MINUTES

STATEWIDE MEETING

University of Florida, Gainesville

April 21, 2007

Attending: Melissa Hyde, Karen Bearor, Lesley Gamble and Mary Jo Aagerstoun

The agenda for the meeting was presented (see below). Karen Bearor said it was important to get the history of TFAP-Florida correct. The true beginning of TFAP in Florida was at an organizing meeting for TFAP nationwide held during CAA in February, 2006. Karen gave a presentation at that meeting, and was invited to coordinate the activities in Florida by Ferris Olin, a member of the National Coordinating Committee for TFAP, and one of the two principals at the Rutgers (the other is Judy Brodsky) Institute for Women and Art which is acting as the central focal point for the project. Karen also distributed a handout which contains events in Florida currently listed on the main TFAP website (http://feministartproject.rutgers.edu/calendar). These are: Betye Saar: Extending the Frozen Moment, at the Norton Museum, West Palm Beach, March 18-June 11, 2006; “Women on the Rise” presentation by Jillian Hernandez in Coconut Grove, August 2006; Origins – exhibition at FSU/Tallahassee, Aug-Nov 2006; Lorna Simpson, Miami Art Museum, Oct 2006-Feb 2007; Call for abstracts, Feminism and Aesthetics, December 2007; Linda Stein exhibition, Boca Raton, Jan-Feb 2007; Craft Women and Rebel Grrls, MoCA Goldman Warehouse, Mar-June 2007; Breaching Borders: Feminist Activism and Art (panel), MoCa at Goldman Warehouse, May 2007.

Mary Jo Aagerstoun reported on TFAP-Fl accomplishments since the first organizing meeting of TFAP-FL in Miami, June 6, 2006, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami. These included: the FSU “origins” exhibition; development of TFAP-FL’s logo and visual identity, designed probono by TFAP-Fl colleague Mary Dwyer; the “virtual exhibition” during Art Basel Miami Beach 2006 (Mary Jo provided copies of the cards designed and distributed during ABMB, that publicized and recommended particular exhibitions featuring women artists, with an emphasis on commercial galleries, alternative spaces and University and other museums in Miami). Copies of the call to artists for the boxed suite of photographs by Florida women photographers being coordinated by Bernice Steinbaum (which will be a fundraiser for TFAP-FL. Artists selected will receive honoraria amounting to a total of 60% of proceeds after the costs of production. Any remaining funds will accrue to TFAP-FL). It is anticipated that 10 suites will be created, and sold for $10,000 each. The deadline for receipt of jpgs for the jurying process is May 5th, 2007.

Mary Jo also announced that the Rutgers Institute for Women and Art, which coordinates TFAP nationally, will act as the fiscal sponsor for TFAP-FL. Details on how the relationship will work, namely, who pays bills, how contributions will be handled, etc. are still being worked out. Mary Jo noted that Rutgers had been approached to take on this responsibility since 6 organizations in Florida who regularly provide fiscal sponsorship for new organizations had turned down TFAP-FL. Under this arrangement, TFAP-Fl is seen as a part of the Rutgers Institute for Women and Art, and therefore covered under the University’s 501-C-3 status.

Mary Jo also distributed MoCA NoMi’s invitation for the re-presentation of TFAP-FL’s panel, “Breaching Borders” to be held at MoCA’s Goldman Warehouse 12-2 PM, Saturday, May 5th. The panel was originally created and presented at the February, 2007 conference of the Florida Consortium for Women’s and Gender Studies, a two-year old:

“…state-wide coalition of Women's Studies/Gender Studies Departments, Programs, and Centers committed to advancing the discipline through feminist teaching, research, and activism. The purpose of the Consortium is to share resources, encourage activism and service learning, to produce and evaluate research and collaborations as scholars, increase student access to Women's Studies courses across the state and develop international resources and connections.

Consisting of 15 of Florida's Women's Studies Programs, Centers, and Institutes at Community Colleges and Public and Private Universities, the Consortium is housed in the University of South Florida's Department of Women's Studies in Tampa, FL.”

