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Finding Aid for the Center for the Study of Women. Dark Madonna project administrative files and audio recordings.
1984-1986.
University Archives Record Series 564
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Title: Center for the Study of Women. Dark Madonna project administrative files and audio recordings.
Identifier/Call Number: University Archives Record Series 564
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.6 linear ft.
(4 boxes)
Date: 1984-1986
Abstract: Record Series 564 contains audiocassettes and reel-to-reel tapes for The Dark Madonna: Women, Culture, and Community Ritual,
held by the Center for the Study of Women in November of 1985.
Physical location: 2011 jul - boxes from Rec. Ser. 564 paged from SRLF for creation of SCREAD finding aid by Alva Stevenson.
Creator:
Center for the Study of Women.
Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging
information.
Copyright of portions of this collection is held by The Regents of the University of California. The UCLA University Archives
can grant permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish or quote
must be submitted in writing to the UCLA University Archivist.
[Identification of item], Center for the Study of Women. Dark Madonna project administrative files and audio recordings (University
Archives Record Series 564). UCLA Library Special Collections, University Archives.
The Center for the Study of Women (CSW) was established in Setember 1984 by the UC Board of Regents with a research focus
on women, gender and sexuality. It was the first organized research unit to focus on women and gender-related issues in the
UC System. Its mission is to develop and foster research emerging out of women's experiences collectively or as individuals
and returning that to the community; to facilitate productive scholarly relationships; and to aid recruitment and retention
efforts. It is funded by by the UCLA Division of Social Sciences as part of it's commitment to gender equity and research
parity at UCLA. The Center develops, promotes, and disseminates faculty and graduate student research and administers grants,
conferences and seminars. The founding director of the Center is Karen Rowe. The Center is funded in part by the California
Council for the Humanities.
The Center for the Study of Women's most ambitious and successful event in its early years was a conference entitled The Dark
Madonna: Women, Culture, and Community Ritual, held in November of 1985. The project yielded a city-wide series of dialogues
on relationships among ethnic women and a performance, directed by Suzanne Lacy, in the Franklin S. Murphy Sculpture Garden,which
was attended by more than 1500 people. Suzanne Lacy, a well- known white feminist performance artist, was commissioned in
1985 by the UCLA Wight Art Gallery to create a piece celebrating the establishment of the UCLA Center for the Study of Women.
Lacy chose the adjacent Franklin Murphy Sculpture Garden as the venue for a performance. "In the UCLA piece, I wanted to do
a theatrical work that tackled the relationship between women of different races. At first, it was to be about black and white
women" (Lacy 1990b, 42–43). In the various proposals to collaborators and funders, a broader range of intended participants
developed to include women of Asian, Latin, and Native American descents, as well as African and European ancestries, "to
bring issues that affect women, specifically women of color, into the public sector, so that they may begin to affect public
policy discussions" 3 (Bray Archives). The Dark Madonna addressed a number of themes simultaneously: race relations in Los
Angeles; the Jungian concept of shadow; the figure of the dark Madonna in Europe, Latin America, and the United States; other
goddess figures; women's roles in civic life; and the canonization of art.
It is our understanding that The Dark Madonna was presented in cooperation with the UCLA Center for the Study of Folklore
and Mythology, Frances Farrell, Assistant Museum Scientist.
Record Series 564 contains audiocassettes and reel-to-reel tapes for The Dark Madonna: Women, Culture, and Community Ritual,
held by the Center for the Study of Women in November of 1985.
This is an inactive record series; no additional University records are expected to be added.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
3466806