Contact:
Eric Sloss
412-268-5765

For immediate release:
June 30, 2006

Carnegie Mellon's Regina Gouger Miller Gallery Presents Traveling Show by Two Girls Working, July 7-Aug. 4

PITTSBURGH—The Regina Gouger Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University will present the national traveling exhibition "Trappings: Stories of Women, Power and Clothing" by the artist collaboration Two Girls Working. The multimedia project uses clothing as a method to explore the complexity of the meaning of power and its relationship to personal identity. The free public exhibition opens July 7 and runs through Aug. 4.

Two Girls Working is the collaborative effort of artists Tiffany Ludwig and Renee Piechocki. Their project "Trappings," an interview-based artwork, starts with one simple question: What do you wear that makes you feel powerful? Two Girls Working has sought responses from diverse groups of women at interview sessions in each region of the United States — from Anchorage, Alaska, to Chapel Hill, N.C. In interview sessions modeled after Mary Kay and Tupperware parties, more than 500 women have gathered in private homes, classrooms, boardrooms and community spaces to present their complex stories about power, clothes and identity.

Piechocki and Ludwig explain that their exhibition "takes risks by being responsive and not illustrative; blurring the lines between visual art, performance, public art and oral history; and being committed to reaching out and involving new audiences and voices in artistic practice and dialogue."

Piechocki, a Pittsburgh resident, and Ludwig of New Jersey, began their project in 2001 and have continued to expand the scope of their work over the last five years. Throughout the interview process, participants discussed the daily ritual of dressing, thereby exploring their own meaning and expression of power. Stephen Segal of Pittsburgh Magazine explains, "They [Piechocki and Ludwig] hope to spur community dialogue about topics such as the personal expression of identity and the relationship between sex and power in the workplace."

Although the project begins with a question about clothing, "Trappings" is not about fashion. Clothing is simply the vehicle used to foster a larger community dialogue facilitated by the artists. Through photography, audio and video installations, and other works, visitors will encounter the diverse range of issues women experience that are related to power and identity. Patricia C. Phillips discusses many of these issues in her essay for the gallery brochure. Phillips is a professor of art at the State University of New York, New Paltz, and is editor-in-chief of Art Journal.

Ludwig and Piechocki will host an artist talk at 6 p.m., July 20 at the gallery. For the exhibition schedule, visit artserver.cfa.cmu.edu/~miller/ or call the gallery's events line at 412-268-3618.

Exhibitions at the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery are supported in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; individual sponsors, and the School of Art and College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon. This exhibition has also received funding from The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.

The Miller Gallery is located in the Purnell Center for the Arts on the Carnegie Mellon campus. Gallery hours are 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday, and by appointment. Visitor parking is available in the East Campus Parking Garage off Forbes Avenue and on weekends in the Morewood Lot on Forbes Avenue.

For more information, contact Jenny Strayer, director of the Miller Gallery, at 412-268-3877 or jstrayer@andrew.cmu.edu. For more information on the College of Fine Arts, contact Eric Sloss at 412-268-5765 or ecs@andrew.cmu.edu.