Dear Friends,

Earlier this month I participated in the Taubman Museum of Art's Virtual Tour Series called "Curated Cribs" while working in my mother's studio in Narrowsburg, NY in the Catskills Mountains. During the Zoom tour of the Dorothy Gillespie Studio I had the opportunity to share, with Cindie Peterson, the Taubman Museum's Executive Director, my mother's early drawings (1939-41) done at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), her paintings from the Abstract Expressionist period (1940s and 1950's), her participation in the 1960's in "Happenings and Environments", her involvement in the 1970's in paperworks leading to her three dimensional metal works from the 1970-2012.

Before the Q & A, Cindie Peterson and I had an opportunity to talk about my mother's role in the Women's movement and the work of Dorothy M. Gillespie Foundation to support Education and the Arts through grants to museums, student scholarships, internships, art donations etc.
Cindy Peterson and I began the Zoom tour with a Champagne toast (my mother's drink of choice) and a discussion of my mother and father's 1946 NYC nightclub called the "Salle de Champagne" which has been described as a combination art gallery, cocktail lounge and nightclub. In a future email I will share more information about Salle de Champagne.
Below are drawings from art school in Baltimore on display in the studio.
1939-1941
 My mother's self-portraits and portraits
Self Portrait 1943
Self Portrait 1946
Bernard (Bunny) Israel 1946
Abstract Expressionist Period
1940's, 1950's
1960's and 1970's
Wood and canvas cubes
"Environment and Happenings"
Flag Show
1966
"Paperworks"
1970's
Table Top Sculptures
Examples of Maquettes that my mother used for her large sculptures
Click below to view edited Zoom Tour of Dorothy Gillespie Studio
Mission
"To support, develop, and encourage the talents of young and emerging female artists in the United States; to encourage the creation and exhibition of new works, compositions, and skills acquired by young and adult artists; to advance the appreciation of art by means of the presentation of exhibitions, shows, and other events; to promote and enhance the cultural enrichment of the general public through the active presentation of a diversity of art forms; to stimulate public interest in the purposes of this corporation; to make such artistic and cultural enrichment available to the general population; to aid, assist, cooperate, co-sponsor and otherwise engage in concerted action with private and governmental agencies and organizations on programs to enrich and expand the artistic awareness of those who otherwise might not be exposed to art and generally to cultivate and foster the talents of young artists by all available means and methods."