Morning Muse with the Curator: Judy Chicago and Nadya Tolokonnikova

Start your day with creativity at the Taubman Museum of Art’s Morning Muse, a new program bringing people together for coffee, conversation, and fresh ideas.

Enjoy time to mingle before a short talk with Laura K. Higgins, Curator of 75th Anniversary Gifts to the Permanent Collection, who will explore recent additions to the Museum’s Permanent Collection by Judy Chicago and Nadya Tolokonnikova, two artists whose work engages themes of gender, power, and resistance across generations and global contexts.

A pioneering figure of the Feminist Art Movement, Judy Chicago has spent decades advocating for the recognition of women’s history and creative labor. Her lithograph currently on view, Signing the Dinner Party, references her iconic installation The Dinner Party, using powerful symbolism to assert women’s presence in cultural history.

Nearby, Nadya Tolokonnikova, an artist, activist, and founding member of Pussy Riot, reimagines objects shaped by her experience of imprisonment. In Knife Play [White 32], an improvised shiv is transformed into a sculptural work, juxtaposing materials of comfort and threat to reflect resilience and survival.

Together, these works invite thoughtful dialogue about identity, history, and the role of art in confronting systems of power.

Morning Muse offers a welcoming way to engage with art and community before work, school, or whatever the day holds.

Registration required.

Members: Free | General Public: $5

Image credits:

Judy Chicago (United States, born 1939), Signing the Dinner Party, 2009-2012, color lithograph on paper, Taubman Museum of Art, Gift of the Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, in Honor of the Museum’s 75th Anniversary, 2024.010

Nadya Tolokonnikova Russia, born 1989, Knife Play [White 32], 2023, mixed media (handmade shiv mounted with faux fur), Taubman Museum of Art, Gift of the Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, in Honor of the Museum’s 75th Anniversary, 2024.017