August 20th, 2025

Documentary Screening: 6:30 – 7:30PM

Q&A with co-producer of the documentary and the artist’s son, Gary Israel: 7:30PM

Location: 502 N Front St, Wilmington, NC 28401 – Union Station, Auditorium U-170

Cape Fear Community College is proud to honor the legacy of trailblazing artist Dorothy Gillespie with a special event celebrating her vibrant life and revolutionary body of work. In collaboration with the Dorothy M. Gillespie Foundation, the Wilma W. Daniels Gallery will host a screening of the documentary “Dorothy Gillespie: Courage, Independence, and Color” on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, at 6:15 p.m.

This film chronicles Gillespie’s extraordinary seven-decade career, during which she emerged as a powerful force in multiple influential movements of 20th-century art. From abstract expressionism and decorative abstraction to the Women’s Movement and public art, Gillespie’s colorful, large-scale painted aluminum sculptures continue to inspire and uplift audiences nationwide.

Following the documentary screening, Dorothy’s son and co-producer of the film, Gary Israel, will participate in a Q&A Session and share personal stories and insight into his mother’s creative vision and legacy.

Artist Biography

“Seeing in the mind’s eye a vision – then setting up a procedure to produce the vision – then having the courage to let the spiritual core of the human experience come to the fore in that vision; maybe this has something to do with creativity.”—Dorothy Gillespie

Born in Roanoke, Virginia, in 1920, Dorothy Gillespie was a pioneering American artist, educator, and activist. She always knew she wanted to be an artist, leaving her small hometown to study at Maryland Institute College of Art and then moving to New York City in 1943 where she studied at the Art Students League of New York and Stanley William Hayter’s Atelier 17.

With a career that spanned across seven decades, Gillespie was an innovator in many of the 20th century’s most important art movements – abstract expressionism, decorative abstraction, site-specific installation, the women’s movement, and art in public spaces.

She always experimented and explored new materials, mastering mediums including painting, sculpture, printmaking, environment and happenings, ceramics, jewelry and set designs. She is most well known for her colorful, exuberant aluminum sculptures and public artworks.

In addition to her artistic practice, Gillespie was always making strides in education and equality. From very early on in her career, she contributed to the women’s art movement through her work at the Women’s Interart Center in New York as well as at the New School where she and artist Alice Baber created a seminal course entitled “Functioning in the Art World.” This course was pivotal in educating predominantly female artists on how to navigate the complexities of existing in the art world. She visited over 50 colleges and universities where she gave public lectures, and fostered multiple generations of artists. She was a Distinguished Professor of Art at Radford University, and a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellow for many years. In 1990, her commitment to education was recognized by receiving a Doctor of Pedagogy from Niagara University.

Today, Dorothy Gillespie is remembered as a seminal figure in the abstract expressionist movement as well as an unwavering advocate for women’s equality in the arts and every facet of life. As her large scale murals and public sculptures grace cities across America, Gillespie and her work are invariably intertwined with the American landscape, inspiring millions of people.