Valencia

decade

1970s

1970

Paul Brach becomes dean of CalArts, and Miriam Schapiro joins their faculty.

1970

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

1971

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.

1972

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

1972

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

1973

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.

1976–88 1976

Douglas Huebler teaches at CalArts.

1976

Mike Kelley and Jim Shaw leave Ann Arbor for California to attend CalArts for their MFAs.

1970s 1976

During their CalArts years, Mike Kelley and Jim Shaw live together in a house in Sylmar.

1976

Mike Kelley moves to California to attend CalArts. Douglas Huebler is one of his teachers.

1970s 1977

Mike Kelley and Stephen Prina meet at CalArts. Because Prina is a musician, Kelley invites him to play keyboard in an iteration of his band, Gobbler.

1978

Mike Kelley and Jim Shaw earn their MFAs from CalArts.

1978

Stephen Prina moves to Los Angeles to attend CalArts. He was drawn to the school due to the number of conceptual artists among the faculty, including John Baldessari and Douglas Huebler.

1978

Although they weren’t in the same years, Stephen Prina recalls first catching a “glimpse” of Mike Kelley during Prina’s first-semester orientation at CalArts.

decade

1980s

1980

Jim Isermann receives his MFA from CalArts.

1980

Stephen Prina earns his MFA from CalArts.

1986

Catherine Opie attends CalArts and befriends classmate Richard Hawkins. They briefly become roommates but can’t afford the rent.

1988

Catherine Opie earns her MFA from CalArts.

decade

1990s

1990

Andrea Bowers moves to Los Angeles to attend CalArts, where Lane Relyea becomes an important teacher to her.

1990

José Antonio Aguirre earns his MFA from CalArts.

1990

José Antonio Aguirre creates the mural Back to School (o como los mexicanos no aprenden a pintar hasta que van a Europa … ) at CalArts.

1992

Andrea Bowers earns her MFA from CalArts.

1992

Catherine Opie and Andrea Bowers meet at a party at Miles Coolidge’s place—a house out in the country that CalArts students would take over. They discover that they’re from neighboring small towns on Lake Erie and spend the entire night talking about Ohio.