Alida Walsh

From Smith College

Alida Walsh was the daughter of Grace Farwell and Elmer Michael Walsh. She had a sister, Mary (Brand), and two brothers, Charles and Michael. Walsh earned her BS at Northwestern University in 1955 and her MFA at San Diego University in 1956. She was a visual artist working in sculpture, film and multi-media, and was a member of Women Artists in Revolution. Her best-known sculptures are Earth, Mother, Goddess and Walking Nude Mirror. Walsh exhibited in the first all-women art exhibit titled X-12 in New York City in 1969, and co-founded Women Artist Filmmakers in 1973. Her films include The Martyrdom of Marilyn Monroe, and Happy Birthday, I'm 40, an autobiographical film, as well as Women Bound and Unbound, a multimedia performance presented at the National Women's Conference in Houston and funded by the Ms Foundation. One of the founding members of Women/Artist/Filmmakers, Inc., Walsh was assistant professor at Montclair State University for twenty-six years, where she taught film history, and film and video as art forms; she also taught at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York City. Walsh died in December 2006 in Schenectady, New York, from complications due to a heart aneurysm.