PAST CONFERENCES

2020 Chicago | 2019 New York | 2018 Chicago | 2017 New York | 2016 Washington DC | 2015 New York | 2014 Chicago | 2013 New York | 2012 Los Angeles | 2011 New York | 2010 Chicago | 2009 Los Angeles | 2008 Dallas | 2007 New York | 2006 Boston | 2005 Atlanta | 2004 Seattle | 2003 New York | 2002 Philadelphia | 2001 Chicago | 2000 New York | 1999 Los Angeles | 1998 Toronto | 1997 Philadelphia |1994 New York | 1980 New Orleans | 1976 Chicago | 1975 Washington DC

INTERSECTIONALITY

Chicago, Feb 13–15, 2020

The conference opened with the WCA Business Meeting at CAA at which Rachel Epp Buller held her book launch for “Inappropriate Bodies.” The JWAN Causus held panel: The Role Art and Artists Play in the Wake of Increased Anti-Semitism, followed by a panel organized by Ellen Sandor and Caren Rudman, The intersectionality between art, science, and the medical world of genetics. “Tough art and science really saves!” The CAA/WCA panel Amplifying Inclusion: Intersectional Feminism in Contemporary Curatorial Practice concluded the first day of the conference.

Friday offered more panels by WCA members, Maxine Hess, Ann Rowles, and Virginia Tyler held Intersectionality Workshop: Building Awareness, Linda Kattwinkel offered From Shepard Fairey to Fair Use. Laurie T. Hall chaired the panel Intersectional Ideas, Interactive Practice. Yeonhee Cheong, Corrina Sephora, and Anne Farley Gaines held Artists Talks. More panels filled the afternoon, see full schedule. 

Opening Receptions were held for the Young Womens Caucus Exhibition: Intersectional History, and the National Exhibition, Collectively Shifting.

Saturday’s TFAP day of panels Transitional Feminisms rounded out the program.

The 40th Lifetime Achievement Awards celebrated Joyce Fernandes, Michiko Itatani, Judy Onofrio, Alison Saar, and Judith Stein.

BRIDGE THE GAP

New York, Feb 14–17, 2019

Kim Foley, President of the Washington DC Chapter opened the conference with the workshop The Power of Video for Artists. Karen Atkinson, CEO of GYST,  introduces the GYST platform which helps artist with career managment. Laura Earle followed with her workshop Bridging the Digital Gap.

The CAA/WCA panel Liberal Democracy and Social Practice, chaired by Susan M. King with panelists: Karen E. Frostig, “The Vienna Project and its Sequel in the Midst of a Major Political Upset: Adaptations and Surprises,” Elin O’Hara Slavick, “Bombing Liberally to Destroy Possibilities,” Michele Jaquis, “We Are All Americans: Countering Xenophobia and Fostering Empathy through Documentary and Social Practice,” was followed by several workshops on Mentoring and website creation. Judith Brodsky and Feris Olin discussed their book Junctures in Women’s Leadership: The Arts (Rutgers).

A reception at A.I.R Gallery to see the National Postcard Show All Art for the Nation, along with several panels at TFAP the evening ended with the Gala and Presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Awards which were held at the New York Institute for Technology and honored Olga de Amaral, Mary Beth Edelson, Gladys Barker Grauer, and Mira Schor. The President’s Awards for Art and Activism went to Aruna D’Souza and L.J. Roberts.

ART SPEAKS! LEND YOUR VOICE

Los Angeles, Feb 22–24, 2018

‘Art Speaks! Lend Your Voice’ Exhibition

Video by Eric Minh Swenson

‘Art Speaks! Lend Your Voice’ Exhibition

Video by Cheryl Bookout

CONNECT

New York, Feb 16–18, 2017

WCA Panel at CAA: Maternal Art Activism
Chair: Rachel Epp Buller, Bethel College
Co-Chair: Margo Hobbs, Muhlenberg College
Panelists: Amber Berson, Queen’s University; Tiffany Holmes, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Miriam Schaer, Columbia College Chicago; Erin McCutcheon, Tufts University

This panel considered the work of artists whose creative practice engages themes of maternity to position themselves as agents of cultural change.

WCA Reception “Activist Tools in Challenging Times”
Nonprofit arts consultant and artist Cheryl Bookout will give tips and explore funding challenges and rewards from goals to grants plus working with fiscal receiverships and sponsors.

WCA Joan Mitchell Foundation Legacy Event

WAGE ON! Women, Art, and Money, Juried exhibition at Ceres Gallery

WCA Tour of United Nations Building

WCA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS CEREMONY
2017 Lifetime Achievement Awardees: Mary Schmidt Campbell, Audrey Flack, Martha Rosler, and Charlene Teters. President’s Awardee: Kat Griefen

IMPACT

Washington DC, February 3–6, 2016

The Conference kicked off with the Impact Conversation on Contemporary Arts Organizing—In and Out of the Art World with Presenters: Stephanie Sherman and Karen Frostig, with Brenda Oelbaum & Sandra Mueller. Stephanie Sherman also received the President’s Award for Art & Activism.

