G A L L E R Y
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685 N MILWAUKEE AVE
CHICAGO IL 60622
TEL: 312 738 0400
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F R E Q U E N T L Y A S K E D Q U E S T I O N S
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Questions and Answers
The following are a selection of questions most often asked about the Gallery. Question 1-9 have been reproduced here with the express permission of the publisher of the Chicago Artists' News and were taken from an interview with former Gallery Director, Janet Bloch and Kristen Brooke Shleifer, reporter of the Chicago Artists' News. The interview was published in an article entitled "A Closer Look" and appeared in
the December 1997 issue of that magazine.
The answers to questions 10-16 were written in Spring of 2002 by WMG Associate Director Pamela Callahan in response to questions asked by DePaul student Genevieve Yapelli for the class, 'Topics on Women and Art,' ("an incredibly worthwhile learning experience") taught by instructor Joanna Gardner-Huggett.
Questions 17 to 20 were answered in Spring 2005 by WMG Advisory Boardmember, Mary Stoppert in response to Jennifer Watson's questions about US Women Artists for an article for the arearevue)s( - an art publication and gallery based in Paris.
To read the answers to the following questions, please click on the number of the question of interest to you.
(right) 'Mt. St. Helen above Hidden Valley', oil on paper by Jocelyn Audette
1. All of your shows are juried, why did you
decide to take that approach?
2. How do you select your jurors?
3. Does one have to be a member to show?
4. Potentially, the jury system offers a very
democratic way to put art on the walls. How many of your exhibiting artists
have an art background, and how many are making art in a self-taught way?
5. What are some of the special considerations of being a gallery devoted to women artists?
6. Will you show works by male artists?
7. Women have established a certain mode of artistic discourse, both formally and conceptually. How do you grapple with improving the status of that discourse? Does one attempt to integrate it with the establishment, or sustain it as separate and equal?
8. Do you see many collectors?
9. How would you describe the current state of women in the arts here, in terms of exhibiting, collecting, and advocacy?
10. Why is there the need for a space like Woman Made?
11. What drew you to Woman Made?
12. What does it do for the community?
13. ... for women artists?
14. ... for art in general?
15. What about Woman Made is unique from other art cooperatives like, for example, Artemisia Gallery?
16 Are there ways in which Woman Made has not gone far enough; ways you would like to see Woman Made go further?
17 What are your thoughts on and interpretations of the conditions of women artists in the United States?
18 What does Woman Made do to counterbalance the gender inequality of the American art scene, i.e., what is your mission?
19 How have your actions as an organization led to changes or advancements in the situation of women artists?
20 In what way can you see that women are gaining ground in the art world?
1. All of your shows are juried, why did you decide to take that approach?
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When I came on board, one of our first considerations was: what kind of business is this going to be? Being an artist, I didn't want a vanity gallery; I wanted to be more discerning. However, we did feel that if we were going to be supportive, we couldn't be in the business of accepting and rejecting people. So the idea of jurying shows came from this sense that we did not always want to promote our vision of what we thought was good art. We also wanted to give other women leadership and a voice in the gallery, and to enable artists to feel included whether or not they were accepted into a particular show.
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2. How do you select your jurors?
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Sometimes they come to us; sometimes they're people we know. The woman jurying our show in March is curator of the South Bend Museum, whom I met when I had a show there. Judith Racht, who just juried our folk art show, is a gallery owner, and Joy Horwich has expressed interest in jurying a show in the future. We do try, within a year, to have a variety of women from different ethnic backgrounds, cultural backgrounds, different ages, different media. They might not be involved with the arts - our November show on grief and loss was brought to us by a therapist. Part of our mission is to bridge the dialogue between art and the public, so we feel the public should have a say, to some degree, in what's shown.
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3. Does one have to be a member to show?
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No. You don't have to be a member to have anything to do with the gallery. We have a slide registry that's completely free to women, and more and more it's being taken advantage of by buyers and curators. That was another part of our mission - not to discriminate financially, and to give all women the same benefits. For instance, we charge entry fees for submissions, but on each prospectus we say that if you can't afford it, just write us a letter and you can enter for free. People who have sold their work through the gallery and have shown with us numerous times are almost all members. It sticks in your mind who's not. If we're doing this work to support women, I think that women should participate and support us. But we are not a co-op, and we didn't want to be a co-op. Members don't get any benefits other than, say, discounts at workshops.
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4. Potentially, the jury system offers a very democratic way to put art on the walls. How many of your exhibiting artists have an art background, and how many
are making art in a self-taught way?
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Honestly, the biggest difference between trained and untrained doesn't come out in the art as much as in the process of jurying the show - from the slides in their presentation. We actually devised a workshop addressing this, because we saw the need. Even people who have shown and exhibited are rather shocked when they see their slides on the wall. We show them the best and the worst and in between, and you can see why some people will get in shows and others won't. One of the things we tell women in a workshop is that if you're really serious about your work, you have to be prepared to spend money on your career. You can do your work for yourself, and there's not one thing wrong with that. But if you want to show, there's a different standard, and you have to meet it if you want to be successful.
