Louisville Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jaco ...

. The house has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a library of women's literature and

reference work A reference work is a work, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to f ...

s, a large living room/dining area, a sun room, and a deck. The large kitchen is fully furnished and well equipped so that residents can prepare their own meals. Separate studio space for artists is available upon request.

Other activities and support

The Kentucky Foundation for Women has provided financial gifts for special projects such as the National Sculpture Conference: Works by Women held in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in 1987. The conference honored American women sculptors ages 67–88. The honorees were:

Selma Burke Selma Hortense Burke (December 31, 1900 – August 29, 1995) was an American sculptor and a member of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Burke is best known for a bas relief portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt which may have been the model ...

Elizabeth Catlett Elizabeth Catlett, born as Alice Elizabeth Catlett, also known as Elizabeth Catlett Mora (April 15, 1915 – April 2, 2012) was an African American sculptor and graphic artist best known for her depictions of the Black-American experience in th ...

, Clyde Connell,

Dorothy Dehner Dorothy Dehner (1901–1994) was an American painter and sculptor. Early life Dorothy Dehner was born on December 23, 1901, in Cleveland, Ohio. Her father was a pharmacist and her mother was a passionate suffragette. When Dehner was ten years o ...

, Louise Bourgeoi

Claire Falkenstein Claire Falkenstein (; July 22, 1908 – October 23, 1997) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, jewelry designer, and teacher, most renowned for her often large-scale abstract metal and glass public sculptures. Falkenstein was one of Am ...

, Sue Fuller, Louise Nevelson and

Claire Zeisler Claire Zeisler (April 18, 1903 – September 30, 1991) was an American fiber artist who expanded the expressive qualities of knotted and braided threads, pioneering large-scale freestanding sculptures in this medium. Throughout her career Zeisler ...

. The Hot Flash Fan, purchased by the foundation, was a collaborative project completed by more than 50 artists. "The project is a fan incorporating needlework, knotting, quilting, and painting in an expression of feelings associated with menopause." Lead artists for the project were:

Judy Chicago Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...

, facilitator; Ann Stewart Anderson, originator and principal coordinating artist; Ada O'Connor, principal embroidery artist/coordinator; Judith Myers, quilting coordinator. The Hot Flash Fan was on display at the

Water Tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

, home of the Louisville Visual

Art Association A not-for-profit arts organization, also known as a nonprofit arts organization, usually takes the form of a not-for-profit organization, association, or foundation. Such organizations are formed for the purpose of developing and promoting the wor ...

, before being added to the Foundation's permanent collection. The Kentucky Foundation for Women published 50 issues of the

literary journal A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters ...

''The American Voice'', which featured international and Kentucky writers. The editor of the Pan-American journal was Frederick Smock and was published trianually from 1986 to 1999. During that time ''The American Voice'' published two stories that were awarded the

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

that honors the best poetry,

short fiction A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

, and essays published in the small presses. It was a feminist publication that was known for featuring works by well-known authors such as

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...

Isabel Allende Isabel Angélica Allende Llona (; born in Lima, 2 August 1942) is a Chilean writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the genre magical realism, is known for novels such as ''The House of the Spirits'' (''La casa de los espír ...

, and

Reynolds Price Edward Reynolds Price (February 1, 1933 – January 20, 2011) was an American poet, novelist, dramatist, essayist and James B. Duke Professor of English at Duke University. Apart from English literature, Price had a lifelong interest in Biblical ...

alongside Kentuckians

Wendell Berry Wendell Erdman Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. Closely identified with rural Kentucky, Berry developed many of his agrarian themes in the early essays of ' ...

James Still James Still (July 16, 1906 – April 28, 2001) was an American poet, novelist and folklorist. He lived most of his life in a log house along the Dead Mare Branch of Little Carr Creek, Knott County, Kentucky. He was best known for the novel '' ...

, and Sena Jeter Naslund. The journal also nurtured the work of less established, home-grown talent and published early work by the award-winning poet Aleda Shirley, novelist

Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the Univers ...

, playwright

Naomi Wallace Naomi Wallace (born 1960) is an American playwright, screenwriter and poet from Kentucky. She is widely known for her plays, and has received several distinguished awards for her work. Biography Naomi Wallace was born in Prospect, Kentucky, to ...

, and children's author George Ella Lyon."Editor aims to bring Kentucky into the literary mainstream" by Ira Simmons, ''The Courier-Journal'', May 1, 1988

Sallie Bingham Award

The Sallie Bingham Award was established in 1996 to recognize individuals and groups who have made outstanding contributions toward changing the lives of Kentucky women through feminist expression in the arts. Recipients are given a $500 cash award, a

gold-plated Gold plating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold onto the surface of another metal, most often copper or silver (to make silver-gilt), by chemical or electrochemical plating. This article covers plating methods used in the modern ele ...

Ginko pin and plaque. The award is announced at KFW Day, an annual celebration held each fall at Hopscotch House. ;Past recipients:

References

External links

Sallie Bingham Collection at Duke University

Women's Funding Network

Pushcart Prize

Arts Across Kentucky Magazine

Feminist Art Project at Rutgers University

"Feminist Synergy: Kentucky Foundation for Women Celebrates 20 Years"
by Molly Cunningham, ''LEO Weekly'', 2005
Alliance of Artists Communities

"Raising Women's Voices"
edited by Caitlin Stokosch, Alliance of Artists Communities Newsletter, September 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kentucky Foundation For Women Feminist art organizations in the United States History of women in Kentucky Non-profit organizations based in Louisville, Kentucky Arts organizations based in Louisville, Kentucky Charities based in Kentucky Organizations established in 1985 1985 establishments in Kentucky

Other activities and support

Sallie Bingham Award

See also

References

External links