In a city that serves as a progressive paragon, it's easy to forget that American women didn't get the right to vote until 1920. And that's just one facet of the tumultuous history and continuing struggle for women's rights -- here and abroad.

The International Museum of Women (IMOW) -- an innovative online museum based in San Francisco -- has been championing female-focused issues since 2006, but its history of fierce feminism has roots stretching back to 1985.

First founded as the Women's Heritage Museum, this nascent organization operated as a museum "without walls" for 10 years, producing exhibits, sponsoring an annual book fair, providing fodder for teachers during Women's History Month, and of course, celebrating the lengthy lineage of women throughout the past, long overlooked for their accomplishments.

Elizabeth Colton, original founder of IMOW

In 1997, a Bay Area woman named Elizabeth Colton was hoping to take her daughter to a museum dedicated to women's contributions to society...but she couldn't find anything. She called up Gloria Steinem, a noted feminist activist, who she didn't know, and asked her if such a place existed.

"Gloria told her 'no, but I think you should [start] one!'" says Catherine King, Vice President of Exhibitions and Programs at IMOW. "Elizabeth took that has a call to arms." Elizabeth soon corralled a group of Bay Area teachers equally disappointed by the current feminist offerings and established the International Museum of Museum.

"She thought, 'lets expand the mission, let's get global.'"

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Camille Rose Garcia

A mad tea party

Growing up in Southern California not far from Disneyland, the celebrated "lowbrow" artist Camille Rose Garcia fell in love with all things Disney at an early age. Disney animation in particular has remained a key influence upon her work. In looking at her distinctive work, it becomes obvious that Garcia's vision of the world is darker and more complex than that influence alone.

Rife with dystopian ideas and phantasmagorical imagery, Garcia's paintings hold a central place in the pop surrealist movement of the last two decades. Still, there's a sense of her having come full circle as an exhibition opens this week at the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio that pairs her interpretations of the Alice in Wonderland story with Mary Blair's imaginative, angular designs for Disney's Alice film of 1951. Garcia, who cites Blair specifically as an influence, spoke to us about the exhibition and her other recent work.

How did the exhibition come together?
I did the Alice in Wonderland book a couple of years ago, and I made the decision to keep all the artwork together. I was looking at the early Tenniel work -- the original Alice in Wonderland illustrations -- and I was thinking, "How great to have a whole body like that kept together." So I framed it all and showed it in Los Angeles. Then the Walt Disney Family Museum contacted me about doing a show, and I mentioned that I had this whole body of work in my personal collection. They loved it because it tied in with the Disney Alice in Wonderland -- and they do a spring, Alice in Wonderland-themed tea party every year.

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Cultural institutions in San Francisco continually search for new acquisitions. Alexis Coe brings you the most important, often wondrous, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally downright vexing finds every other Friday.

San Francisco native José Sarria is a celebrated performer, advocate, and was the first known openly gay person to campaign for elected office in 1961. When the 90-year-old Sarria began to seriously consider the fate of his personal archives, it was no easy task. The Smithsonian expressed interest, but only wanted his correspondence, and Sarria knew that the public and researchers would best benefit from a complete collection at one institution.

See Also: John Steinbeck's Cold War Armenian Legacy
Exploratorium Film Seeks to Capture the Rhythm and Drama of the Embarcadero

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Cultural institutions in San Francisco continually search for new acquisitions. Alexis Coe brings you the most important, often wondrous, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally downright vexing finds every other Friday.

When Liz Keim started the Cinema Arts program at the Exploratorium in 1982, she was one of the earliest adopters of interactive public programming in the Bay Area. Keim knew that films by scientists and artists exploring observation, poetry, and surrealism would enrich visitors' experiences. Today, she heads up a small team which ensures the Film Collection, a composite of 16mm film and digital work, is not only shown in the museum, but in major metropolitan cities across the globe, including Singapore.

