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The Women’s Caucus of Art (WCA) began at CAA in 1972 and broke off to become an independent organization in 1974. Their mission is to create community through art, education, and social activism. recognizing the contribution of women in the arts; providing women with leadership opportunities and professional development; expanding networking and exhibition opportunities for women; supporting local, national and global art activism; and advocating for equity in the arts for all. The organization is still active with many local branches and as an Affiliated Society of CAA holds an annual meeting held in conjunction with CAA.  It has awarded prizes for lifetime achievement to many of the (now) best-known American women artists, beginning in 1978 with Isabel Bishop, Louise Nevelson, Georgia O’Keeffe, Selma Burke, and Alice Neel.

Each year since 1979, the WCA presented an exhibition of honorees’ work in conjunction with their national conference. In 1994, the exhibition took place at the Queens Museum of Art, showing work by Mary Adams, Maria Enriques de Allen, Beverly Pepper, Faith Ringgold, Rachel Rosenthal, and Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein. Ringgold and Rubinstein were active WCA members at the time.

Explore the exhibition through archival photographs below!

All images courtesy of the Queens Museum, New York.

 

Cover of the WCA catalog for the 1994 exhibit at the Queens Museum of Art. See more WCA exhibition catalogs on their website.

 

Opening of WCA’s 1994 exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art. Quilt works by honoree, Faith Ringgold.

 

Opening of WCA’s 1994 exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art. Rachel Rosenthal (right) was the first performance artist ever to be a WCA Honoree.

 

Opening of WCA’s 1994 exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art.

 

Opening of WCA’s 1994 exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art.

 

Opening of WCA’s 1994 exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art.

 

Opening of WCA’s 1994 exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art. Award recipient, Beverly Pepper’s work, The Todi Columns, 1979.

 

Opening of WCA’s 1994 exhibition at the Queens Museum of Art. Award recipient Mary Adams’s work, Wedding Cake Basket. Adams was the first Native American Honoree from the Mohawk Nation and had started making baskets when she was ten years old.

 


In 1972, CAA founded its first committees devoted to women in the arts. As a part of this yearlong 50th anniversary celebration, we are sharing historic materials from CAA members and archives that intersect with feminism at the organization, including CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts (CWA) and our Affiliated Societies, Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA) and The Feminist Art Project (TFAP).

This celebration culminates in a program and reception at Boston University’s Joan and Edgar Booth Theatre on Friday, September 23, 2022. This program will reflect upon the incredible history of feminist pioneers at the organization while looking toward a more inclusive, equitable future through the continued work of the CWA. The members of CWA are carrying the torch of feminism during this crucial time of precarity for women’s rights.

Over the next couple months, visit this site (CAA News) and our social media pages to explore more about this history and items from our archives.

Filed under: Affiliated Societies, Committees — Tags: