Montclair Painter Meets with West Essex High School Students Working on Independent Study of Female Artists

Contemporary painter Philomena Williamson visited West Essex High School to meet with seniors Zoe Elfenbein and Lucia Pasternak last month. The two students are collaborating on a year-long independent study, advised by art teacher Eileen Dormer. After completing a year of AP Art History, Zoe and Lucia decided they wanted to continue their study of art history, but focus on women artists through the centuries. The seniors began a blog on women artists and their challenges throughout history. They began with the first known women artists and moved forward in time to contemporary artists.

The students have now been in contact with a number of working women artists, Ms. Dormer said. They invited Williamson, a Montclair based artist, to visit with them and shared a lively discussion centering on her thoughts about women in art, her background and process, and insights into how an artist reacts to judgments about her work. Williamson has gained international recognition in the art world for her dramatic and thought provoking paintings which focus on the precarious period of adolescence.

Zoe and Lucia’s blog may be found at:

http://arthistorywomen.blogspot.com/