Committees
Committee on Women in the Arts
Description
The Committee on Women in the Arts promotes the scholarly study and recognition of the contributions by women to the visual arts; advocates feminist scholarship and activism in art; develops partnerships with organizations with compatible missions; monitors the status of women in the visual-arts professions; and researches and provides historic and current resources on feminist issues.
Recent Projects
The Committee on Women in the Arts is currently researching useful published studies, both on paper and online, on the status of women in the arts; working with CAA to analyze the status of women in through CAA questionnaires and database; and collaborating with CAA affiliated societies such as ArtTable, the Feminist Art Project, and the Women’s Caucus for Art (whose memberships often overlap membership). The committee is also collaborating with other CAA committees—Diversity Practices, Education, and Student and Emerging Professionals—for the CAA Centennial celebration in 2011, while also pursuing ideas of its own, such as holding an exhibition or symposium in New York that will trace the history of women in the garment industry (which will commemorate the centennial of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire). Research for funding sources for women in the arts is also an ongoing project.
CWA Picks
Each month, the commmittee presents a selection of exhibitions, conferences, symposia, panels, lectures, and other events related to feminist art and scholarship for the CWA Picks.
Annual Recognition Awards
From 1996 to 2008, the Committee on Women in the Arts held an Annual Recognition Awards Ceremony at the CAA Annual Conference. At its October 2007 meeting, the CAA Board of Directors voted to establish a twelfth Award for Distinction, the Distinguished Feminist Award, which honors a person who, through his or her art, scholarship, or advocacy, has advanced the cause of equality for women in the arts. The Distinguished Feminist Award replaces the committee’s Annual Recognition Award.
Survey on the Status of Women and People of Color in Art-History Faculty
The Survey on the Status of Women and People of Color in Art-History Faculty was prepared by the Committee on Women in the Arts, chaired by Kathleen MacQueen and Marjorie Och, April 1996–April 1998.
2010 Annual Conference
The following committee-sponsored sessions took place at the 2010 Annual Conference in Chicago.
International Perspectives on the Legacy of American Feminist Art and Art Histories
Thursday, February 11, 12:30 PM–2:00 PM
Regency D, Gold Level, West Tower, Hyatt Regency Chicago
Chair: Kathleen Wentrack, Queensborough Community College, City University of New York
Feminisms: Struggle and Choice in the New China
Monika Lin, artist and independent curator, Shanghai
Surfin’ the Third Wave: European Perspectives on Feminism
Bettina Steinbruegge, independent critic, curator, and art historian, Berlin
Challenging Orientalism: Contemporary Feminist Art from Northern Africa
Cynthia Becker, Boston University
Reluctant Proletariat Divas: Embracing Feminism in Postrevolutionary Cuba—A Narrative of Slow Motion toward Freedom
Maria Magdalena Campos Pons, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Committee Members
Diane Burko, Philadelphia Community College, chair (2011)
Maria Elena Buszek, Kansas City Art Institute (2012)
Frima Fox Hofrichter, Pratt Institutue (2011)
Richard Meyer, University of Southern California (2013)
Maura Reilly, independent curator, New York (2013)
Rebecca Rushfield, independent conservator, New York, American Institute for Conservation liaison (2012)
Andrea Rusnock, Indiana University, South Bend (2012)
Amy Ingrid Schlegel, Tufts University Art Gallery, CAA board liaison
Kathleen Wentrack, Queensborough Community College, City University of New York (2012)
Barbara A. Wolanin, Architect of the Capitol (2011)
