Willin' to be Movin'? Contemporary Artistic Examinations of Female Mobility in the American West

Abstract

For many, “a man on a horse” is the iconic image of mobility in the American West. This dissertation topples this icon to emphasize that the movements of women in Western America have and continue to be more important than this macho image. Specifically, for this project, I analyze sixteen, female-identifying artists who have made work that examines the history of female mobility in the American West of the past, present, and future. Their artwork deals with literal movements, including border crossings, forced relocations of Native peoples, and tourism in the Southwest, as well as metaphorical upwards movements. Throughout my analyses, I both work with and decenter the standards of “traditional” Western American art history to examine not only paintings, photography, and sculptures, but also “crafts,” performances, and other forms not typically viewed as “fine art.” This research does not simply present a counter-narrative to the exclusionary myths continuing to dominate the field of art of the American West, but rather, proposes a structural reorganization that can revitalize the area of study. In examining feminist artists from a wide range of identities, this dissertation analyzes how collective memory changes and asks if “outsiders” can bring about accepted shifts in what the American popular imagination has memorialized as the American West. Historically, scholars and male artists have centered women’s trajectories in Western America around their male counterparts’ whims and obscured how their successes and hardships shaped their personal and group identities. By using contemporary artwork to reveal women’s overlooked histories in Western America, this dissertation challenges these past tendencies to emphasize that that mobility—specifically, the movements of women—has and continues to be an integral aspect of the American West’s formation and character.