Zoey Katke

ART 395/396
Amanda Klauck
25 April 2021

Art History

1. A visual illustration or printed image of the art, and the website sources where you
got your information.  (1 points)
 

Source: https://heartdeaf.com/overview/
2. Artwork and Artist’s Background: (4 points) name, date, and period of the artwork? 
Date and location of birth the artist? Where they lived (if different from place of birth)
and studied?
  I picked Mary Thornley because she is a Deaf artist. Mary Thornley was born in
1950 and grew up in Elkhart, IN. (I could not find her specific birth date.) She attended public
schools in Elkhart, IN too. She received her B.A. from Indiana University at South Bend in 1987,
and her M.F.A. in painting from the University of Washington in 1990. She currently lives in
Vancouver, BC. This oil painting on canvas above is called Milan, Italy 1880. She made this piece
in 1994 and it is very well known in the Deaf/deaf society.
3. Major Accomplishments: (5 points) Why are they famous? What are they best known
for?  Did they receive any awards or honors? Did they invent any new techniques or
materials?
Mary is best known for her art and how it can speak to so many deaf people.
Mary is an artist, and she uses a lot of different mediums. She specializes in oil paintings,
charcoal drawings, and ceramic sculptures. She was inspired by borrowing the molds of
hearing aids for her ceramic sculptures. Mary is famous in the Deaf culture because she
inspires others with her art. She tells a story within her artwork that gives an
understanding what has happened in her Deaf culture. This is her artist statement, “I
work primarily in charcoal and oils.  I focus on Deaf life or Deaf experience, and the
works are projections from these ruminations. My goal is to leave a body of work that
says, 'Deaf artist'.” She has received and Independent New Works Program grant to
produce “The Enigma Unraveled: She was a Native Signer,” an exploration of the
influence of Deaf culture on art, past and present. She received the grant in 1992. In
1999 she participated in a group show titled, ‘Works by Deaf Women’ in New York.  She
was artist-in-residence at Gallaudet University.  In 2000 she was awarded the Powrie V
Doctor Chair at Gallaudet University. (deafart.org website)

4. What made their work unique or changed the direction of art?  What style of art did
they do? (10 points) How did their work effect art history?  How was this piece
culturally significant to the time period? How did it influence other artists? Why is the
piece of art still considered important today?
The style of art she does is about her own experience and culture. She expresses her
Deaf Culture’s history and her experiences through her art. This is another way she can
connect and educate hearing people for them to understand the culture. The Milan, Italy
1880 oil painting is very important still till this day. This piece was inspiration from what
happened in Milan, Italy 1880. There was a conference in Milan that banned American Sign
Language and that oral education was the best way to go. So, many deaf people were
impacted by this and it still has impact because the conference literally stole the deaf
people’s language. You can see the letters “ASL” which is abbreviation for American Sign
Language. They look like they are made from concrete and they have cracks at them
because the hearing people are shooting the letters down. The oral/hearing people are
trying their best to ban ASL. It is still important because deaf people still till this day must
fight for their culture. It is a reminder that they are strong enough and ONLY deaf people
know what is right for them.
 Sources
http://www.deafart.org/Biographies/Mary_J__Thornley/mary_j__thornley.html
http://deafcuture.blogspot.com/2015/07/6.html
Mary Thornley – Deaf Art (deaf-art.org)
Ban on Sign Language at the Milan Conference of 1880 (verywellhealth.com)