Director's Note | Curse of the Starving Class

Deana A. Duncan, director

I read somewhere that, “wouldn’t it be great if Sam Shepard’s’ plays were hopelessly outdated, but they aren’t.” This strangely feels like the perfect show for this time. Theatre’s purpose is to confront the mystery of human existence. Shepard felt this and presented poetic reality coming out of a deep ‘aloneness;’ an aloneness and isolation we now know more than ever. He finds opportunity, even in decay, to remind us that there is no light unless you open the door. Shepard litters his stories with real people oscillating between realism and savage fantasy and creates images of considerable power. His messages are as relevant today as when he wrote them. Maybe more so.

I identify with this story, having grown up in the desolate high desert above Elko, Nevada. Lonely and wind driven, my childhood was spent riding my horse and motorbike with a little rifle slung against my back. In Elko you can hear the long distant sound of the train whistle as it travels across the county and all I ever wanted to do was get on that train and get out. That’s Curse of the Starving Class in a nutshell. These people want out, but life isn’t going to let them.

I don’t believe art is here to answer big questions, but rather to explore and challenge assumptions and viewpoints. WICA strives to create living, adventurous art that engages artists and audiences in a reflection on the complex nature of life. There is a range of voices in theatre that invite us to encounter someone else’s story and perspective. Curse of the Starving Class is not pretty, safe art – it will force us to consider the lives, conflicts, circumstances, passions, and ideas that are still relevant today in our country. A country where the price of owning a home and the comfort of knowing you’ll eat every day is not in everyone’s reach. The social and cultural issues are emotionally and intellectually complex -- this play speaks in a language that is deeply human… .and it’s surprisingly funny.

Sam Shepard said Theatre was his “natural element.” He reveled in how playwriting and acting afforded an exploration of language. He also loved the relationship between the actor and the audience: “that moment-by-moment hanging in the balance, together.” 

We’ve missed you, we’ve missed creating theatre, and we thank you for being here to explore this piece of American Theatre together. If nothing else, it’s nice to be in a room together. I’ll meet you in the bar after, let’s have a whiskey? — Deana A. Duncan

RELATED PROGRAMMING | CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS | JUN 11-26, 2021

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BIOGRAPHY | DOROTHEA LANGE

Dorothea Lange (born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn; May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange's photographs influenced the development of documentary photography and humanized the consequences of the Great Depression

In early March, 1936, Dorothea Lange drove past a sign reading, “PEA-PICKERS CAMP,” in Nipomo, CA. At the time, she was working as a photographer for the Resettlement Administration, a Depression-era government agency formed to raise public awareness of and provide aid to struggling farmers. Twenty miles down the road, Lange reconsidered and turned back to the camp, where she encountered a mother and her children. “I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet,” she later recalled. “She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding field and birds that the children killed.” Lange took seven exposures of the woman, 32-year-old Florence Owens Thompson, with various combinations of her seven children. One of these exposures, with its tight focus on Thompson’s face, transformed her into a Madonna-like figure and became an icon of the Great Depression and one of the most famous photographs in history. This image was first exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art in 1940, under the title Pea Picker Family, California; by 1966, when the Museum of Modern Art held a retrospective of Lange’s work, it had acquired its current title, Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California.

Lange had little interest in classifying her photographs as art: she made them to effect social change. Although she had led a successful career as a portrait photographer in San Francisco throughout the 1920s, by 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, she began to photograph life outside her studio. On one early excursion, Graflex camera in tow, she visited a nearby breadline, which a woman known as the “White Angel” had set up to feed the legions of unemployed. This resulted in White Angel Breadline, San Francisco, a photograph of a man turned away from the hungry crowd, his interlaced hands and set jaw often taken as representative of a collective despair. Lange became increasingly confident in her ability to use photography to confront the urgent circumstances around her, and others—including her future husband, the agricultural economist Paul Taylor—soon recognized her talent.

