Women's Caucus for Art explained

Women's Caucus for Art
Type:Non-profit
Vat Id:-->
Founded Date:1972
Location:New York, New York
Focus:networking organization for women in the arts

The Women's Caucus for Art (WCA), founded in 1972, is a non-profit organization based in New York City, which supports women artists, art historians, students, educators, and museum professionals. The WCA holds exhibitions and conferences to promote women artists and their works and recognizes the talents of artists through their annual Lifetime Achievement Award. Since 1975 it has been a United Nations-affiliated non-governmental organization (NGO), which has broadened its influence beyond the United States. Within the WCA are several special interest causes including the Women of Color caucus, Eco-Art Caucus, Jewish Women Artist Network, International Caucus and the Young Women's Caucus.[1] The founding of the WCA is seen as a "great stride" in the feminist art movement.

Overview

The Women's Caucus for Art membership includes artists, students, educators, art historians, and professionals from museums and galleries. The organization holds conferences, produces exhibitions, conducts research and issues awards.[2]

Along with the founding of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, its creation is seen as one of the "great strides [that] have been made in developing an institutional infrastructure for women's art and art history since the 1970s."[3]

History

Background

See main article: Feminist art movement in the United States. Within the broader feminist movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, a feminist art movement began to contest women's under-representation in professional art organizations, art exhibitions and art history textbooks.[4] The movement "was a major watershed in women's history and the history of art." Its slogan was "the personal is political."[5]

In 1969, Women Artists in Revolution (WAR) formed in response to the inclusion of “only 8 women among the 143 artists shown” at the Whitney Museum’s 1969 Annual. WAR “demanded that the museum change its policies to include more women artists.” In 1971, Linda Nochlin’s "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?"[6] and Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro started the Feminist Art Program at Cal Arts, which provided a new arts education for women based on mentorship, training in tools, research about women artists, consciousness-raising, and role-playing.[7] The following year, "Paula Harper and twenty-one participants in the Feminist Art Program" conceived of "a landmark collaborative installation staged in an empty house in Los Angeles" and called Womanhouse[8]

College Art Association Women's Caucus

At its annual conference in San Francisco, women within the College Art Association formed a women's caucus on 28 January 1972, electing Ann Sutherland Harris as the first president (1972-1974).[9] However, tensions developed between this group and the CAA board, and in November 1973 the CAA executive asked "the Women's Caucus, which is not officially affiliated with the CAA, to drop the use of the phrase 'of the CAA' from its name."[10] [11]

Women's Caucus for Art founded

In 1974 Mary Garrard, president of the caucus from 1974 to 1976, oversaw the formation of the Women's Caucus for Art (WCA) as an independent non-profit organization. Arlene Raven, who, with Judy Chicago and Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, founded the Feminist Studio Workshop of Women's Building, was also part of WCA's roots[12] as was Eleanor Dickenson.[13] The WCA grew, establishing regional chapters and publishing research on women's art. Membership broadened from predominantly art historians to a majority of women artists,[10] and the third president, Judith K. Brodsky, was herself an artist rather than art historian.[9]

In 1977 the Coalition of Women's Art Organizations (CWAO) was formed as a political arm of the WCA.[9]

Organizational structure

The Women's Caucus for Art is a national member organization with 23 regional chapters located throughout the United States. The headquarters, in New York City, is an umbrella organization governed by a national board of directors consisting of an executive committee (president, president elect, treasurer/secretary, vice president/chair of national exhibitions, past president/chair of legacy, vice president of chapter relations, vice president for organizational outreach, vice president for development and vice president of special events), regional vice presidents, standing committee chairs, directors (including chairs of internal caucuses)) and board-appointed advisors.[14] The National President is voted in by the membership for two-year terms.[15] Half of the board is nominated by the incoming president and approved by the board, and the other half is voted in by chapter representatives.

