Spark of Life

This book, in its original state, was one of dozens of sex education and hygiene books from Ruth Wheeler’s collection.

Ruth was a biologist, junior high science teacher, feminist and advocate for young women throughout her long life.

The alteration of this book includes imagery taken from other books in the colleciton, artifacts from the collection and images from Ruth’s biology notebooks.

A photograph of Ruth appears on the copyright page.

From the Lovely and Amazing project. Lovely and Amazing, begun in 2006, is an ongoing series celebrating the life of Ruth Wheeler, beloved biology teacher, naturalist, youth advocate and feminist who lived and worked in north Denver for 70 years. Ruth found the natural world a place of endless delight and shared her enthusiasm with many, including myself, her great-niece. She left behind a collection of biological specimens, notes and photographs which I have incorporated into a series of three-dimensional collages, boxes and book works.