In early 1935, on Taylor’s recommendation, Lange began to work for the California State Emergency Relief Administration. That summer, the agency was transferred to the RA, which had recently begun a photodocumentary project to draw attention to the plight of the rural poor. (In 1937, the RA would become the Farm Security Administration, or FSA.) Lange worked for the FSA periodically between 1935 and 1939, primarily traveling around California, the Southwest, and the South to document the hardships of migrant farmers who had been driven west by the twin devastations of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. On March 10, 1936, two of Lange’s photographs of the Nipomo pea pickers’ camp were published in The San Francisco News under the headline “Ragged, Hungry, Broke, Harvest Workers Live in Squallor [sic].” The photograph that became known as Migrant Mother was published in the paper the following day, on March 11, accompanying the editorial “What Does the ‘New Deal’ Mean To This Mother and Her Children?” The same day, the Los Angeles Times reported that the State Relief Administration would deliver food rations to 2,000 itinerant fruit pickers in Nipomo the next day.

Lange’s commitment to social justice and her faith in the power of photography remained constant throughout her life. In 1942, with the United States recently entered into World War II, the government’s War Relocation Authority assigned her to document the wartime internment of Japanese Americans, a policy she strongly opposed. She made critical images, which the government suppressed for the duration of the war. Later, Lange accompanied Taylor to Asia, where she continued to take photographs, including ones of the legs, feet, and hands of dancers in Indonesia; she also traveled to Ireland for LIFE magazine.

In an essay written with her son in 1952, Lange critiqued contemporary photography as being “in a state of flight,” seduced by the “spectacular,” “frenzied,” and “unique” at the expense of the “familiar” and “intimate.” It had become, she wrote, “more concerned with illusion than reality. It does not reflect but contrives. It lives in a world of its own.” Against this trend, she urged photographers to reconnect with the world—a call reflective of her own ethos and working method, which coupled an attention to aesthetics with a central concern for the documentary. “That the familiar world is often unsatisfactory cannot be denied, but it is not, for all that, one that we need abandon,” she argued. “We need not be seduced into evasion of it any more than we need be appalled by it into silence.… Bad as it is, the world is potentially full of good photographs. But to be good, photographs have to be full of the world.”

Lange's health declined in the last decade of her life. Among other ailments she suffered from was what later was identified as post-polio syndrome. She died of esophageal cancer on October 11, 1965, in San Francisco, at age seventy. In 2003, Lange was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. In 2006, an elementary school was named in her honor in Nipomo, California, near the site where she had photographed Migrant Mother. In 2008, she was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.

SOURCE: Museum of Modern Art

RELATED PROGRAMMING | ART TALKS: LANGE AND WOLCOTT | JUN 16, 2021

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MEET THE ARTISTS | CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Deana Duncan (Director) joined WICA in 1999 as a volunteer. She later served 16 years as the Programming and Production Director and was instrumental in the launch of the WICA Theatre Series. She directed ten plays and produced all of the 101 productions in the series’ 20-year history. Deana became WICA’s first Artistic Director in 2018. In addition to programming art, dance, humanities, music, and theatre events, she co-produces Whidbey Island Film Festival and manages DjangoFest NW – the most respected gypsy jazz festival in North America.

An accomplished director, her favorite WICA credits include Next to Normal, Sweeney Todd, The 39 Steps, Peter and the Starcatcher, and Little Women.

Deana holds a Masters in Nonprofit Leadership from Seattle University and a BFA in Theatre Arts and Communications from the University of Nevada, Reno. She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Stella Adler Conservatory, and studied directing with Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher during his tenure as Artistic Director at Seattle's Intiman Theatre.

In 2021, Deana was invited to participate as an artist juror for Arts Northwest, an annual conference that connects art centers and artists across four states, and co-authored Washington State’s “Theaters and Performing Arts Sector Reopening Plan.”