The WCA Panel at CAA, Critical Contact: Non-Traditional and Multicultural Mentoring through Art-Making was chaired by Molly Marie Nuzzo, Montgomery College, with participating presenters: Robin Meyer, Montgomery College; Dorene Quinn, Syracuse University; and Yvonne Buchanan, Syracuse University Kimberly Creasap, Colgate University. The national juried exhibition Trending, organized by Karen Gutfreund opened with Trending—a night of conversation and art at the Torpedo Gallery with juror Elizabeth Garvey, whose presentation Art World Advice was met with great success.

The exhibition Impact—Legacy of the Woman’s Caucus for Art 1972–2016, curated by Leslie King Hammond, organized by Barbara Wolanin and Jaimianne Amicucci, was held at the American University Katzen Arts Center. A private viewing was followed by a reception and gallery talk with Leslie King Hammond, Moderator, Susan Fisher Sterling, Helene Alyon, Maren Hassinger, Ferris Olin, and Judy Brodsky. All panelists were also past WCA Honorees.

For more information on both exhibitions, visit the exhibitions page.

ACCESS

New York, February 11–14, 2015

The Conference opened with ascreening of the Half the Sky Video Premiere, introduced by International Caucus Chair Sherri Cornett.

This year’s WCA/CAA Panel THE DIFFERENCE DISABILITY MAKES: DISABILITY, COMMUNITY, AND ART was chaired by Petra Kuppers, University of Michigan, who also was honored with the President’s Award for Art & Activism by WCA President Brenda Oelbaum.

The national juried exhibition Transforming Community: Disability, Diversity and Access at the WESTBETH Gallery in the West Village included: Carolyn Applegate, Salma Arastu, Elizabeth Bowler, A. Laura Brody, Linda Button, Belinda Chlouber, Laurie Edison, Stephanie Eley, Christine Giancola, Susan Harmon, Ludmila Ketslakh, Stacy Koffman, Beth Lakamp, Riva Lehrer, Irene Loughlin, Sandra Mueller, Priscilla Otani, Linda Pearlman Karlsberg, Sondra Schwetman, Bonnie J. Smith, Carolyn Owen Sommer, Lisa Steichmann, Chanika Svetvilas, Leigh Toldi, Chun-Shan (Sandie) Yi.

The Eco-art Caucus, the Jewish Women Artist Network(JWAN), and the Young Women’s Caucus all held a separate juried show in the side wings of the gallery. The Eco-art Caucus presented Ecology: The Difference Perception Makes with artists: Ellen Alt, Jeannine Cook, Mary Lou Dauray, Rachael Davis, Liz Dodson, Sue Crosby Doyle, Danielle Eubank, Kate Higley, Judith Hugentobler, Dory Ingram, Ann Kim, Meg Madison, Diane J Mayer, Nora Raggio, Wen Redmond, Lisa Marie Sipe.

The Young Women’s Caucus presented The Difference Community Art Makes including Linda Gleitz, Joanna Fulginiti, Aimee Santos, and Jennifer Weigel.

JWAN’s themed exhibition The Difference Spirituality Makes included work by Elinore Bucholtz, Jennifer Colby, Anne Kantor Kellett, Linda Mendelson, Mary Morgan, Flora Rosefsky, Mary Shisler, Reva Solomon, Deanna Taubman, and Marian Yap.

Helene Aylon, a resident of Westbeth held a book signing at the opening.

BALANCE

Chicago, February 12–16, 2014

The Conference kicked off with the exhibition and panel discussion The Eyes of the Mother, with Korean artists: Kim Sooja, Yun Suknam, Park Youngsook, Jung Jong Mee, Jung Jungyeob, Ryu Jun Hwa, Hong HyunSook, JeongMee Yoon, Song Jin-Hwa, Hong Mi-Sun, Bang Jeongah,  Fi Lee, Byun, Kyung Sub, Jo Sohee, Kim Min Hyung, and US artists: Ruth Weisberg, Ester Hernandez, Rachel Epp Buller, Miriam Schaer, Sandra Matthews, Susan Byrnes, Niku Kashef, Sandra Mueller, Brenda Oelbaum, Helen Redman, Sondra Schwetman.

The Chicago Chapter sponsored national juried exhibition Water: A Universal Human Right was held at Robert Morris Gallery, and the WCA members’ exhibition and concurrent Korean Feminist Art exhibition WCA Best of 2014 Show and Songs For Our Muses was held at ARC Gallery. Equilibrium, the National Juried Show was held at Woman Made Gallery.

This year WCA presented two panels at CAA, The Maternal Body Exposed: Fecundity, Birth Control, and Countering Infertility in Contemporary Art, with Rachel Epp Buller as Chair, and Christina R. Hunter, Discussant, and Water: A Universal Human Right or Commodity? presented by the Chicago Chapter.

Balancing Act: Art, Family, and Other Distractions was presented at the CAA ARTspace and chaired by Niku Kashef, with panelists, Micol Hebron, Kim Abeles, Tierney Gearon, Maria Elena Buszek, Jamie McMurry, Lili Bernard, and Jennie Klein.

BUILDING COMMUNITY

New York, February 13–17, 2013

Highlights of the conference were the JWAN Diaspora Exhibition at New Century Artists Gallery, and the Bound National WCA Exhibition at Phoenix Gallery. WCA held also a Brunch with Luminaries at Mangia Restaurant. Luminaries included Emma Amos, Diane Burko, Faith Ringgold, Ruth Weisberg, and Cynthia Navaretta.