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Alexis Coe

We don't mean to brag (much), but we have some truly kick-ass writers here at the Exhibitionist. Unsurprisingly, they lead varied and fascinating lives when they're not blogging about art and culture. Comedy writer Dana Sitar runs DIY Writing, a place (and e-book) for budding writers to connect with other writers, share resources, and discover new work. Vanessa Pinto curates sexy circus shows in her spare time. Evan Karp runs a fantastic reading series (and nonprofit), and on and on. Today we're thrilled to mention that Alexis Coe, who writes the awesome Read Local and Recent Acquisitions columns here, is giving a panel talk tonight at the Commonwealth Club, the nation's premiere public affairs forum.

See Also: Read Local Columns
Recent Acquisitions Columns

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John Steinbeck

Cultural institutions in San Francisco continually search for new acquisitions. Alexis Coe brings you the most important, often wondrous, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally downright vexing finds every Friday.

The Saryan Museum in Yerevan, Armenia, is a rather unusual place to find a portrait of the American writer John Steinbeck. The Pulitzer Prize winner's reluctance to sit for such paintings was well-known, and yet there it is, an unmistakable likeness found in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia, painted by Martiros Saryan, the nation's most famous and revered artist.

See also:

Batman Illustrator Donates Rare Comic Books to the Cartoon Art Museum

New Exhibition Forever Alters Chinese Culture Foundation

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Cultural institutions in San Francisco continually search for new acquisitions. Alexis Coe brings you the most important, often wondrous, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally downright vexing finds every Friday.

Are you a fan of Recent Acquisitions? Celebrate the series' one year anniversary with a panel discussion at the Commonwealth Club of California on Jan. 24.

Beili Liu's Found will forever alter the Chinese Culture Foundation: The acquisition of 6 frames by the Austin-based artist is the first piece in the permanent collection.

Curator Abby Chen had been interested in acquiring a piece by Liu since 2008, when Lure, an installation, made its stateside debut at the gallery. Found relates to Lure, which the Chinese Cultural Foundation would also like to see in the archives, but the process of procuring donations and purchasing works is a necessarily slow and discerning process.

See also:

Crepe Paper Dresses and Prohibition Raids in Richmond

Top 10 Fascinating Museum Acquisitions of 2012

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Courtesy of the Exploratorium

The Embarcadero has seen a fair bit of controversy in recent years. There were tense negotiations over how much leeway the city would give the America's Cup race, a downright nasty political fight over the 8 Washington project, and now some residents are objecting to development plans for a new Golden State Warriors arena. But the waterfront will be gaining one tenant this year that we're pretty sure everyone will love, and that's the Exploratorium. More »

From "In Masks the Times Proceed: The Works of Make-Up Artist Wolfgang Utz"

Cultural institutions in San Francisco continually search for new acquisitions. Alexis Coe brings you the most important, often wondrous, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally downright vexing finds each week.

The closing of the calendar year offers a moment of contemplation in the world, even that of collecting. Recent Acquisitions won't turn a whole year old until January 24, 2013, which will be commemorated with a panel at the Commonwealth Club, but I don't need another month to present my list.

See also:

Amazing Collection of Old Muni Fast Passes

1936 Scrapbook of a Mickey Mouse Inker

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Cultural institutions in San Francisco continually search for new acquisitions. Alexis Coe brings you the most important, often wondrous, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally downright vexing finds each week.

Are you a fan of Recent Acquisitions? Celebrate the series' one year anniversary with a panel discussion at the Commonwealth Club of California on Jan. 24.

During the Great Depression, unemployment in the United States rose to 25 percent. The city of Richmond was not exempt. While the opening of the Ford assembly plant in the 1930s improved the standard of living, many families still struggled to survive.

"People would often steal the shrimp that was being dried [at Kennedy Grove], and those shrimping camps put food on the table for many Richmond families," explained Melinda McCrary, who has researched the subject at the Richmond Museum of History.

See also:

Recent Acquisitions: John F. Kennedy and the Holy Grail of PEZ Dispensers

Recent Acquistions: Meet Louise Boyd, the Bad-Ass Bay Area Explorer You've Never Heard of

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