The Feminist Spirit of Stella Tyler's Sculptures

Because Bucks County Community College used to be the estate of the Tyler family, dozens of Stella Tyler's bronze sculptures are scattered throughout campus. The presence of her artwork offers both instructors and students the opportunity to leave the classroom and visit the sculptures, turning Tyler Gardens into a natural outdoor classroom in the process.

My students experienced this hands-on approach to learning writing when we discussed gender this October. A handful of writers spent the sun-drenched fall morning analyzing the sculptures as examples of female nudes that refute John Berger's notion that "women act and men appear" which he discussed in the essay "Ways of Seeing."

THE ASSIGNMENT:
How does Stella Elkins Tyler answer the imperative to rewrite the images of female nudes? Look at her sculptures placed throughout Bucks’ campus, then choose one or two that refute the notion of the passive female nude and embody a feminist spirit. Describe the works in detail, making sure to connect the positions of the bodies, the emotions of both sculpture and spectator, and the small size of the women to your thesis. Could you argue for their nakedness, rather than nudity, because they exist in the natural world, rather than in a museum? Also, consider how Tyler’s background as a 20^th century American woman sculptor differentiates her work from the early modern European paintings by men. How does Tyler’s status as the artist, spectator, and owner impact the kind of art she created? Be sure to reference the sculptures by the names on their plaques.