WCA was also represented with two panels at CAA.

WCA Blockbuster Shows: Renewal, Activism & Innovation

Over the last two years, the Women’s Caucus for Art has produced three feminist “blockbuster shows” without the benefit of major grants, corporate sponsorships or museum space: “Man as Object: Reversing the Gaze,” “Petroleum Paradox,” and “Honoring Women’s Rights.” All three shows challenge current prevailing notions regarding blockbuster exhibitions. Panelists will discuss their roles in these exhibitions, their motivations for mounting blockbuster shows, the challenges of aligning individual ambitions with those of teammates and collaborators, and ultimately the factors that led to the success of each endeavor.

Chair: Priscilla Otani, President, WCA
Panelists: Brenda Oelbaum, independent artist
Marcia Annenberg, Teachers College, Columbia University
Karen Gutfreund, Exhibitions Director, WCA
Tanya Augsburg, San Francisco State University
Jill O’Bryan, independent scholar

Building a Legacy for Women Artists

This panel explored ways women artists, art historians, and leaders of art organizations are working to ensure that the art and the records of the lives and accomplishments of women artists are preserved and made known to present and future generations.

Chair: Barbara A. Wolanin, United States Capitol Historical Society

Changing the Future: The Women’s Caucus for Art and The Feminist Art Project
Anne Swartz, Savannah College of Art and Design

Etched in Memory: Rutgers Institute for Women and Art, Feminist Art Activism, and Legacy Building at a Public Institution
Ferris Olin, Institute for Women and Art, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Making History: Art, Gender, and the Women’s Museum Susan Fisher Sterling, National Museum of Women in the Arts

Women Artists’ Legacies: Forming Foundations and Documenting Works, Joan Marter, Woman’s Art Journal

The Sylvia Sleigh Legacy Campaign, Janice Nesser-Chu, St. Louis Community College, Florissant Valley

MOMENTUM

Los Angeles, February 23–77, 2012

2012 marked the 40th Anniversary of WCA. WCA members and friends traveled from across the country for what was a diverse, exciting and fun celebration that included panels, book signings, speakers, exhibitions, bus tours, workshops, awards and a gala.

WCA kicked off the conference with a preview of the national WCA exhibition Momentum and an artists’ panel at Gallery 825. Thursday was a jam-packed day of panels, performances, networking and exhibitions. The day began with 40th Anniversary Opening Session at the Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens that included a meet and greet for chapter reps and two wonderful panels:

Hour of Activism: Another Year with the YoungWC
This event spotlights the YoungWC’s year of engaged activism including the Ragdoll Project: Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign, the WCA Art & Social Justice Conference, Feminist Tea Party at NYFA, and Hapa Bruthas.
From a Whisper to a Roar: An Intimate Dialogue with California Artists
The panel format was designed by Suzanne Lacy and stimulated intimate dialogue between the panelists and engaged the audience in a focused and exciting dialogue including topics: “Woman, Artist, and Activism,” and “Community Engagement and Professionalism.” The panel was Moderator: Linda Vallejo. Panelists included: Margaret Alarcon, Nao Bustamante, Kathy Gallegos, Suzanne Jackson, Felicia Montes, Amitis Motevalli, Noni Olabisi, Patricia Rodriguez, Nancy Uyemura, Diana Shui-iu Wong, and Seeroon Yeretzian.

WCA presented its first Media Award to filmmaker and feminist Lynn Hershman Leeson at the Democracy Now Center. The evening included a special tribute to Leeson given by Art historian Tanya Augsburg, the presentation of the award by WCA President Janice Nesser-Chu and President Elect Brenda Oelbaum and a special viewing of Lesson’s film !Women Art Revolution.

WCA panels at CAA: Multiplicities in Dialogue: From Political Caucus to Engaged Community—Forty Years of WCA: Celebrating History. Five paired dialogues offering a sampling of contemporary models for innovative artistic engagement inspired and informed by historical feminist perspectives, and 40 Years Of WCA— Irregular Experiences: Multigenerational Stories of Feminists in Art, moderated by Diane Burko, Artist and WCA 2011 Awards Recepient.

The Momentum bus tour, which includes the In Wonderland: Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States exhibit at LACMA, and the WCA exhibition, Momentum: Celebrating 40 Years of WCA Women Artists at Gallery 825.

The 33rd annual Lifetime Achievement Awards presentation at the Kyoto Hotel.  This year, the Women’s Caucus for Art honored 8 women whose momentum embody the mission of the WCA: Whitney Chadwick, Suzanne Lacy, Ferris Olin, Trinh T. Minh-ha, and Bernice Steinbaum and President’s Art & Activism Awardees, Karen Mary Davalos and Cathy Salser. (Lynn Hershman Leeson was honored in a separate ceremony).

The gala also featured the preview of two WCA videos: Women’s Caucus for Art Herstory 1972–2012 and
WCA 40 Years of Art Making—a virtual exhibition of work from current WCA members.

Womens Caucus for Art Herstory 1972–2012

WCA 40 Years of Art Making—a virtual exhibition of work from current WCA members.

