In the 1970's, the West Coast feminist arts movement coalesced around the Woman's Building in Los Angeles. Founded by artist Judy Chicago, the Woman's Building was conceived as a "public center for women's culture." Women from across the country were drawn there to be part of a community engaged in the exploration of what a female-centered culture might mean.

In Insurgent Muse, Terry Wolverton chronicles her own 13-year involvement in the Woman's Building. Arriving as a young art student in 1976, she stayed on to become a teacher and co-founder of the Lesbian Art Project and, eventually, the Building's executive director. Her journey–emblematic of many women who sought to redefine themselves in the light of feminism–entails confrontation with the damages of sexism, the pitfalls of utopian community, and the forces of social backlash.

Insurgent Muse is a powerful testament to the importance of feminist thought and the ongoing need for it–by women and men–today.