Saturday - Women's Caucus for Art

Great to tell parts of Pushing Boundaries at the annual WCA Networking Day today. There were some veterans of the 1970s
in the audience and they shared their memories and stories which extend my story. I am hoping they will join the Second Wave Album
and add their stories there

Barbara Wolanin reminded me this was not the first time I have spoken at a DC WCA Networking Day - once about Marketing for Artists, and another time about my textile works and their story content. But - for me this time has a special importance. I am hoping my story about the 1970s history will bring out memories from others and that we can finally capture the history of those years. Because - that history has not been written.

The 1970s in Washington DC was a vibrant period for women in the arts.

Think about it: the First National Conference on Women in the Arts at the Corcoran Gallery in 1972 was the catalyst for organizing here in Washington as well as across the country. The Washington Women's Arts Center became a hub - an exhibition and education place for women artists here and a part of a national network of alternative spaces created across the country to springboard women artists into the mainstream.

During a time of political activism the Coalition of Women's Art Organizations worked from Washington to lobby Congress and Federal Agencies on issues related to creating equal opportunity for women in the arts.

And, in 1978 when WCA established the Lifetime Achievement Awards - they were presented at the White House by President Jimmy Carter - to Georgia O'Keefe, Louise Nevelson, Isabel Bishop, and two others.

You won't find these stories in the history books - and they should be recorded.

I believe that one of the reasons each generation has to re-create the history rather than build on what came before is that they don't know what happened - and they have to do it all again.