LIVE SPACE: women + art + activism

New York, February 10–12, 2011

LIVE SPACE: art that is happening in the moment and is energetic, stimulating and electric.

LIVE SPACE happened not only all over New York City, but also in cities across the country through blogging, tweeting and YouTube. It included panels, exhibitions and performances, museum and gallery tours, and networking and chapter council sessions. WCA Lifetime Achievement Awards Honorees were Beverly Buchanan, Diane Burko, Ofelia Garcia, Joan Marter, Carolee Schneemann, and Sylvia Sleigh. Maria Torres received the 2011 President’s Award for Art & Activism.

Live Space special offerings included: Thursday Welcome Confab was facilitated by Sandra Mueller. It included the KISS art project with Suzanne Whittaker, screening of the FEMLINK video, a New York chapter meet-up and chapter’s council overview with Ulla Barr, launch of the “Knit In” and the “Ask Me, I will Tell” panel moderated by Yulia Tikhonova and the members of “The Brainstormers”, “For the Birds Collective” and Feminist Tea Party groups. WCA Panel at CAA was standing-room only. “Live Space: Women, Art and Activism,” was moderated by C. M. Judge with Carolee Schneemann, Elizabeth Streb and Paula Rendino Zaentz as panelists. The Friday screening of the 7th Annual Video Shorts Festival also drew a strong crowd. Thursday Gallery Spree opened uptown with Sanctuaries in Time at the Kraft Center for Jewish Life at Columbia/Barnard College and then moved onto to Chelsea for openings of the Control show at Ceres, Young Women’s Caucus performances hosted by Bonnie MacAllister at Raandesk Gallery, and a TFAP conversation at the Flomenhaft Gallery.

The Brooklyn Museum of Art Tour & Hidden Cities Reception began with Catherine Morris, director of the Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art introducing Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party and New Work by Lorna Simpson followed by New Beginnings, the WCA exhibit at the Callahan Center, St. Francis College. Then, it was onto Hidden Cities, the 2011 national exhibition at the New Century Artists Gallery in Chelsea featured works by 43 women artists selected by Lisa Phillips, director of the New Museum. 

2011 New York Women’s Caucus for Art ‘Live Space’ Conference & Lifetime Achievement Awards

WCA JWAN 2011 Exhibition ‘Sanctuaries in Time’

FROM THE CENTER

Chicago, February 10–15, 2010

The WCA 2010 conference ‘From the Center’ was an ‘out of the box’, energizing experience that included thought provoking panels, a welcome reception featuring the premiere viewing of cutting edge selections from our national Video Arts competition, a ‘Centering’ workshop and two  bus tours that focused on the emerging and highly touted Chicago art scenes. For the first time, the Lifetime Achievement Awards events moved out of the usual hotel ballroom to the beautiful landmark Chicago Cultural Center. The Cultural Center is considered to be ‘one of the most comprehensive art showcases in the United States.’

The 4 panel discussions included 3 panels at CAA and a panel at the Beverly Arts Center on the work of the Young WC Caucus. WCA Panels at the College Art Association (CAA) Conference:
Investigating the Need for Women’s Art Galleries, Exhibitions and Organizations: From Our Center
Chair: Janice Nesser-Chu, President Elect, WCA Moderator: Melissa H. Potter, Columbia College Chicago, Interdisciplinary Arts Department and Panelist:s Joyce Owens, Art and Design Department, Chicago State University and Sapphire and Crystals Artist Collective Beate Minkovski, Executive Director, Woman Made Gallery Joanna Gardner-Huggett, Associate Professor, History of Art and Architecture, DePaul University and Amy Galpin, San Diego Museum of Art Fellow, formerly Illinois Regional Coordinator, The Feminist Art Project and Gallery Coordinator, Woman Made Gallery.

The Power of the Image: Studio Artist and Civil Society
Co-Chairs: Fay Grajower, VP, WCA and Marsha Heck, Chapters’ Ccouncil, WCA. Panelists: Yvonne Petkus, Western Kentucky University, Beatriz Mejia-Krumbein, La Sierra University and Brett Cook and Wendy Ewald, Amherst College.

WCA Welcome Reception and Screening of the winners of the International Video Shorts Festival
Chair: Leslie Hume, Video Shorts Curator and Keynote address: Verena Mund, film author, curator, professor, organizer and co-juror for the 2010 Video Competition. Mund’s credits include: Co-Director of Feminale, International Women’s Film Festival, Cologne; selection committee, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany, and coeditor Working Girls, Zur Ökonomie von Liebe und Arbeit.

Receptions for From the Center, the national exhibit juried by Lucy Lippard at Woman Made Gallery and for Off Center, the exhibit of the Chicago WCA chapter at ARC Gallery. Plus, receptions for JWAN’s Drawing The Line exhibition and for the screening of the International Video Shorts with juror’s remarks by film author Verena Mund. The Chicago WCA Chapter also hosted a reception to accompany their 2010 Awards for ‘Excellence in the Arts’ to five outstanding women arts professionals from their region.

 The 2010 Lifetime Awards Recipients were Tritobia Hayes Benjamin, Mary Jane Jacob, Senga Nengudi, Joyce J. Scott, and Spiderwomen Theater. Juana Guzman and Karen Reimer received the President’s Awards.

