Ann Leda Shapiro facts for kids
Ann Leda Shapiro (born in 1946) is an American artist who grew up in New York City. Her childhood home was right next to the American Museum of Natural History and just across the park from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Being so close to these famous museums inspired her from a young age.
For college, she studied art at the San Francisco Art Institute and later at the University of California, Davis. Her unique artwork quickly gained attention.
Art and Ideas
In 1973, Shapiro had a solo exhibition at the famous Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. However, the museum decided not to show some of her paintings. This is called censoring.
The paintings that were censored explored new ideas about identity. For example, Two Sides of Self showed mermaids that combined both male and female features. Another painting was called Woman Landing on Man in the Moon or One Needs a ... to Get By. Through her art, Shapiro asked questions about the differences between male and female, suggesting they could be united.
Even though her work was considered controversial at the time, it became celebrated later. Forty years after the Whitney show, the Seattle Art Museum bought the two paintings that had been censored. They are now part of the museum's permanent collection for everyone to see.
A Career in Healing
Besides being an artist, Shapiro also taught art at several universities. While teaching in Texas, she volunteered at a clinic that used Chinese medicine to help people with serious illnesses. This experience was so inspiring that she decided to study this form of medicine herself.
Shapiro moved to Seattle to study and became a board-certified acupuncturist. An acupuncturist is a health professional who treats patients using very thin needles placed at specific points on the body. Since 1991, she has had her own practice on a small island in Washington's Puget Sound.
Her work in healing has a big influence on her art. It helps her explore the connection between our bodies and the world around us. Shapiro has also written and illustrated books, including a picture book called "My Island" and a graphic novel titled "Art Notes of an Acupuncturist."
Where to See Her Work
Ann Leda Shapiro's art is featured in the permanent collections of several museums and institutions, including:
- Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA
- 4Culture Seattle, WA
- Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
- University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
- University of Colorado Boulder Art Museum
- University of California, Davis, CA
