When Miriam Schapiro passed away at the age of 91 earlier this month on Long Island, the art world lost an important painter and feminist pioneer. A restless figure who spent decades championing the work of women in slide-filled lectures she delivered all over the country, she was a notable artist herself.
Perhaps most significantly, Schapiro — who was known as "Mimi" to her friends — also helped establish the Feminist Art Program at the California Institute of the Arts, in collaboration with artist and educator Judy Chicago, who would later achieve fame an notoriety for controversial installation, "The Dinner Party".