‘From The Center’ National Exhibition

CONFAB

Los Angeles, February 25 – March 1, 2009

Running concurrent with the annual meeting of the College Art Association, the 2009 WCA Confab included panels, exhibitions, public art and museum tours, book signings, Lifetime Achievement Awards, networking opportunities and Town Hall and Chapter’s Council sessions. The Museum of Contemporary Art hosted the national board meeting on March 2nd. Specific Confab offerings included:

“Breaking in Two and Mending: Art and Motherhood,”  the WCA sponsored panel at CAA was moderated by Margaret Lazzari with Kim Abeles, Bruria Finkel, Cheri Gaulke, Tierney Gearon, Alison Saar, Sabine Sighicelli, Linda Vallejo, Ruth Weisberg, Alicia Weisberg-Roberts and Kim Yasuda. A preview of filmmaker Sabine Sighicelli’s documentary was also shown. Karen Frostig of Boston and Martina Reuter of Vienna moderated the WCA session at CAA “Inventive Concepts: Models of Participatory Leadership in the Arts” that explored strategies for working as a a collective, a coalition or affiliate group.

Metro Public Art Tour with artists May Sun, Cheri Gaulke and Joyce Kozloff  in downtown Los Angeles , a Feminist Tour of the Norton Simon Museum with arts consultant and SCWCA member Margaret Danielak and an EcoArt Meet Up with artist Kim Abeles in downtown Los Angeles and Artist Conversation with Freyda Miller at New Dimensions Gallery in Westwood.

WOMEN ARTISTS ON IMMIGRATION (http://www.scwca.org/event/exImmigration.php) reception with WCA’s International Video Shorts Fest at Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles. The exhibition featured the artwork of 40 women artists from the Pacific Region selected by Alma Ruiz, curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
Metro Public Art Tour with artists May Sun, Cheri Gaulke and Joyce Kozloff  in downtown Los Angeles , a Feminist Tour of the Norton Simon Museum with arts consultant and SCWCA member Margaret Danielak and an EcoArt Meet Up with artist Kim Abeles in downtown Los Angeles and Artist Conversation with Freyda Miller at New Dimensions Gallery in Westwood.

Women Artists on Immigration reception with WCA’s International Video Shorts Fest at Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles. The exhibition featured the artwork of 40 women artists from the Pacific Region selected by Alma Ruiz, curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

The Feminist Art Project hosted a day of panels:  Black Women, But, Are They Feminists?, Salon Des Refuses, Transnational Feminism, Artists Converse on Feminism and Women Performance Artists.

30th Anniversary Lifetime Achievement Awards honored Maren Hassinger, Ester Hernandez, Joyce Kozloff, Margo Machida and Ruth Weisberg. Susan Fisher Sterling of the National Museum for Women in the Arts and artist Catherine Opie received the 2009 Presidents Awards. 

WCA Art & Activism Day included a national Town Hall Meeting organized by the SCWCA chapter with Barbara T. Smith performing her A Meditation in Time and Like Water on Rock exhibition reception at the American Jewish University followed by a private tour with Judy Baca at SPARC and a visit to  the Suzanne Jackson exhibition at Laband Gallery at LMU.

DALLAS 2008

WCA arranged 3 days of bus tours to visit several Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter coordinated events: Passionate Pursuit: Capturing the American Women’s Movement in Art, photographs taken since the 70s by Dr. Alessandra Comini at the Meadows Museum, the South Side-on-Lamar Gallery for Broadview Intersection: Texas Women Artists, and the WCA International Committee Eco-Postcard Auction organized by Priscilla Otani, WCA President.

The tour also took members to the Icehouse gallery to see Straight Clay from Texas Women and Dallas Contemporary, to the Firehouse for Katrina Diaries, to the Arlington Museum to see the National Juried Show, and finished at the Women’s Museum to see the JWAN exhibiton: In the Beginning…

WCA also had a table at the CAA bookfair and held a reception for the “Blaze” authors, Karen Frostig and Kathy Halamka, and held a WCA/CAA Panel.

New York 2007

WCA celebrated with the CAA a day of panels. A day of exciting short discussion panels, organized by the late Arlene Raven and Anne Swartz in association with The Feminist Art Project (TFAP)
Are We There Yet? The Status and Impact of Second-and Third-Wave Feminism, Women’s Art, the Women’s Art Movement, and ‘Feminist Art’ —Chair: Anne Swartz, Savannah, College of Art and Design.
Feminism, Women, and Museum —Chair: Elizabeth Mansfield, University of the South.
As the Feminine Became Public (or) Regendering PublicArt —Chair: Suzanne Lacy, Otis College of Art and Design.
Back to the Front—Chair: Helena Reckitt, independent critic and curator. Occupying Our Hearts: Performing Self-Transformation through Feminist Art —Chair: Joanna Frueh, University of Nevada. Life of the Mind, Life of the Market: A Reevaluation of the Contribution of Theory to Feminist Art from 1980 to 2006 —Chair: Mira Schor, painter and writer. American Art and Sexual Trauma —Chair: Vivian Fryd, Vanderbilt University.