Many of the regional chapters are organized as separate 501(c)3 non profit organizations. The Northeast Region consists of WCA New Hampshire, Central Mass WCA, WCA New York, and Philadelphia WCA. The Southeast Region consists of Greater Washington DC WCA, WCA Georgia, WCA Alabama, WCA Florida, and WCA Louisiana. The Midwest Region consists of Chicago WCA, WCA Michigan, WCA Minnesota, WCA Indiana, WCA Nebraska, and St. Louis Missouri WCA. The Southwest Region consists of WCA Colorado and Texas WCA. The Pacific Region consists of WCA Northern California, WCA Peninsula, WCA Monterey Bay, Silicon Valley WCA, Southern California WCA and Oregon WCA.[16]

Special-interest caucuses

Within the WCA are several special interest causes including the Women of Color caucus,[17] Eco-Art Caucus, Jewish Women Artist Network, International Caucus and the Young Women's Caucus.[18]

After being appointed to Vice President of Minority Affairs by the President Ofelia Garcia in 1986, artist and activist Faith Ringgold proposed the formation of a women of color caucus. It was within this context that "Coast to Coast", an arts organization for women of color, was created.[19]

The Jewish Women Artist Network (JWAN) was founded by Francia Tobacman. From 2006 to 2012 it organized national conferences of Jewish related themes. The International Caucus maintains WCA's involvement with the United Nations, develops art exhibitions related to the UN Goals, develops collaborative projects with other global organizations, collects data about WCA's art and activism projects, and shares this information with the larger WCA membership. The Young Women's Caucus supports women artists of who are college students, returning students and young professionals seeking to create a career in art. It provides networking resources to established women artists within the broader organization.[20]

National presidents

Lifetime Achievement Awards

See main article: Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1979 the WCA created the National Lifetime Achievement Awards. The goal was to acknowledge the work of notable women in the arts and stimulate the growth of opportunities within the arts. An important annual function, honorees are selected by a group of notable WCA scholars and artists. A few honorees include painter Georgia O'Keeffe, painter Alice Neel, art historian Lucy R. Lippard, sculptor and painter Selma Burke, and women's museum founder Wilhelmina Holladay.[21]

Awardees[22]

Exhibitions

National exhibitions

International exhibitions

United Nations affiliation

The Women's Caucus for Art has been a United Nations-affiliated NGO (non-governmental agency) since 1975.[35] An NGO is "any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is organized on a local, national or international level. Task-oriented and driven by people with a common interest, NGOs perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of information."[36] As the liaison group between WCA and the United Nations, WCA's International Caucus members have participated in, and created exhibitions,[37] side events at UN DPI/NGO conferences in support of UN goals and priorities and participated in UN Commission on the Status of Women conferences.

