The mother's house of the San Francisco Zoo: the art of engendering space in the modern city

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Mother's House of the San Francisco Zoo opened in 1925 as a sanctuary for women visiting the grounds, and in the 1930s, was ornamented through an ambitious decorative program sponsored by the Public Works of Art Project. The program consists of long-overlooked murals painted by Helen Forbes (1891–1945) and Dorothy Pucinelli (1901–1974), and large-scale mosaics executed by the Bruton sisters—Margaret (1894–1983), Esther (1896–1992), and Helen (1898–1985). While the Mother's House could be interpreted as symbolizing a gilded cage that restricted woman's agency within the modern city, it can also be read as expanding women's roles in the public sphere. My article examines the Mother's House as a case study of the gendering of space wherein the site served not to inhibit woman's movement and participation in the modern city, but rather expanded the feminine realm beyond the domestic sphere, as well as supported the professionalization of women as public artists.