Troy Chapman (Musical Director/Composer) got his first guitar at age seven. Not much happened. At age 14 he got his second guitar. This time his musical education coincided with years spent growing up in the environment of the Yellow Door Coffee House in Montreal, Canada. Surrounded by exceptional musicians, and armed with his $50 guitar from Rufus Music, he was hooked for life. The fingerpicking of Mississippi John Hurt soon gave way to a love of jazz and inspirations of Jim Hall and saxophonist John Coltrane. After 21 years in Chicago, and wide variety of REALLY LOUD music, Troy moved to Whidbey Island. In 2001, his love affair with the music of Django Reinhard began and, from 2010-2016, Troy was a member of the renowned gypsy jazz group Pearl Django. He later formed the Troy Chapman Group and most recently The Hot Club of Troy. Troy was in the band for WICA’s 2019 production of Next to Normal and is happy to be holding down the Alibi Club in Curse of the Starving Class. He’ll see you next at DjangoFest NW 2021 in September.

David Gignac (Scenic Designer), originally from Upstate NY, has been designing, building, and painting sets since the early 1980s. After arriving on Whidbey in 1991, he began designing and building for Island Theater, Island Arts Council productions, and other groups. David has been involved in the theater program at WICA since its first in-house production of Bell Book and Candle and is extremely excited to be designing for Curse of the Starving Class, WICA’s 101st production. Over the years, he has designed for a number of fringe theaters in Seattle. He was nominated for a Gregory Award for outstanding scenic design by Theatre Puget Sound for When I Come To My Senses I Am Alive. David designed the 2017 and 2018 seasons for Island Shakespeare Festival while serving as its Technical Director. In November of 2019, David was honored to be named WICA's Resident Scenic Designer. Recent design credits include It's A Wonderful Life, contributing designer for Mae West’s SEX, and scenic designer / scenic paint design for Red.

Sarah Lozoff (Intimacy Coach) is the resident intimacy director for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She's a certified intimacy director (Intimacy Directors and Coordinators), movement director, choreographer, Gyrotonic trainer, ballet instructor, and former education coordinator for Intimacy Directors International. Sarah is currently bridging the gap between intimacy direction and the world of concert dance through working with the artists of RudduR Dance on Witness. With an extensive background in dance, theatre, and performance, Sarah comes to this work with over twenty years of teaching experience, and eight consecutive seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She has taught ballet for professional companies, conservatories, public schools, and outreach programs, as well as choreographed and provided movement direction for theatre productions at the aforementioned Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Guthrie Theater, and Mixed Blood Theatre. In addition to her arts background, Sarah has a rich history with both social justice work, and birth work. She's a second generation activist who's well versed in current EDI (equity, diversity, and inclusion) practices and currently sits on the EDI committee for USITT (United States Institute for Theatre Technology). Sarah was also a birth doula and childbirth educator for many years, during which time she produced events and moderated panels all centered around informed choice and consent.

David Mackie (Lighting Designer) is happy to be working with the WICA team again. He was the Scenic and Lighting Designer for the 2019 production of Next to Normal. Previous design work includes the International Tour of Porgy and Bess (Klone Opera Fest award), Lucia Di Lammermoor at Houston Grand Opera (HTA nomination), and two seasons as the resident designer for BalletX (three Barrymore nominations). David was a design associate for Thomas Hase based out of Philadelphia, and worked with Tom all over Europe and the east coast on shows ranging from new-age opera, to a production of the Wiz for the Danish National Theatre. After discovering the life of a lighting designer was not what he and his soon-to-be wife wanted - days away from home in dark theaters, they returned home to Seattle. Now, David spends most of his time tending to his farm and raising an awesome 3-year old with his wife Bonnie. You can sometimes see his work at venues like WICA or the Village Theatre, because like all theatre kids - David just can’t leave the stage behind!

