More Than Muses: A Card Deck of Creative Inspiration from Visionary Women

Draw a card and gain inspiration from 40 incredible women—across art, architecture, dance, literature, and more—whose culture-defining contributions have, until now, been overshadowed by their role as “muses” to history’s better-known men.  What does it mean to be someone’s “muse”? Historically, to be called a “muse” among artistic circles has been marketed as a flattering title. It is a commendation that most often refers to a woman whose vivacity and beauty are the source of inspiration for a (usually) male artist or creator. This deck, from author-researcher Lori Zimmer and artist Maria Krasinski, repositions 40 of these women—casting them as the main characters of their own narratives and allowing users to draw inspiration from these iconic cultural figures, from “The Mother of the Movies” Alice Guy-Blaché to Modernist designer Eileen Gray, prima ballerina Maria Tallchief, storied Harlem Renaissance editor Jessie Redmon Fauset, and many more. Each of these women advanced the narrat