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5. What are some of the special considerations of being a gallery devoted to women artists?
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Beate and I shared the vision that we were not looking for anyone else's approval, whether to affirm that the gallery was good, or to let us "into the loop." This is an institution that we will say is okay. We knew we weren't going to put up crummy art, but normally when you talk about a women's institution, art or otherwise, it's like a charity. People say, "Oh, those poor women artists." Well, women artists do need help being bought or being shown, but they don't need help with their art. I try to use the word patriarchy, even though people have a phobia about it - it seems to suggest some sort of paranoia on the part of the user - but there are patriarchal systems, and we don't want to be part of those systems. Men can't be on the Board or on the staff. They can volunteer, be patrons, or be part of the Advisory Board. But they cannot govern; it would be completely against what we're after. And we probably wouldn't let a patriarchal woman come on board in any governing capacity. It has nothing to do with being against men - we have men all over in our lives, who are supportive. But we want an institution that is run by women, has the values of women, where the aesthetic and administrative judgments are made by women. We just think women have a different way of doing things - it's not as hierarchical, it's much more communal and community-oriented.
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6. Will you show works by male artists?
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Our Board has tried to come up with a formula. During the last five years Beate and I were the ones deciding, with the juror, whether or not it would be appropriate for a particular show. We realized that if we felt it would make a more interesting exhibition, we opened it up to men. When shows deal with certain genres - the portrait or landscape or still-life or the nude - we feel we're all familiar with what men have done with that subject matter from the beginning of time, so we're not especially interested in that vision. However, in 1999, we'll have a show called "Stitches" with fabric, weaving, and textile work, which will be really interesting to open to men. We also tend to open any show we do about activism. Otherwise, I think we've always seen men's cultural contributions, so there's not a reason to be inclusive right now.
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7. Women have established a certain mode of artistic discourse, both formally and conceptually. How do you grapple with improving the status of that discourse? Does one attempt to integrate it with the establishment, or sustain it as separate and equal?
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I would think, for us, it's much more separate and equal. Many women create craftlike objects or have been bringing aspects of that - pattern, decoration, weaving, or text - into more formally sanctioned kinds of work. Those are domains that women have probably explored more, and earlier, than men. But when we established the gallery, we saw that a lot of women do artwork and don't think it's artwork. They've integrated their art into their lives however they can, and they don't go out in the world and pursue it. We've tried to get women to take themselves a little more seriously, and to appreciate their contribution. Our basic urgency is to get people to recognize women's accomplishments, and to put them in settings where they can be admired. But there is a self-esteem issue - we do want to boost women into a more professional and ambitious artmaking mode.
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8. Do you see many collectors?
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We do have collecting workshops for beginners, and we try especially to inform women so that hopefully we form a women's market. I don't want to be accused of separating genders myself, because the system is already set in place. The public has been misled to think there's real equality in these areas, but there isn't. For the most part, women's dollars have not been wanted in the artworld; they haven't been wanted in the decision-making process about what's good art. Their money is wanted much more for fashion and beauty and consumerism, not for lasting, powerful decisions.
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9. How would you describe the current state of women in the arts here, in terms of exhibiting, collecting, and advocacy?
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This year it feels like it's getting better. Chicago is a very conservative city; we have a great art world and a lot of opportunities, but people just don't like addressing gender. Well, gender is an issue, just as race is, regardless of who wants to talk about it. I still feel as if we're convincing people that we're needed. We don't have to convince women artists, but we're on an uphill battle with the public, and with the art world in general. However, I do believe that as women take over curatorial jobs and directing museums, you will see many more women artists showing and being collected. I think we often relate to one another's work; a lot of us speak the same language.
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10. Why is there the need for a space like Woman Made?
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There are several reasons. Initially I'd say that there are still so many inequities. A couple examples would be art shown/collected by museums still tips the scale in favor of men and that women were virtually extinct from art history books until not too long ago. General knowledge about women artists is just non-existent. Ask anyone to name three women artists and after naming O'Keefe and Kahlo, there are many empty looks. Now, especially with the web, this is changing and women artists are really visible and doing amazing work and getting it shown. And the public has access to them so much more than before, so things are looking up. (WMG Senior Advisor Janet Bloch created a Herstory t-shirt featuring all women artists in response to a similar t-shirt sold at the Met--the History of Art with all men shown. Click on the Frida Kahlo smiley face to see a picture of her shirt.)
Beyond that, there are still basic things about being a woman that makes it doubly hard to forge out time and space to make art, much less create a career out of it. Having children is a big one and another is something I see over and over again (and to which I constantly fall prey): women always give precedence and importance to other things (people, responsibilities) before their art. Beate calls this "setting up the easel in the laundry room", that is, working a couple brushstrokes in between the endless tasks of every day, but not giving serious intentional thought and care to their work. I know men have a time with this too, but it seems doubly tough for women.
