Through the Flower

Through the Flower was founded by Judy Chicago in 1978 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Its original mission involved providing a fiscal structure for donations to help complete The Dinner Party. But this quickly changed, and soon Through the Flower began to organize the worldwide exhibition tour that brought The Dinner Party to sixteen venues in six countries and three continents, where over one million people viewed Judy Chicago’s monumental tribute to women in Western civilization. (Or as she sometimes describes it: a reinterpretation of the Last Supper from the point of view of those who’ve done the cooking throughout history.

The permanent housing of The Dinner Party was always part of Judy Chicago's goal, largely because she—like Gerda Lerner, the pioneering women's historian—believes that it is in part women's ongoing excision from both history and art history which prevents women from full cultural and social participation. (Even today, women's work comprises only 5% of museum collections).