New York Feminist Art Institute

New York Feminist Art Institute
Abbreviation NYFAI
Formation June 1979
Founders Nancy Azara, Miriam Schapiro, Selena Whitefeather, Lucille Lessane, Irene Peslikis and Carol Stronghilos
Extinction 1993
Type Non profit organization
Purpose School, community and gallery for women artists
Location
  • 325 Spring Street, New York (1979-1985) and 91 Franklin Street, New York (1985-1990)
Coordinates 40°43′4.73″N 74°0′17.97″W / 40.7179806°N 74.0049917°WCoordinates: 40°43′4.73″N 74°0′17.97″W / 40.7179806°N 74.0049917°W
Main organ
 Board of directors
Website www.nyfai.org

New York Feminist Art Institute (NYFAI) was founded in (1979 to 1990) by women artists, educators and professionals. NYFAI offered workshops and classes, held performances and exhibitions and special events that contributed to the political and cultural import of the women's movement at the time. The women's art school focused on self-development and discovery as well as art. Nancy Azara introduced "visual diaries" to artists to draw and paint images that arose from the consciousness-raising classes and their personal lives. In the first half of the 1980s the school was named the Women's Center for Learning and it expanded its artistic and academic programs. Ceres Gallery was opened in 1985 when the school moved to TriBeCa and, like the school, it catered to women artists. NYFAI participated in protests to increase women's art shown at the Museum of Modern Art, held exhibitions and workshops and provided rental space for women artists. Unable to secure sufficient funding to continue its operations, Ceres Gallery moved to SoHo and then to Chelsea and remained a non-profit gallery for women's art. The school closed in 1990 and the institute was closed by 1993.

History

New York Feminist Art Institute opened in June 1979 at 325 Spring Street in the Port Authority Building. The founding members and the initial board of directors were Nancy Azara, Miriam Schapiro, Selena Whitefeather, Lucille Lessane, Irene Peslikis and Carol Stronghilos.[1] Author Barbara J. Love includes Ita Aber as a founding member.[2] A board of advisers was established of accomplished artists, educators and professional women.[1] For instance, feminist writer and editor Harriet Lyons was an adviser from its start until 1989.[2]

Inspired by the actions of the Feminist art movement, the founders sought to create a community that would inspire women artists and help them assess how their art was created in the "social and psychological context of our identity as women."[1]

The Joint Foundation provided a grant that allowed the organization to operate initially. The American Stock Exchange, The Eastman Fund, America the Beautiful Fund and RCA also provided grants to the organization. It held biannual open houses and annual benefits to raise funds, one of which was very successful and had Louise Nevelson as a guest of honor.[1]

In April 1981 the organization held a weekend conference to help women gain a greater sense of personal power and discover ways to engage in the political process.[1] It moved to a new location in 1985 in TriBeCa on Franklin Street, which had gallery space for Ceres Gallery, additional space for its school and had rental studio space for artists.[1]

In 1984 they co-sponsored a Museum of Modern Art protest, "Let MoMA Know: Women Artists Visibility Event (WAVE)," with the Women's Interart Center, the Heresies Collective, and the Women's Caucus for Art's New York chapter. They protested the few number of women in MoMA's grand-reopening and "An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture" exhibition; Of 165 exhibitors, only 14 of them were women. Buttons with the statement, "The Museum of Modern Art Opens but Not to Women," were worn by 400 protesters.[3]

The Institute, which had struggled with ensuring it had sufficient funding for some time, shut down its operations by 1993. Rutgers University Libraries received its library and archives. The non-profit Ceres Gallery moved in 1992 to SoHo at 547 West 27th Street.[1]

Women's Center for Learning

The Art Institute focused on self-discovery and art education. First years students participated in consciousness-raising classes developed by Nancy Azara where students created "visual diaries" by recording their feelings and thoughts by writing, painting or writing words into art journals. It taught the history of anthropology and art and feminist theory. Art studies included drawing, sculpture, and painting. It was a program that required self-motivation, students did not have grades. Performance was measured by teachers assessments and student self-assessments. Students were offered the opportunity to work as apprentices with professional artists. Part-time students attended weekend workshops and evening courses.[1]

The school became the "Women's Center for Learning" in the early 1980s. Focused on personal development, it offered writing and psychology classes. It's art program was expanded to include basketry, puppetry, printmaking and papermaking. When it moved to the new location on Franklin Street there was more space available for workshops.[1]

Harmony Hammond[4] and Zarina Hashmi were instructors[5] and Leila Daw taught weekend workshops at the school.[2]

The school closed in 1990.[6]

Women's Center for Learning Award

Vivian E. Browne was a recipient of the Women's Center for Learning Award.[2]

Ceres Gallery

When the institute moved to Franklin Street, the first floor of the building was used for Ceres Gallery, which held annual shows and exhibitions of women's art. It moved to 547 West 27th Street in 1992 after the Institute ceased operations. The non-profit continues to promote the works of women artists.[1]

Exhibitions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 Fernanda Perrone, Amy Dawson, and Caroline T. Caviness. Inventory to the Records of the New York Feminist Art Institute, 1976-1990. Administrative History. Rutgers. July 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Barbara J. Love. Feminists who Changed America, 1963-1975. University of Illinois Press; 2006. ISBN 978-0-252-03189-2. p. 2, 24.
  3. ↑ Arlene Raven, "The Archaic Smile," in New Feminist Criticism: Art, Identity, Action, ed. Joanna Frueh, Cassandra L. Langer, and Arlene Raven (New York: Icon Editions, 1994), 12, accessed via Questia (subscription required)
  4. ↑ Virginia Watson-Jones, Contemporary American Women Sculptors. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1986. p. 256.
  5. ↑ Edward E. Curtis. Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History. Infobase Publishing; 2010. ISBN 978-1-4381-3040-8. p. 232.
  6. ↑ Arlene Raven, "The Archaic Smile," in New Feminist Criticism: Art, Identity, Action, ed. Joanna Frueh, Cassandra L. Langer, and Arlene Raven (New York: Icon Editions, 1994), 8, accessed via Questia (subscription required)

External links