THE CAST

Banana (Lamb) makes her debut in Curse of the Starving Class. She was born on Whidbey Island and is thankful to her farmer daddy for caring for her as she was born prematurely and abandoned by her mother. She wants you to know that she has a cushy dressing room with her own sheep wrangler, hay, and anything she wants. She’ll try really hard to not steal the show, but is so darned excited to be here. Thank you to animal-loving people everywhere. Here’s to a great show! Baaaaa!

Ethan Berkley (Wesley) has been involved in theatre since 2003, beginning as an 11-year-old. You may have seen him at the local movie theater, or performing at Whidbey Children's Theatre and WICA's youth conservatory productions. He has performed locally with OutCast Productions and his WICA credits include: Into the Woods, Peter and the Starcatcher, and most recently, Prelude to a Kiss. In 2019, Ethan became intimate with the backstage aspects of theatre as Stage Manager for WICA's Next To Normal and Vanya, Masha, Sonya, and Spike. Recently, Ethan has taken off from theatre to pursue the role of father in his young son's life. He is honored and pleased to take a break from his break by participating in WICA's first play since 2020. Thanks to everyone in the community who has allowed the space for Ethan to grow.

Robert Hall (Ellis) most recently directed Chicago at the Orcas Center on Orcas Island. Before that, he starred in La Cage Aux Folles as Albin, one of his favorite roles ever. His past acting experience also includes Scrooge, Fagin, Macbeth (awesome role for any actor - would love to do it again), Puck (a while ago), and a few more. His directing credits include Chicago, Hand to God, Little Women, Mary’s Wedding, To Kill a Mockingbird, Billy Elliot, Pippin, and more. His lighting design for When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder won a national award. It was hung at the Kennedy Center for a run of the show there. Robert has his MFA in acting from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Originally from Montana, he absolutely loves the Pacific Northwest. “It’s incredibly beautiful here!” 

Lars Larson (Taylor) finished his 14th season of Whidbey Island Dance Theater's The Nutcracker this year, playing Her Drosselmeyer. The ballet was filmed for home viewing. He played The Prince in Cinderella for two years, and danced in The Snow Queen. At Outcast Productions, he appeared in Oh! What a Lovely War, and played Little Charles in August: Osage County, Ronny in Greater Tuna, Ryan Kendall in 8, Billy/Stephen Sellers in Play On!, Stevie in Good People, and Danny Miller in Looped. At WICA, he played Buddy (Keno) Walsh in The Full Monty, and Dr. Mandrell/The Barber in City of Angels.

Marta Mulholland (Ella) has been involved in the performing arts most of her life. In 2019, she completed a three-year Movement-based Expressive Arts training with the Tamalpa Institute and a Masters in Psychology. Her work background is an eclectic mix that includes Sign Language interpreting, co-founding Calyx Community Arts School, coordinating hotline volunteers for the Abused Deaf Women’s Advocacy Services, landscaping, and short-term stints working in China, Dominican Republic, Nepal, and most recently in Palestine facilitating expressive arts classes with acting students at The Freedom Theatre in Jenin. Some of her favorite local roles include The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods and Olga in Three Sisters (WICA) and Jean in Good People at (Outcast Productions). Marta is thrilled to help welcome live theatre back to the stages with Curse of the Starving Class. Thank you for sharing space!

Jeff Natter (Weston) is excited to make his WICA debut in Curse of the Starving Class. He has performed in lead and featured roles with Seattle Repertory Theater, Center Stage (Baltimore), Philadelphia Drama Guild, Syracuse Stage, Yale Repertory Theater, and Seattle Shakespeare Festival, among others. Most recently, he was seen in virtual productions with Island Shakespeare Festival and Outcast Productions. In his “former life,” Jeff had an extensive career in public health. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and Columbia School of Public Health. 

