Women Artists in History: Miss Alma Thomas and Dr. Gloria Orenstein
TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2024 | 5PM - SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2024 | 11:59PM
LACMA members are invited to join FILM at LACMA for a special screening: Women Artists in History including two short films: Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color and Gloria’s Call. The films are directed by LA artist and filmmaker Cheri Gaulke and reveal little known stories about women artists in history.
The screenings will be followed by a conversation with director Cheri Gaulke.
From the cafés of Paris to the mountaintops of Samiland, a scholar’s life is forever changed through her friendships with the women artists of Surrealism.
In 1971, graduate student Gloria Orenstein received a call from Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington that sparked a lifelong journey into art, ecofeminism and shamanism. The short film, Gloria’s Call, uses art, animation and storytelling to celebrate this wild adventure. Now more than 40 years later, award-winning Dr. Gloria Feman Orenstein is a feminist art critic and pioneer scholar of women in Surrealism and ecofeminism in the arts. Her delightful tale brings alive an often unseen history of women in the arts. Winner: Best Documentary, Ann Arbor Film Festival.
Alma W. Thomas broke color barriers on and off the canvas, yet did not receive national attention until she was 80.
This is the first documentary film that explores Thomas’ incredible life through the lens of curators, art specialists, scholars, and her family, and features award-winning actress Alfre Woodard as the voice of Alma Thomas. Released in conjunction with a major four-city museum retrospective, thousands will have the opportunity to learn of her life, work, and continuing influence. Winner: Outstanding Short Documentary, Tallgrass Film Festival.