Title: Shades of Light—Illuminating Women’s Lives  
Artform: Repurposed lamps 

Goals /Objectives 

To celebrate and honor the stories of a woman who is a source for the participant’s creativity, using repurposed lamp bases and their shades.   

Studio Work 

Participants choose and interview a person who sparks their creativity, aided by JWA resources. (See Artful Disclosure Toolkit Part I.)  

Participants distill the information they have gleaned from their interviews. They use metaphor and themes to artistically tell their interviewee’s story on the shade and base of the lamp. The shades become the canvass for collage, painting, or drawing. Scale and posture of lamps can also convey the personality of the women participants are portraying. 

Materials 

• Lamps (Note: the facilitator can purchase a collection of lamps from a thrift store with workable shades, or participants can supply their own lamps.) 
• Handmade papers 
• Acrylic paint and small brushes/drawing materials 
• Arts and crafts items to attach to lamp shades or base of lamp 
• Black and white photo prints 
• Text and images from books and magazines 
• Spray paint—metallics like bronze or silver—can convert a lamp into an art object.  

Inspiration 

Sheila Myer Miller and Barbara Ellison Rosenblit, Pentimento: Revealing Women’s Stories 

Exhibition and Scheduling Suggestion 

For the exhibition, place artist statements by each lamp, guiding the viewer with some information about the symbolism and decisions that went into its design. 

Our exhibition was scheduled on one of the nights of Hanukkah. This holiday, centered on increasing light in the world when the days are shortest, highlights the glow of these stories.  A panel discussion of artists and the honorees who inspired them creates a joyful holiday program.