Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 1981
Abstract
What commitment is the Association prepared to make to women's studies in the visual arts? Judging from the 1981 Convention the question is not an easy one to answer. On the one hand, the program promised several exhibits and eight sessions involving visual materials; on the other, several of these plans were canceled or rendered ineffective by scheduling probl ems. The art gallery was closed, I was told, because the exhibit of tree-spirit masks failed to materialize and the space was too large for Brenda Verner's "Americana." Betty La Duke's etchings and drawings were displayed in the busy Women's Center lounge without adequate documentation. I never located the woodcuts by Blyth e Follet-Colon. Six of the eight sessions were scheduled in conflict with each other. The only session on Asian women artists was canceled. I assume that all these problems were the result of unfortunate but unavoidable circumstances. But my real concern is this: only two (or at most three) of the 272 sessions actually discussed works of art created by minority women. Surely such works should have been closer to the center of our attention at a Convention devoted to the task of understanding the effects of racism. Surely the works are not so well known that we can afford to pass over them without comment.