Molly “Mouse” Quade (Emma) is overjoyed to be in her third show at WICA. Her previous performances were in Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant (Owen Meany) and Peter and the Starcatcher (Prentiss). Offstage, Mouse is a student at WSU studying Agricultural Education and aspiring to be a teacher and to continue farming. You can catch Mouse on the South End working at the Tilth Market, The Star Store, delivering eggs, and sleuthing runaway peafowl. She would like to thank the cast and crew for their hard work on the show and her family for their support.

Jim Scullin (Emerson) has been involved in theatre on Whidbey Island since the mid ‘90s and has appeared in productions at WICA, Outcast Productions, and Whidbey Children’s Theater. He last appeared in WICA’s It’s a Wonderful Life (2019) as Clarence. He is happy for the opportunity to have a role in support of the very talented and dedicated cast of Curse of the Starving Class, and is particularly pleased to get to play a “bad guy!”

Billy Tierney (Sergeant Malcom) is making his WICA debut on stage as an actor and, although he has performed in hundreds of improvised theatre shows, this small and quite necessary role in Curse of the Starving Class will be his first time acting in a play. He has created, directed, and performed in a multitude of improv shows including murder mysteries, holiday specials, short form game shows, westerns, space/sci-fi, genre mash-ups, and specialized shows such as Tarantino-inspired and a blank-slate show featuring two actors playing a multitude of characters in the same environment based off a single suggestion. He is thrilled to be making his play debut at WICA, and anticipates that with even a modicum of success, or at least the avoidance of abject failure, he will be back on the WICA stage as an actor next season. Billy is a family man and his inclusion in this cast would not be possible without his family’s support.

RELATED PROGRAMMING | CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS | jun 11-26, 2021

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#GiveBIG2021

OUR #GIVEBIG 2021 STORIEs

"We became a stronger organization in 2020 because of you..." — Verna Everitt, Executive Director

"We are a community that is richer because of the arts..." — George Henny, WICA Supporter

"The magic between audiences and artists..." — Deana Duncan, Artistic Director

"I have been here since the beginning..." — Karen McInerney

“I felt like Alice in Wonderland the moment I arrived…” — Peggy Gilmer

For more than 25 years WICA has produced, presented, and supported artistic endeavors, educational initiatives, and cultural events that celebrate and enrich the lives of everyone in our region.

With roughly half of our annual income coming from grants, ticket sales, and sponsorships, we depend on our members and donors for all the work we do.

Your support will enable WICA to continue being our region’s premier creative and cultural space.

Thank you!

★ UPDATE ★

The entire WICA Board and Staff have made or pledged to make a gift during GiveBIG!

“WE HAVE REMAINED STEADFAST…”

Ken Pilcher, Board Chair | Apr 29, 2021

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OUR #GIVEBIG HEROES

Karen & Dave Anderson | Margaret Anderson | Wendy Ashford | Shelley Barker | Nancy & Roger Barr | Corrine Bayley | Linda Beaumont | Judy Bickel | Audrey & Hunter Black | Dianne Bolton | Alan Breen | Jami Christen | Lauren Collins | Kathleen Conroy | Trilby Coolidge | Jason Dittmer and Mark Cook | Diane Divelbess and Grethe Cammermeyer | Deana A. Duncan | Barbara Dunn | Greg & Val Easton | Marly Eidsness | Verna Everitt | Tom Ewell & Cathy Whitmire | Barb & Jeff Ewing | Robert Finke | Deborah Fisher | William Fisher | Grant Fleming | Sue & Bob Frause | Finn Gatewood | David Gignac | Susan Gilles | Thomas Hall | Tim and Judith Hanson | Shelly Hartle | Paul Hayes & Kim Robinson | Jody Heiken | George Henny | K & G Highberger | Randy Hudson & Georgia Gerber | Wendy Jackson | Catherine James | Sue Jobst | Stacie Johnson | Marion Jouas | Don Krafft | Karen Leeds | Terrel Lefferts, Once Upon A Dance | Sally and Ken Mainville | Ashly McBride | Shirley McClure | Karen McInerney | Angelica Metcalfe | John and Susan Meyer | Dean & Laurie Olmstead | Margaret Peterson | Rock Peterson | Sarah Phillips | Ken Pilcher & Quincy Anderson | Ken Price | Robert & Candy Ramsey | Susan Reis | Rebecca Rickabaugh | Colette & Bob Riggs | Conrad & Jelcy Romberg | Joann Roomes | Sigrid Salo | Ellen Sargent | Pam Schell | Loretta Seybert | Christi Shaffer | Sandra Shipley | Aaron Simpson | Dawn Sorrell-Reddan | Tristan A.B. Steel and Dr. Jeffrey LaGasse | Mira Steinbrecher | Carol Stoel Gammon | Emma Swanson | Charles Terry | The Tierney Family | Yana Viniko | Dennis White | Al Wilcox | Don Zontine