WCA 35th Anniversary Celebration with several workshops and a small work exchange.
Preparing an Artist’s Statement – Ruth Waters / The ABC’s and 123’s of being Not-for Profit – Margaret Lutze / Building Momentum with WACK! and the SCWCA – Sandra Mueller / Exhibiting Internationally and Regionally – Tricia Grame and Patricia Rodriguez / Blaze: Publishing Women’s Writing on Art – Karen Frostig and Kathy Halamka / Collaborating with the Community – Regional Exchanges

Exhibitions and a International Video Shorts Film Festival
words within Jewish Women Artists’ Network (JWAN) at the Kraft Center for Jewish Life Columbia/Barnard University, juried by Laura Kruger, Curator of the Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion Museum / Her-Humanity at Casa Freia Gallery, 47 West 119th, cocurated by Lawrence Rodriguez, Director, Casa Freia Gallery; and Noreen Dean Dresser, Director, Parlour 153 / New Media Caucus International Video Shorts Film Festival at Barnard, juried by Sheryl Mousley, Curator of Film/Video at the Walker Center in Minneapolis.

WCA members were also involved in several other panels
The Art of Being Global: International Art of International Artists, Chair: Laurie T. Hall; Albert Einstein College of Medicine Dizz/placement: Half Moon Eyes, Mina Cheon, Maryland Inst.Col. of Art; The New Great Game: The New Colonization in Globalization, Sarina Khan Reddy, Eastman Kodak Company Research Laboratories; Plays Well with Others: Opportunity for Artists in the Global Village, Daria Dorosh, University of East London; Compassionate Actions: Art Envisions a World without Borders, Lisa Marie Kaftori, artist, Israel; Joan Giroux, Columbia College, Chicago; Speaking into the Silence, Karen Frostig, Lesley University; Future Minded: On the Resiliency of Feminism in the Arts, Chair Dena Muller.

DIGGING DEEPER TO BUILD NEW PARADIGMS

Boston 2006

Conference co-chairs: Kathy Halamka, Karen Frostig and Cynthia Runge
Exhibitions Chair: Kathy Halamka
Panel Program Chair: Karen Frostig

The Boston Conference, tallying 180 attendees, included the following highlights:

Board meeting and chapters’ council meetings, two days of panel programming, an international festival of video shorts

Two  national and one regional exhibitions: The Kniznick Gallery at the Brandeis University Women Studies Research Center, juried by Raphaela Platow, curator of the Rose Museum at Brandeis University and by Wendy Tarlow Kaplan; Hebrew College, juried by Deborah Davidson; and Mayyim Hayyim, juried by Judi Rotenburg Ross and Abigail Ross Goodman

An elegant Honoree Banquet and Honoree Award Ceremony at the Sheraton Hotel, a key-note address by Coco Fusco from Columbia University, who discussed her latest project regarding the use of women in the military.

In addition to these events, conference co-chairs introduced new elements: pre-conference, off-site panels, a formal convocation ceremony; a book table featuring assorted titles by and about panelists and honorees; a 25-hour audio-visual tape documenting the entire conference (a two-hour disk is now on sale on the National and Boston chapter web sites); an open-mic/annual meeting session, soliciting input from WCA members. The conference also produced five additional exhibitions at various local venues that ran concurrently with the conference, and represented the coordinated efforts of three chapters—Boston, New Hampshire, and Central Mass.

The conference coincided with a fortuitous invitation from Cambridge Scholars Press (UK), to publish the conference proceedings.  One year later, we are in the later stages of publishing a new text, Blaze: Discourse on Art, Women and Feminism, which features 31 essays emanating from the conference panels.

Watch the YOU TUBE Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF8MKw1yvTI

GENDER IN MOTION

Atlanta 2005

Chaired by Ann Rowles and hosted by the Atlanta Chapter

Dale Osterle, longtime Board Member, collects Raffle money for LTA celebration.

OUR PLACE

Seattle 2004

Chaired by Jennifer Colby and co-sponsored by the Pacific Region to discuss women exploring “our place” in the art world and art history as well as in connection to land, home, and community.

NEW YORK 2003

Chaired by Dena Muller and Melissa Wolf

This conference offered a forum to investigate the current state of the arts, build networks of women in the arts professions, and explore how our history can guide us into the future.

BRIDGING GENERATIONS: PAINTING THE PICTURE

Philadelphia 2002

The thriving WCA Philadelphia Chapter launched a new format conference aimed at attracting a generation of young women actively engaged in the visual arts professions.

The 30th Annual Women’s Caucus for Art Conference included two days of panel discussions, a slide share, the Lifetime Achievement Awards and visiting museums and galleries, the conference also featured the unveiling of a mural project designed and painted by Michelle Ortiz, Philadelphia muralist, and organized by members of the Young Women’s Caucus for Art of the Philadelphia Chapter, in conjunction with the Mural Arts Program.

CHICAGO 2001

The Chicago Chapter of WCA honored five local women who have contributed to the women’s art movement. Hollis Sigler, Francis Callaway Parks, Arlene Rakonkay, Joyce Neimanas, and Mary Dougherty. Keynote Speaker Karen Finley presented part of her new piece on women mentoring women written in collaboration with Miriam Shapiro and Gloria Steinem. Karen Finley was born in Chicago where she attended the Art Institute of Chicago and received her Masters in Fine Arts. Her work has been shown in the U.S. Europe South America, Asia, and Australia.