In the fall of 1995, the UN-sponsored Fourth World International Conference on Women was held in China. "The purpose of the conference was to discuss the advancement and involvement of women in world affairs." The WCA sent 100 women artists, art educators and art activists to attend conferences and workshops. "As a reaction to this expedition, the artists were asked to create works depicting their experiences. From this was born the exhibit Beijing and Beyond: Women Artists Respond To The World Conference On Women."[27]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Internal Caucuses. 2021-10-07. www.nationalwca.org. 2 August 2018.
  2. Ferguson Career Resource Guide for Women and Minorities: Resources for women. Infobase Publishing; 1 January 2006. . p. 203.
  3. Susan R. Ressler. Women Artists of the American West. McFarland; 2003. . p. 13.
  4. News: Grace Glueck. Grace Glueck. Art People. The New York Times. January 27, 1978.
  5. Book: The Power of Feminist Art: The American Movement of the 1970s, History and Impact. 1996. Harry N. Abrams, Inc.. New York . 9780810926592 . 88–103 . Norma Broude . Mary D. Garrard . Mary D. Garrard . 11 October 2013.
  6. Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?. ARTnews. January 1971. 69. 22–39.
  7. Book: The Power of Feminist Art: The American Movement of the 1970s, History and Impact. 1996. Harry N. Abrams, Inc.. New York . 9780810926592 . 32–47 . Norma Broude . Mary D. Garrard . Mary D. Garrard . 11 October 2013.
  8. Book: Meg Linton. Doin' It In Public: Feminism and Art at the Woman's Building. 978-0-930209-22-3. 11–19. Sue Maberry . Elizabeth Pulsinelli . 2011. Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design .
  9. Eleanor Dickinson, The History of the Women's Caucus for Art. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  10. Book: Judith K. Brodsky. Mary D. Garrard. Mary D. Garrard. Ferris Olin. Susan Ball. The Eye, the Hand, the Mind: 100 Years of the College Art Association. https://books.google.com/books?id=OuNYfM_jN_oC&pg=PA205. 7 March 2013. 2010. Rutgers University Press. 978-0-8135-5026-8. 205. Governance and diversity.
  11. Susan L. Ball. The Eye, the Hand, the Mind: 100 Years of the College Art Association. Rutgers University Press; January 2011. . p. 31, 64, 108.
  12. News: Cotter. Holland. Arlene Raven, 62, a Historian and Supporter of Women's Art, is Dead. The New York Times. August 6, 2006.
  13. Book: Love, Barbara. Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975. registration. 2006. University of Illinois Press. 118. 9780252031892.
  14. Web site: About WCA - WCA Current Board. Women's Caucus for Art.
  15. Web site: WCA Past Presidents. Women's Caucus for Art.
  16. Web site: WCA Chapters. nationalwca.org. 2015-09-13.
  17. Book: Ringgold. Faith. We Flew Over The Bridge. 1995. Little, Brown and Company. Boston. 0821220713. 263. 1st. registration.
  18. Web site: WCA Internal Caucuses. www.nationalwca.org. 2018-03-08.
  19. Ringgold 1995, pg. 263.
  20. Web site: Young Women's Caucus. 2018-03-08. www.nationalwca.org.
  21. [Joan Marter|Joan M. Marter]
  22. Web site: WCA Past Honorees. www.nationalwca.org. 2022-10-18.
  23. Web site: FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF BEIJING WOMEN'S CONFERENCE. United Nations Women Watch. 4 May 2013.
  24. News: McQuaid. Cate. Women artists render the gender gap. The Boston Globe. February 15, 1996.
  25. News: Hill. Shawn. The world women see. Bay Windows. February 8–14, 1996.
  26. News: Women's Caucus for Art Exhibit. AWID Forum News. September 5, 1996.
  27. Web site: Lemmon. Sally. Artists travel to China women's conference, respond with pieces displayed in HUB gallery. PSU Collegian . dead . https://archive.today/20130626182000/http://www.collegian.psu.edu:8080/archive/1997/10/10-10-97tdc/10-10-97d05-002.htm . 2013-06-26 . 11 October 2013.
  28. Book: Momentum. 2012. Women's Caucus for Art. New York. 978-0-9831702-3-5. Karen Gutfreund and Karin Luner.
  29. Web site: WCA Past Exhibitions. Women's Caucus for Art. 8 March 2015.
  30. Book: Equilibrium, Art for a Changing World. 2014. Women's Caucus for Art. New York. 978-1-9396370-6-2. Karen Gutfreund.
  31. Book: WCA at Westbeth. 2015. Women's Caucus for Art. New York. 978-1507765883.
  32. Book: Woman + Body. 2012. Gwangju Cultural Foundation. Gwangju, South Korea. 978-0-9831702-5-9. Hye-Seong Tak Lee and Sherri Cornett.
  33. Web site: 광주의 새로운 전시를 찾아서 [출처] <11월 광주에서 볼만한 전시회 (1)> 광주의 새로운 전시를 찾아서 - <여성+몸 전 - 한미여성작가 연합전>, 작성자 아시아문화중심도시]. Asia Culture City. 4 May 2013.
  34. Web site: 한·미 여성작가 'Woman+Body'展 23일 열어. 16 October 2012. News 1 Korea. 4 May 2013.
  35. Web site: Women's Caucus for Art Profile. NGO Branch, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
  36. Web site: DEFINITION OF NGOs . NGO Global Network . 11 October 2013.
  37. Web site: Department of Public Information Non-governmental Organizations Conference . UN Department of Public Information.

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