THANK YOU!

Updated 6:00 PM, May 06, 2021

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OUR #GIVEBIG 2020 STORIEs

"We have the power to define our future..."

Verna Everitt, Executive Director | Apr 28, 2020

“We are prepared to come roaring back…”

Robert Merry, Board Chair | Apr 24, 2020

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OUR #GIVEBIG HEROES

Al Wilcox and Susan Harrington Wilcox | Ann C. McDonald | Ann and Robert Posner | Anonymous, in honor of Staff and Crew of WICA | Barb and Jeff Ewing | Barbara Dunn and David Wilder | Baz Stevens | Beth and Kurt Johnson | Billy and Vanessa Tierney | Bobbe and Jon Bridge | Bruce Bonine | Bruce and Marty Kortebein | Candace Jordan | Carol Lee Bingman | Catherine James | Charles and Linda Bieber | Charles Terry and Betsy MacGregor | Christie Lynk | Cindy Conklin | Cindy Rutstein, in memory of Eleanor Marx Braun | Clare Christiansen | Cynthia and John Shelton | Dave and Barb Bennett | Dave and Karen Anderson | David Mayer, in honor of Judy Hoffman | Dean Olmstead and Laurie Leonetti | Deana Duncan | Deborah Fisher and Mark Nyberg | Deborah Maietta | Debra Drake | Debra Waterman and Michael Cramer | Dennis White | Dianne Bolton | Don and Anne Zontine | Don and Laura Boram, in memory of QuinSerra Stanley | Doug and Dana Kelly | Dwight Zehm, Julie O'Brien, and Colleen Zehm | Elizabeth and Stephen Guss | Ellen Koutsky | Ellen Sargent | Finn Gatewood | Gabriele Dickmann | Gail Dapont | Gail Van Norman | Gary and Diana Carew | Gary and Liz Ketcheson | George and Lynne Jensen | Gordy and Toni Anderson | Graham Johnson | Grant Fleming, in honor of Mary Jane Forbes | Gregg Herrington | Holly Harlan, in memory of Judith Harlan | Jaci and David Mach | Jackie and Patricia Pritchard | Jane and Joe Jeszeck | Janet Hall and Nicole Luce | Jason Dittmer and Mark Cook | J L Viniko | Jeffrey Rogers | Jelcy and Conrad Romberg | Jerry and Emmy Swanson | Jim and Melody Carney | Jim Hurley | Joan Kiefner | Joann Qintana | Joann Roomes | John and Susan Meyer | Judy Bickel | Judy and Bill Morton | Karen Benson, in memory of Peter Benson | Karen and William Leeds | Karen McInerney | Kathleen Conroy and Anne Preston | Kathleen Petrich | Kathleen and Clyde Wilson | Kathryn S. Beaumont | Kathy Stella | Ken Pilcher and Quincy Anderson | Ken Price | Kirk and Gloria Highberger, in memory of John Pine | Kitty Adams | Kristin and Earl Lasher | Larry and Karen Graham | Lauren Collins | Linda Beaumont and Steve Badanes | Linda McArthur, memory of Tom McArthur | Lynn Hagerman and Jim Hummer | Margaret Andersen and Bob Wolters | Marian A Myszkowski | Marion and Jan-Marc Jouas | Mark and Sue Ross, in memory of Pauline Schlotterbeck | Mark Findlay | Marly Eidsness and Julie Hadden | Mary Ann Mansfield | Mary Ellen and Frederick Burgomaster | Mary L. Setsodi, in memory of Rob Richardson | Meg Noble Peterson | Melanie Bacon | Melene Thompson | Michael Stilwell | Mike and Jami Christen | Mike and Janice O'Mahony, in honor of Judy Morton | Mira Steinbrecher, in honor of WICA Volunteers | Museo Gallery | Nancy Baggott | Nancy Barr | Nancy Long and Butch Carber | Neal Clark | Olena Hodges | Pam Schell | Pamela Engler | Robert Finke and Lynn Wenzel | Robert and Nancy McClain | Robert and Susan Merry | Rock and Maggie Peterson | Sander Kallshian and Matt Tamayo, in honor of Amy Walker | Sarah Phillips | Shelley Hartle and Mike McVay, in memory of Mona Reardon | Shirley McClure | Steve and Karen Gordon | Steven and Patricia Bradley | Sue Frause | Susan and Stephen Bennett | Susan Welty | Sue Todd Yates | Talia Toni Marcus, in honor of Michael Nutt and Diane Kendy | Thomas and Marshall Hall | Tim and Judith Hanson | Tom and Ako Shimozato | Tom and Claudia Walker | Toyan Copeland | Tristan Steel and Jeffrey LaGasse | Valerie Johnson | Vern and Martha Olsen | Verna and Tim Everitt | Wendy Saro Ashford | Winston Addis

