Photo: M.Imlay
Who says L.A. has no history? Open your eyes (or in this case your camera lens) wide enough, and you’ll literally discover it in the most out-of-the-way corners of town.
While shooting the Broadway viaduct the other day, I parked my Jeep in front of this old brick building on N. Spring Street, thinking little of it. Located at the northernmost fringes of the downtown train yards, there’s nothing all that remarkable about the neighborhood — just a lot of aging warehouses and machine shops. Still, returning from my photoshoot, I liked the way the light was playing off the structure, so I took a few quick photos before driving off.
As I processed the images, the building’s backstory began to gnaw at me. How old was it? Who constructed it? What was its original purpose? On a lark, I launched an Internet search, not really expecting to find anything noteworthy. Little did I know…
Oil, Acrylics and Feminism
It turns out the 16,000-square-foot building was erected in 1914 (some sources say 1917) as a sales office for the once-illustrious Standard Oil Corp. In fact, the relief topping the door represents the oil company’s former logo. But the now-forlorn edifice has an even greater claim to fame. In 1975 it became home to the legendary non-profit feminist art and education group, Woman’s Building. Here are the details, courtesy Wikipedia:
“In 1973, artist Judy Chicago, graphic designer Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, and art historian Arlene Raven founded the first independent school for women artists, the Feminist Studio Workshop…. Central to the founders’ vision was the idea that the arts should not be separated from other activities of the burgeoning women’s community, and the three looked for a site for their school that could also be shared with other organizations and enterprises.”
They first chose the old Chouinard Art Institute near MacArthur Park, which they re-dubbed “Woman’s Building” after an 1893 Chicago World’s Fair structure designed by Sophia Hayden to showcase women’s arts and crafts. (In fact, not since Hayden had anyone undertaken such an exclusive center for women’s art.) However, when the Korean Culture Center purchased the Chouinard building in 1975, the group was forced to move.
The Gallery of Sisterhood
Photo: M.Imlay
They landed here at the corner of Spring and Aurora. Though somewhat isolated above Chinatown, for 16 years the new Woman’s Building went on to distinguish itself as a hub of creative activism for feminist artists, poets and writers. It hosted programs and events featuring some of women culture’s biggest names while also variously housing theater groups, the Sisterhood Bookstore, a thrift shop, a travel agency, cafes, an arts and crafts store, and offices for Chrysalis Magazine and the Woman Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW) organization.
By 1991, though, the original Woman’s Building organizers had all moved on to other projects, and the enterprise shut its doors. Today the momentous brick-and-mortar building is again up for lease as creative/office space.
Hopefully it will find a new occupant worthy of its history.
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Love the title!
And what a history — from Standard Oil to feminist power. So the building wasn’t a warehouse, as I had guessed, after all.
Well, it seems to be now. Although parts of it still appear to be used as gallery space. –Mike