Catherine Lord assumed the role of dean in the School of Art and Design at CalArts in the 1983 school year. There was a great deal of excitement and anticipation among the students, wondering what changes she would bring. On the one hand her hiring seemed to bring resolution to a struggle that had continued to roil the school since its path-breaking Feminist Art Program had dissolved some ten years earlier. But there was also concern that Lord was a theorist or critic rather than an artist, and that CalArts had promoted an idea of itself as a place where artists did the teaching. Walt was the rather impressive student publication at the time, and in its September issue of that year, an issue dedicated to a re-examination of feminism at CalArts, it ran a long interview with Lord, discussing her plans and observations. She comes across as smart and engaging, and also sarcastic and sometimes prickly. It’s a good read.