BETSY DAMON

BETSY DAMON (American, b. 1940), is a feminist and activist artist whose practice encompasses performance, ecoart, and social action. She received her BA from Skidmore College (1963) and MFA from the Columbia University (1966). Damon currently lives and works in New York City.

A leader among lesbian activists in New York, she co-edited the third issue of Heresies, Lesbian Art and Artists (1977), founded the Feminist Art Studio at Cornell University (1972), and the organization No Limits for Women Artists (1982). She participated in the first lesbian art show in the U.S., A Lesbian Art Show (1978), curated by Harmony Hammond at 112 Greene Street and The Great American Lesbian Art Show at the Woman's Building in Los Angeles (1980). She was also featured in the exhibition Feministische Kunst Internationaal at Amsterdam’s de appel (1978) and Extended Sensibilities. Homosexual Presence in Contemporary Art curated by Dan Cameron at the New Museum (1982).

Damon’s projects have also been featured in group exhibitions at Thomas Erben Gallery, NYC (ecofeminism(s), 2020), Museum of Modern Art Warsaw (2020), Taipei Biennial (2019), Asia Art Archive in America, NYC (2018), Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh (2012), Aspen Biennial Invitational (1990), Artemisia Gallery, Chicago (1989), P.S.1, NYC (1987, 1982), University of Wisconsin–Madison (1987), SOHO20, NYC (1986, 1984), and The Women’s Building, LA (1975), among others. In 2021, she will participate in EVA International, Ireland’s Biennial in Limerick and the exhibition Art & Ecology at SUNY Stony Brook.

Damon’s performances created between 1972-89, were presented in the streets of New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C. (1977-81), as well as at alternative art and theater spaces, including Franklin Furnace, A.I.R. Gallery and SOHO20 Gallery in NYC, Woman's Building in Los Angeles, Artemisia Gallery in Chicago, IL, de appel in Amsterdam, Holland; and at numerous universities, including San Francisco Art Institute and Cornell University’s Johnson Museum (1981). Damon also took her performances to political events – UN World Conference on Women in Copehnagen (1980) and Nairobi (1985). She organized Keepers of the Waters in Chengdu, China (1995) and Lhasa, Tibet (1996) – two series of performance and installation art events with local artists, which proved critical for the development of performance and ecoart in South-West China.

In 1991, Damon founded Keepers of the Waters – an artist-directed nonprofit that actively promotes living water systems. It currently works with governments, students, and citizens on projects in 5 countries.

Some of Damon’s ecoart projects include: Living Waters of Larimer, Larimer, PA (2012-16) – a community-based project that repurposes rainwater to assist African American neighborhood with economic and sustainable development); design (with Tsing Hua Design Company) of the Olympic Forest Park, Beijing, China (2002-06) – a plant-based water purification park; collaboration with the Beijing Bureau of Hydraulic Research & Engineering, China (2001-03), Living Water Garden in Chengdu, China (1998) – a 6-acre park which uses bio-remediation and constructed wetlands to clean river water, and an environmental education center; and Keepers: Citizens' Rights & Responsibilities, Minnesota (1991-92) – a collaboration with the Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs and the Water Resource Research Center, to mobilize art, science, and citizens around a community’s water. She has been distinguished speaker at numerous universities, museums and water preservation conferences.

Damon received ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) Awards for Tong Zhou Project (2006) and Fuzhou University design (2005); 2nd Place for Wen Yu He River (2004) and 3rd Place for Olympic Forest Park design (2003) from the Chinese Planning Bureau, Marion Weber National Award of Merit from Marion Foundation (2000), Excellence on the Waterfront Award for the Living Water Garden in Chengdu, China from The Waterfront Center in Washington, D.C. (1998), and Mid-Life Career Award from the Women's Caucus for Art (1989).

Her radical book, Water Talks – part memoir, part how-to manual, written to empower people to take charge of their waters, is forthcoming from the SteinerBooks in January 2022.  www.betsydamon.com, www.keepersofthewaters.org