The Feminist Art Project--National and Regional Committee Members Meeting

February 14, 2007 – CAA Annual Meeting, Hilton New York

Meeting minutes

Present:

1. Mary Jo Aagerstoun, Florida

2. Elissa Auther, Colorado

3. Karen A. Bearor, Florida

4. Judith K. Brodsky, National Committee

5. Judy Chicago, National Committee

6. Liz Dodson, co-chair, Minnesota

7. Joanna Gardner-Huggett for Amy Galpin, Chicago

8. Melanie Herzog, Wisconsin

9. Evelyn Kain, Wisconsin

10. Leslie King-Hammond, National Committee

11. Nancy Lautenbach for Brenda Oelbaum, Michigan

12. Susan Messer, Wisconsin

13. Dena Muller, National Committee and New York City

14. Ferris Olin, National Committee

15. Nicole Plett, Project Manager

16. Maura Reilly, National Committee and New York City

17. Marcia Tanner, Northern California

18. Marcia G. Yerman, New York City

19. Midori Yoshimoto, New Jersey

I. Greetings and Introductions

Ferris Olin opened the meeting with greetings; all present introduced themselves. Regional reports received to date were distributed in hard copy to all present (These reports will be available on the Rutgers TFAP website, http://feministartproject.rutgers.edu, after April 15, 2007).

II. Revised TFAP Mission Statement

Proposed revised mission statement:

The Feminist Art Project is a national initiative celebrating the Feminist Art Movement and the aesthetic and intellectual impact of women on the visual arts, art history and art practice, past and present. Its mandates are to provide information on all events happening throughout the country through its website at http://feministartproject.rutgers.edu and to facilitate regional networking and regional program development.

Discussion:

 The current mission statement that appears on the TFAP website was discussed.

 Judy Chicago observed that the statement “seems to have lost its teeth.” She proposed adding the phrase: “strategic intervention against the ongoing erasure of women in the visual arts.”

 Dena Muller noted that the mission should help to dispel the notion that we provide funding and exhibition services.

 Leslie King-Hammond suggested adding “collaborative” – as in “national collaborative initiative”; and also “aesthetic, intellectual, and political impact”

 Addition: “ensuring women’s representation in the cultural record”

 Mary Jo Aagerstoun requests that we replace the word “women” with “feminism”

 Midori suggested the verb “promotes” in place of “lists”

Resulting revised mission statement:

The Feminist Art Project is a collaborative national initiative celebrating the Feminist Art Movement and the aesthetic, intellectual and political impact of women on the visual arts, art history, and art practice, past and present. The project is a strategic intervention against the ongoing erasure of women from the cultural record. It promotes diverse feminist art events and publications through its website calendar and facilitates regional networking and program development, ensuring women’s representation in the cultural record.

III. How do we succeed in making TFAP the transformative project that we have all envisioned and sustain it through 2009? What can we do to achieve the goal of making both the art world and general public aware, accepting, and knowledgeable about women artists, the Feminist Art Movement's and women's aesthetic and intellectual impact on visual culture, past and present?

Market for women’s art: Maura Reilly reports that women’s art sales represent 30 cents on the dollar to men’s art sales.

Equity and diversity: Susan Messer on NASAD accreditation for art programs – accreditation process does not provide coverage for equity and diversity.

King-Hammond suggests we go online and get the language being used, then ask the question, ‘Why doesn’t this table reflect the art community art large?’

How to keep TFAP alive? – Let’s start engaging the demons. King-Hammond recommends engaging in broad and outreaching activities such as a major conference; she offers her Baltimore facilities – a brand new museum – as conference site.

Judy C: Reading the regional reports, sees different regions are at different stages of organizing; also encountering different obstacles. How could TFAP provide more education on such issues as diversity. We could offer models such as Susan Sterling’s report from D.C. on docent tours of “men’s museums.” Would group want some consistent educational programs?

Dena Muller: Would like to identify TFAP point persons for different spheres of activity:

 academia

 the market

 diversity

 demonization of feminism

Midori suggests national sub-committees on each of these topics.

Chicago asks regional coordinators: Who do you see as the audience for TFAP?

 Messer: My students are part of the audience that I’d like to see become more active.

 King-Hammond: We should be about creating new leadership for the future.

 Aagerstoun: TFAP should not suppress the word feminism; feminism can be a magnet for young women.

 Tanner: Another audience for TFAP is mainstream museums, institutions, and the press.

Reilly: Faculty should insist to their deans that we teach the “History of Feminist Art” – not “Women’s art in the 20th century.”

Dena Muller: I’d like to see syllabi that tie feminism to diversity and global sisterhood.

Chicago: We should ask all teachers and faculty to bring students to the Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum.

IV. How do we achieve the integration into curriculum, exhibition schedules, publications, etc. of the research and scholarship already available?

Chicago: Firstly, don’t start out as if there’s nothing; there are so many more resources available than there were in the 1970s. You can connection with institutional entities such as: Sackler Center; National Museum for Women in the Arts; Institute for Women & Art at Rutgers; etc.

Olin: Cross-list art and art history classes with gender studies department and teach from a feminist perspective.

King-Hammond: Diversity initiative at MICA – you have to give people the tools. We need to create a tool or an engine for integrating this material into the curriculum – website should include journals, articles, reviews, bibliography.

Messer: Comments on tools and incentives for institutional change – do you use the carrot or the big stick.

Aagerstoun suggests that participating faculty post their syllabi on the TFAP site.

Reilly notes that the “Global Feminisms” catalog has an extensive bibliography.

Olin asks if the CAA Diversity Committee’s bibliography is still online.

Gardner reminds faculty to help junior faculty to educate their department chair in what feminist equity and diversity means for their institution and educational process.

IV. How can we translate this work into the regions, especially those not considered art capitals in the US? Abroad? How can we enlist the major art institutions, publications and funders to become more involved?

Discussion of this topic centered on activities already put in place by regional coordinators:-

 Aagerstoun spoke about TFAP-Florida’s intervention at Miami Basel.

 Yoshimoto spoke about bringing interested artists and co-op galleries to present at regional meetings.

 Liz Dodson spoke about the “Place at the Table,” a collaborative sculpture exhibition of "chairscapes" by members of the Women's Caucus for Art. The show originated at University of Wisconsin; collaborators plan to tour.

 Brodsky recommended finding allies and working collaboratively on touring shows.

 Nancy Lautenbach (Michigan) presented the TFAP-Michigan poster competition campaign, currently in progress, that is attracting interest and participation, especially among young women artists.

Institutional involvement:

Elissa Auther: In Colorado I began by going to institutions but I also learned to listen to their needs. Instead of going in with a project I want to do, I listened and worked with them to develop a project collaboratively. They know their audience best, so we work together on projects that best serve their audience.

Raising money and enlisting funders:

Judy Chicago on raising money: You have to do what women can’t stand to do: Ask for money! You start with people you know – as them for $100 for a great project. Build from there. That’s what I did from the beginning and what I do still. It’s not complicated! It’s incremental – aim at one financial goal at a time – such as $1,000 from 10 donors. If you can’t raise money, you can’t do projects.

Reilly: Make the most of your status and your contacts within institutions.

VI. Other business

Due to time contraints, no additional business was discussed.

Ferris Olin adjourned the meeting at 2:10 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Nicole Plett