Hello everybody and welcome! My name is Ragan Poplawski and I am honored to be the new Art Education blogger! I am very excited to discuss a variety of topics surrounding the major, especially since after a few years hiatus it has just become a major again at Marywood once again.
Today I would like to discuss a prominent art history figure who I have learned about a lot this semester—Frida Kahlo. I am sure that almost everyone has seen her art, even if they did not know who she was or what she stood for. I, for one, had seen her art before, but never really learned much about her until I read the article Reflecting on Frida Kahlo’s Birthday and The Importance of Recognizing Ourselves for (in) Each Other by Mia Mingus.
After reading this article, I learned that Kahlo was a disabled, queer, woman of color who “left evidence” of herself in history through her self portraits. Mingus’ article and blog Leaving Evidence both discuss how seeing yourself in evidence left by people of similar identities to you is important because it creates a sense of belonging and reflection. As Mingus says in her article, Kahlo helped her recognize parts of herself (like how she was disabled and queer, like Kahlo) and feel both proud of her identity and seen because someone like her was recorded in history.
For me, this article made me realize how important including diverse art history figures into art classes is. It not only informs students about a wide variety of art history figures that may be glanced over, but also helps them feel that same sense of recognition and belonging that Mingus mentions in her article. It is important to include diverse figures in art history so that every student can feel that sense of recognition that Kahlo gave Mingus.