TFAP-Fl is a full member of FCWGS. To see abstracts of the panel’s presentations, please go to: http://thefeministartprojectflorida.pbwiki.com/TFAP-FL%202007%20Consortium%20Conference%20Paper%20Abstracts

There then was a discussion of participation by TFAP-FL in the 2008 FCWGS conference. Melissa Hyde said she would like to see a panel that highlighted historical scholarship on art, from a feminist perspective, and offered to organize the panel for the 2008 conference, if it is not in conflict with CAA. Mary Jo promised to put Melissa in touch with the organizers of the 2008 conference so Melissa could move forward, if the dates are compatible.

Karen Bearor noted that FSU has agreed to host a new exhibition, available to travel in 2008, entitled “The Veil: Visible and Invisible Spaces,” an exhibition of 30 + works of art that address current clichés and stereotypes about Islamic practices, emphasizing the ubiquity, importance and profundity of the veil throughout human history and imagination. The exhibition considers: The Sacred Veil, the Sensuous Veil and the Sociopolitical Veil. Jennifer Heath is the curator (heathcollom@comcast.net.). The show is the visual accompaniment to Heath’s edited volume: “The Veil: Women Writers on its History, Lore and Politics.” Forthcoming, 2007.

Mary Jo Aagerstoun reported on planning for a major TFAP-FL intervention into Art Basel Miami Beach, and distributed a list of the elements of this intervention together with the estimated costs for each. The intervention has been planned by a TFAP-FL committee consisting of Jillian Hernandez, Melissa Diaz, Renee Cagnina, Mary Dwyer and Mary Jo Aagerstoun. The project involves bringing the Guerrilla Girls to Miami for two days during ABMB during which several events would take place, including a presentation/performance by the GGs, a workshop conducted by them for graphic design university students interested in an activist art practice, an exhibition of GG posters, a shop where GG paraphernalia would be sold and a bus tour of Miami exhibitions featuring women artists (building on last year’s TFAP-Fl “virtual exhibition”). The committee’s research reveals that costs of this intervention can be considerable, but there are excellent possibilities for underwriting. Miami Light has expressed interest in partnering with TFAP-FL, and several other potential partner organizations have been and will be approached. Efforts have also been made to determine if ABMB itself may wish to host the GGs.

A discussion ensued regarding how to encourage engagement of feminists in the art world in Florida with the aims of TFAP-FL. Karen Bearor suggested that one problem is that there is no funding, and that even getting institutions to put TFAP-FL on events that highlight women artists or feminism and art requires some financial contribution. Another issue raised was whether involvement in TFAP-FL furthers the career goals of feminists in the arts. The consensus was that for the most part it does not, or is perceived as not being positive for career advancement. Mary Jo opined that, until feminists in the arts in Florida can see a positive benefit for involvement in TFAP-FL, the participation will be low. In view of this, the consensus of those attending the meeting was that, since TFAP will be over as of the end of 2009, it will be important to stress doing small things that do not require a huge amount of effort.

Mary Jo announced that she will be stepping down from co-coordinating TFAP-FL as of June 1st, 2007. Karen asked if anyone had come forward in South Florida to take on the coordination job there. Mary Jo indicated that she had not yet made a general announcement of her intention to step down, though some people did know, and no one had come forward as yet. She noted that, with two major and potentially very effective events planned out of South Florida, the boxed suite of FL women photographers’ work (coordinated through the Bernice Steinbaum Gallery), and the ABMB Guerrilla Girls intervention, it will be very important for someone to step forward as soon as possible to coordinate these events and others once Mary Jo steps down the first of June.

Karen announced that the National Committee of TFAP was considering dividing the state in such a fashion that North Florida would join with Georgia, which currently has no coordinator. Mary Jo inquired where the dividing line would be, and that perhaps there should be three regions in Florida, with the South emphasizing Miami, the Center emphasizing Orlando and Tampa and the North emphasizing Tallahassee and Jacksonville. No consensus was reached on this suggestion.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.