The Chicago Chapter sponsored a National exhibition held in conjunction with the WCA National Conference. The exhibition was held at Artemisia Gallery. An exhibition at Beacon Street Gallery was also featured during the conference.

INITIATIVES 2000

New York 2000

Chaired by Janet Luongo

The keynote speech was given by Howardena Pindell. The conference included a mix of marketing workshops organized by Sharon Vatsky, and one WCA/CAA joint panel (to rewrite 20th century American art history to include women) with Betsy Damon. The conference provided an opportunity for attendees to meet, network, and share their slides.

There were wonderful WCA exhibitions. The Phoenix exhibits were curated by Winn Rae and Naomi Grossman. Devorah Sperber did extraordinary work organizing ELEMENTS 2000 at seven sites in three boroughs.

The conference provided a venue to continue one of the most important traditions of the WCA—the recognition of women of commitment and achievement through the Annual Lifetime Achievement Awards. Lowery Sims presented the President’s Award to Gallery Director Bernice Steinbaum. Imna Arroyo presented the Northeast Regional Recognition Award to Susana Torruella Leval, Director of El Museo del Barrio.

The few hundred dollars earned through a letter of appeal will be used to seed the “initiatives” Scholarships to the conference were provided by the National WCA. A great success of the conference is that women in NYC are meeting to restart the chapter; and have already over thirty new members!

Conference chair Janet Luongo gives special thanks to C.M. Judge, whose personal care of each individual registrant made their stay in New York a warm one. The hard work of many went into this event including: E. Margaret Curley Clay, Betsy Damon, Cynthia Mills, Sharon Vatsky, Beatrice Schall, Jiayi Ling, Winn Rae, Devorah Sperber, Naomi Grossman, Imna Arroyo, Mary Bucci McCoy, Jean Towgood, Francia, Virginia Zic, Heidi Bollock, Denise Mumm, Gail Tremblay, Sheila Benedis, Alison Berman, Diana Boehnert, Hilda Demsky, Susan Knight, Linda Gilbert-Schneider, and Ellen Smith.

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LOS ANGELES 1999

Hosted by the WCA Southern California Chapter

June Wayne gave the opening address, and Coco Fusco was Keynote Speaker. The conference began with a day of tours and a day of workshops then followed by two days of panel discussions. Jean Towgood, a seasoned conference organizer and former national WCA President, and Ada Pullini Brown, SCWCA President were the Conference Co-chairs.

The hard work of many went into this event including: Betty Brown, Sandra Rowe, Lucy-Blake Elahi, Margaret Lazzari, Janice DeLoof, Patricia Lazalde, Anita Miranda, Debra Krall, Diana Hobstetter, Scarlet Chang and Rosalie Friis-Ross.
Scholarships were given to sixteen women for free conference registration, money for airfare, and/or free hotel rooms. The SCWCA Board created a small endowment fund for the chapter and gave donations to the National WCA and two not-for-profit arts organizations in LA which support women in the arts.

CARVING THE FORCES OF CHANGE: CELEBRATING WOMEN IN THE ARTS

Philadelphia 1997

Held at the Doubletree Hotel, in Philadelphia, marked the WCA’s 25th Anniversary. A commemorative poster was produced, featuring the image “Sonia Delaunay and Me” by artist Miriam Schapiro. A round table discussion, “Recalling Our History: Envisioning the Future,” was led by visionary pioneers in the WCA. They highlighted the achievement of many of our early goals, the vitality of our organization, and the enduring capacity of our Statement of Purpose as a guide in forging new roads ahead. The 1997 National Conference provided an enthusiastic audience and the collaboration of committed art professionals who embraced our mission, highlighting women’s’ contributions to the arts.

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BEIJING AND BEYOND

New York 1996

International Traveling Exhibition organized by Carole Kauffman and Beth Racette and supported by WCA members throughout the nation. Multiplism as a Feminist Strategy Eastern Regional Exhibition, curated by Devorah Sperber, Robin Hill and Jane Engram Allen at the Phoenix Gallery in New York City, and organized by the New York Chapter Celebrating Women in the Arts  National Office Inaugural Exhibition organized by Carole Kauffman and Cornelia Muñoz.

COLLECTIVE DIVERSITIES/NEW DIRECTIONS

New York 1994
February 14–17, 1994

The 22nd Annual WCA National Conference, Collective Diversities/New Directions, chaired by Clarissa Sligh, Linda Cunningham, and Susan Grabel was held in NYC, February 14-17, 1994, at the St. Moritz Hotel with evening panels at downtown spaces to reach a broader audience. The conference was organized around the participation of many different groups and women of many identities working on issues of empowerment, education, communication and healing.