THANK YOU!

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BIOGRAPHY | Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo was considered one of Mexico's greatest artists who began painting mostly self-portraits after she was severely injured in a bus accident. Kahlo later became politically active and married fellow communist artist Diego Rivera in 1929. She exhibited her paintings in Paris and Mexico before her death in 1954.

Family, Education and Early Life

Kahlo was born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón on July 6, 1907, in Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico.

Kahlo's father, Wilhelm (also called Guillermo), was a German photographer who had immigrated to Mexico where he met and married her mother Matilde. She had two older sisters, Matilde and Adriana, and her younger sister, Cristina, was born the year after Kahlo.

Around the age of six, Kahlo contracted polio, which caused her to be bedridden for nine months. While she recovered from the illness, she limped when she walked because the disease had damaged her right leg and foot. Her father encouraged her to play soccer, go swimming, and even wrestle — highly unusual moves for a girl at the time — to help aid in her recovery.

In 1922, Kahlo enrolled at the renowned National Preparatory School. She was one of the few female students to attend the school, and she became known for her jovial spirit and her love of colorful, traditional clothes and jewelry.

While at school, Kahlo hung out with a group of politically and intellectually like-minded students. Becoming more politically active, Kahlo joined the Young Communist League and the Mexican Communist Party.

Frida Kahlo's Accident

Self Portrait in a Velvet Dress, 1926

On September 17, 1925, Kahlo and Alejandro Gómez Arias, a school friend with whom she was romantically involved, were traveling together on a bus when the vehicle collided with a streetcar. As a result of the collision, Kahlo was impaled by a steel handrail, which went into her hip and came out the other side. She suffered several serious injuries as a result, including fractures in her spine and pelvis.

After staying at the Red Cross Hospital in Mexico City for several weeks, Kahlo returned home to recuperate further. She began painting during her recovery and finished her first self-portrait the following year, which she gave to Gómez Arias.

Frida Kahlo's Marriage to Diego Rivera

In 1929, Kahlo and famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera married. Kahlo and Rivera first met in 1922 when he went to work on a project at her high school. Kahlo often watched as Rivera created a mural called The Creation in the school’s lecture hall. According to some reports, she told a friend that she would someday have Rivera’s baby.

