Judy Chicago

Judy Chicago is born Judy Cohen in Chicago and lives there for 18 years.

Judy Chicago attends classes at the Art Institute of Chicago as a child.

Judy Chicago moves to Los Angeles to attend UCLA.

Judy Chicago knows Billy Al Bengston from her days as a student at UCLA.

Judy Chicago earns her BA from UCLA.

Billy Al Bengston teaches for a year at UCLA when Judy Chicago is in graduate school. Bengston’s studio is the first Chicago ever visits, and she considers him the first real artist she’s met.

Judy Chicago receives her MFA in painting and sculpture from UCLA.

Judy Chicago enrolls in auto body school to learn airbrushing techniques. She begins to make works inspired by the car culture of California, much like the finish fetish school that includes Billy Al Bengston.

Judy Chicago moves into an apartment next to Joe Goode’s on Western Avenue.

Judy Chicago watches Billy Al Bengston race motorcycles and hangs out with the “Ferus gang” at Barney’s Beanery, although she acknowledges the machismo of the crew.

Judy Chicago participates in the La Cienega gallery walks on Mondays.

Judy Chicago shows at the Rolf Nelson Gallery on La Cienega Boulevard.

Rolf Nelson calls her Judy Chicago because of her thick Chicago accent.

Judy Chicago has a solo exhibition at the Pasadena Museum of Art.

Judy Chicago lives in Pasadena, California, around the corner from Bruce Nauman’s studio.

Judy Chicago creates Fresno State College Atmosphere.

Jerry McMillan photographs Judy Chicago for her ad in Artforum announcing her name change.

Judy Chicago changes her last name from Gerowitz (married name) to Chicago.

Judy Chicago has a solo exhibition at California State University, Fullerton, which is run by Dextra Frankel. Chicago has a name-changing ceremony as part of the exhibition.

Judy Chicago takes out an ad in Artforum to announce her Fullerton exhibition and her name change. Jerry McMillan takes the photograph, which features Chicago in a boxing ring sporting a sweatshirt with her new name, her friend’s girlfriend standing behind her, and gallerist Jack Glenn crouching in the corner like a boxing manager.

Judy Chicago creates Campus White Atmosphere for California State University, Fullerton.

Judy Chicago founds the Feminist Art Project, a collaborative educational experiment, at Fresno State College (now California State University, Fresno) along with 15 aspiring women artists known as the California Girls.

Miriam Schapiro meets Judy Chicago and invites her to cofound the Feminist Art Program at CalArts.

Judy Chicago creates Pink Atmosphere for California State University, Fullerton.

Judy Chicago leaves Fresno and accepts a teaching position at the newly formed CalArts. She cofounds the Feminist Art Program at CalArts with Miriam Schapiro, and many of the Fresno students follow her there.

Judy Chicago begins working on Womanhouse with Feminist Art Program participants.

Miriam Schapiro participates in the historic Womanhouse installation with Judy Chicago and 21 other women artists, many of whom are students at the Feminist Art Program. For her contribution, Schapiro and her assistant create The Dollhouse using old liquor crates to create a six-room house featuring a parlor, a kitchen, a movie star’s bedroom, a harem room, a nursery, and an artist’s studio with a male model made of stuffed fabric and a miniature version of Sixteen Windows on an easel.

Judy Chicago is named a Tamarind Fellow.

Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro host the first West Coast Women Artists’ Conference at CalArts.

In January and February, Judy Chicago, Miriam Schapiro, and 21 other women artists, many from the Feminist Art Program, participate in Womanhouse, a collaborative art installation staged in an abandoned Hollywood mansion.

Judy Chicago experiences a hostile environment at CalArts. She bands together with Sheila Levrant de Bretteville and Arlene Raven to leave CalArts and create the Feminist Studio Workshop, an alternative art education experience for women.

Judy Chicago, Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, and Arlene Raven cofound the Women’s Building, which opens on November 28. They first rent the former Chouinard Art Institute building, located at 743 Grandview Avenue.

The Oakland Museum of California commissions A Butterfly for Oakland, one of Judy Chicago’s Atmosphere works.

Judy Chicago debuts The Dinner Party in March at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and travels to Chicago in December 1981.

Judy Chicago’s Birth Project is exhibited at the Frederick S. Wight Gallery, UCLA.

Judy Chicago’s Birth Project is exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Larry Bell, Judy Chicago, Douglas Huebler, and Bruce Nauman are included in the group exhibition A Minimal Future? Art as Object 1958–1968 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Judy Chicago, Mary Kelly, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Senga Nengudi, Miriam Schapiro, and June Wayne are included in the traveling exhibition WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Judy Chicago has a solo exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California titled Judy Chicago: A Butterfly for Oakland.

Judy Chicago creates Be No More, a dry-ice installation, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as part of their new building’s opening celebrations.

Judy Chicago’s Birth Project: Born Again travels to the Pasadena Museum of California Art.