Feminist scholar, bell hooks, led the way with her keynote address. Local chapter members gave insider tours of restaurants and galleries, culminating in the opening reception of the national juried exhibition, The Women’s Health Show. The show was chaired by Beth Racette and Carol Goebel and was a mini-conference in itself with video screenings, performances and panels. The Honor Awards Ceremony and exhibition was held at the Queens Museum of Art for Mary Adams, Maria Enriquez de Allen, Beverly Pepper, Faith Ringgold, Rachel Rosenthal and Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein. Sharon Vatsky and Jane Farver curated the show which was organized by Janet Goldner, Chapter Honors Chair and Charleen Touchette, National Honors Chair. With over twenty panels in two days, this whirlwind of a conference was made possible by the hard work of the NYC Chapter members and board committed to and working towards a women’s movement connecting all classes, races and generations. 

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“Winning! ERA and Women in the Political Arena”

New Orleans, Louisiana 1980
Jan 30–Feb 1, 1980

Three major exhibitions featuring the work of women artists are being held as part of the national Women’s Caucus for Art 1980 Conference in New Orleans. “A Decade of Women’s Performance Art,” followed by two exhibitions of work by Southern women open at the Hanson Galleries in the French Quarter: “Louisiana Premiere: Women Artists” and “Southern Exposure: Selections by Women Artists.“
Suzanne Lacy’s “River Meeting: Lives of Delta Women”, a dinner/performance event, serves to involve conference goers and their hostesses in private homes with a network of community participants to celebrate contributions of women. E. M. Broner, author of “A Weave of Women” and Rosemary Daniel, poet­ author of “Fatal Flowers: On Sin, Sex and Suicide in the Deep South”, add a literary dimension to this event; Mary Beth Edelson, New York artist, con­ tributes a ritual performance.

This year’s awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Visual Arts honor: Anni Albers, weaver/designer/printmaker; Louise Bourgeois, sculptor; Caroline Durieux, graphic artist; Ida Kohlmeyer, painter; Lee Krasner, painter.

“A Decade of Women’s Performance Art” consists of photographic murals and videotape documentation as well as live performance. Participants are: Laurie Anderson, Eleanor Antin, Jackie Apple, Nancy Buchanan, Betsy Damon, Mary Beth Edelson, Lynn Hershmann, Poppy Johnson, Leslie Labowitz, Suzanne Lacy, Linda Montano, Pauline Oliveros, Yvonne Rainer, Carolee Schneeman, Bonnie Sherk, Barbara T. Smith and others.

Kate Millett, author of “Sexual Politics and The Basement”, is speaking at the Contemporary Arts Center on Wednesday, January 30th at 11 a.m. She will talk about her sculptural work “The Cages.”

See the full Press Release

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CHICAGO 1976

February 1–4, 1976

The events opened with a Workshop: Changing the Art World Structure by Cindy Nemser. Panelists, Dorothy Gillespie of the Feminist Art Journal, Alice Baber of Women’s Interart Center NYC, and Diane Burko, Philadelphia Community College.

Followed by Women Scholars in the Arts, A Progress Report by Claire R. Sherman and Adele M. Holcomb.

The evening ended with a panel Women Artists Speak on Women Artists, chaired by Miriam Schapiro.

Ora Lerman on Isabel Bishop, Mira Schor on Leonor Tawney, Johnnie Johnson on Diane Arbus, Martha Edelheit on Rosa Bonheur, Sylvia Sleigh on Dame Laura Knight, and May Stevens on Leonora Carrington.

The following day, the Panel: Androgynous Aspects of Art, chaired by Mary Stoppert, with Dr. Jean Gillies, Meredith Rode and Miriam Schapiro.  See program for details.

The afternoon panel Women in Museums: How to Succeed by Really Trying was presented by H. Diane Russell and Bernice Davidson.

The day ended with the CAA Convocation Address: Of Men, Women, and Art by Linda Nochlin.

Some special events for women were held at Women’s Graphics Collective and Center Focus, A Video Event. This event featured YOU MUST SEE THIS! Videos by and for Louise Bourgeois, Agnes Martin, Alice Neel, Betty Parsons, Lynda Benglis, Hermine Freed, Nancy Graves, Anais Nin, Nancy Grossman, Louise Nevelson, Lucy Lippard, Marcia Tucker and many more.

WASHINGTION DC 1975

January 22–25, 1975

The 63rd Annual Meeting of College Art Association of America at the Hilton Hotel, Washington DC.

Highlights of the WCA/CAA Panels were, Impressionsism, Barbara White, chair. Papers on Degas’ Misogyny (Norma Broude), and Mary Cassatt’s Mural of Modern Woman (Ruth Iskin).

Women/Artists/Filmmakers, Inc. of New York presented a selection of eleven short films by Susan Brockman, Doris Chase, Martha Edelheit, Silvianna Goldsmith, Nancy Kendall, Maria Lassnig, Carole Schneemann, Rosalind Schneider, Patricia Sloane, Olga Spiegel, Alida Walsh. (Woments Caucus Center.)

WCA Workshops (see link for full details)

1. Women and the E.E.O.C. led by Elsa H. Fine.

2. Teaching Processes, by Women, For Women, About Women, conducted by Hylarie McMahon.

3. Men and Women in Art: Power and Money, moderated by Mary Beth Edelson.

The last session of the day was by Alessandra Comini, who chaired the Panel Modern Art 1, which presented several papers concerning images of women. The day ended with a cocktail reception at the Women’s Caucus Center.