Kahlo reconnected with Rivera in 1928. He encouraged her artwork, and the two began a relationship. During their early years together, Kahlo often followed Rivera based on where the commissions that Rivera received were. In 1930, they lived in San Francisco, California. They then went to New York City for Rivera’s show at the Museum of Modern Art and later moved to Detroit for Rivera’s commission with the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Kahlo and Rivera’s time in New York City in 1933 was surrounded by controversy. Commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller, Rivera created a mural entitled “Man at the Crossroads” in the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center. Rockefeller halted the work on the project after Rivera included a portrait of communist leader Vladimir Lenin in the mural, which was later painted over. Months after this incident, the couple returned to Mexico and went to live in San Angel, Mexico.

Never a traditional union, Kahlo and Rivera kept separate, but adjoining homes and studios in San Angel. She was saddened by his many infidelities, including an affair with her sister Cristina. In response to this familial betrayal, Kahlo cut off most of her trademark long dark hair. Desperately wanting to have a child, she again experienced heartbreak when she miscarried in 1934.

Kahlo and Rivera went through periods of separation, but they joined together to help exiled Soviet communist Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalia in 1937. The Trotskys came to stay with them at the Blue House (Kahlo's childhood home) for a time in 1937 as Trotsky had received asylum in Mexico. Once a rival of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Trotsky feared that he would be assassinated by his old nemesis. Kahlo and Trotsky reportedly had a brief affair during this time.

Kahlo divorced Rivera in 1939. They did not stay divorced for long, remarrying in 1940. The couple continued to lead largely separate lives, both becoming involved with other people over the years.

ARTISTIC CAREER

The Suicide of Dorothy Hale, 1938

While she never considered herself a surrealist, Kahlo befriended one of the primary figures in that artistic and literary movement, Andre Breton, in 1938. That same year, she had a major exhibition at a New York City gallery, selling about half of the 25 paintings shown there. Kahlo also received two commissions, including one from famed magazine editor Clare Boothe Luce (The Suicide of Dorothy Hale), as a result of the show.

In 1939, Kahlo went to live in Paris for a time. There she exhibited some of her paintings and developed friendships with such artists as Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso.

Kahlo received a commission from the Mexican government for five portraits of important Mexican women in 1941, but she was unable to finish the project. She lost her beloved father that year and continued to suffer from chronic health problems. Despite her personal challenges, her work continued to grow in popularity and was included in numerous group shows around this time.

In 1953, Kahlo received her first solo exhibition in Mexico. While bedridden at the time, Kahlo did not miss out on the exhibition’s opening. Arriving by ambulance, Kahlo spent the evening talking and celebrating with the event’s attendees from the comfort of a four-poster bed set up in the gallery just for her.

After Kahlo’s death, the feminist movement of the 1970s led to renewed interest in her life and work, as Kahlo was viewed by many as an icon of female creativity.

KAHLO’S DEATH

About a week after her 47th birthday, Kahlo died on July 13, 1954, at her beloved Blue House. There has been some speculation regarding the nature of her death. It was reported to be caused by a pulmonary embolism, but there have also been stories about a possible suicide.

Kahlo’s health issues became nearly all-consuming in 1950. After being diagnosed with gangrene in her right foot, Kahlo spent nine months in the hospital and had several operations during this time. She continued to paint and support political causes despite having limited mobility. In 1953, part of Kahlo’s right leg was amputated to stop the spread of gangrene.

Deeply depressed, Kahlo was hospitalized again in April 1954 because of poor health, or, as some reports indicated, a suicide attempt. She returned to the hospital two months later with bronchial pneumonia. No matter her physical condition, Kahlo did not let that stand in the way of her political activism. Her final public appearance was a demonstration against the U.S.-backed overthrow of President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala on July 2, 1954.

SOURCE: Biography

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