And this, I think, is the basic modus operandi for Woman Made: creating a space to empower women so they can follow their voice and their art in a true and conscious and serious way. By providing ongoing and varied exhibition opportunities, presenting workshops that help artists organize the business side of their art career, giving portfolio reviews and monthly art critiques for feedback of their work, creating opportunities to meet other artists, curators and collectors, as well as the chance for great exposure by offering them their own website at an affordable rate, Woman Made has created a community that is just lush with resources. It is a place women artists can come to for many different reasons and at many stages in their career.
I have heard it said that to segregate women's art into such women-specific galleries as Woman Made is ghettoizing, and actually detrimental to women being taken seriously as artists. I disagree. Woman Made is a place devoted to women, giving front and center stage to their voices, their art. With this added confidence and experience, artists are prepared to take their work out into the world. It is really a unique experience to be in a place where women come first, "where the artistic values and criteria are determined by women, for women" (from our vision statement). It gives perspective on the rest of the world, the way it runs, the things that are deemed important. After visiting WMG, it's easy to see that we still live in a most patriarchal society. The Gallery offers a respite.
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11. What drew you to Woman Made?
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I was either trying to ignore or else fighting off this voice that kept telling me, "Paint!" I'd cower and say, "But it's not real work, it's not good enough, I can't do this, I'm not an artist, etc..." I saw a listing for a WMG show in the paper and was intrigued with the name Woman Made (it sounded powerful) and so I went to see the show. This was while the gallery was still in the storefront space on Rockwell. From the outside, it was so nondescript, but once I stepped in, well there was that power I had felt just from its name. It was a quiet power that came from the art on the walls. There was also this immediate warmth and openness created by Beate and Janet. I was greeted by Janet that day and the first thing she said after hello was, "Are you an artist?" The next visit I was greeted by Beate with exactly the same question. It was not something they planned, but it was this simple phrase that I think holds a lot of that power I felt. It is like a mantra. For it's almost as if until you are able to answer that question with head held high and direct eyes and strong voice, "Yes I am an artist," you won't be. It may sound silly or trite, but it's so telling. When I ask this of someone visiting the gallery and they bow their head or else say no, but then go on to tell me about these things they make and their eyes just glow when talking about them, well, I ask the question again at this point, and they always laugh and say, "Yeah, I guess I am." Woman Made instills confidence, validates those voices inside, the ones we try to ignore. I see it all the time. It was what initially drew me there and why I will always have such a deep connection to the gallery.
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12. What does it do for the community?
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"Woman Made Gallery is dedicated to promoting the equal placement of women's art in the world. Through programming which examines the female experience, the organization educates and serves as a forum for dialogue between artists and the community" (more from our vision statement).
Woman Made gives the community a continual FREE showing of amazing and compelling art. The exhibitions change every 5 weeks and the different themes offer between 30-40 viewpoints, depending on how many artists are in the show. The artists' statements next to each work give insight into artists' thoughts and motives. WMG exhibits have covered topics as diverse as prejudice, the body, fairy tales, cultural heritage, censorship, nature, politics, the home, and even cats & dogs. The variety of topics and then the variety of perspectives within each topic by all the artists in a particular show promotes dialogue. This dialogue is one of the most vital things that Woman Made does for the community. Recently, a lively dialogue has been sparked by controversy over having Christie Hefner jurying the upcoming Political Woman show. It is invaluable, this debate, this sharing of viewpoints. And it's exactly what the Political Woman show in particular was intended to do.
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13. ... for women artists?
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I've already talked about the myriad of ways that WMG supports women artists. I might add one more thing and that is, over these 10 years, Woman Made has created an indelible presence and has become a well-known source of information both for and about contemporary women artists. Individual artists contact the gallery for advice, feedback and just to share their stories. Organizations, galleries and individuals approach the Gallery to find artists for their projects, publications, collections or exhibitions. This "connecting" has increased so dramatically that it has turned into a full-time job. It might be a seemingly small thing, like reassuring an artist distressed about yet another rejection from a show, or on a larger scale, helping to organize an exhibition of women artists in a major city exhibition space. But it is all part of Woman Made's mission and to me, an incredible thing, to cultivate all these connections in addition to all the regular gallery programming. Woman Made operates with a tiny staff and a small but growing group of dedicated volunteers. Yet, artists around the world can attest to connections they've made via the Gallery's efforts.
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14. ... for art in general?
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What WMG has done for art in general is to round out the playing field and to totally smash pre-conceived notions of women's art. There have been countless references and generalizations attributed to art created by women over the years, including "shrill," "over-emotional," "too personal," and on and on. Woman Made has created a venue that tells a wider story, that has room for all voices, including shrill ones. And to show that art that is personal and emotional can also be meticulously executed with amazing craftsmanship and thought and ingenuity. Woman Made shows damn good art, period.
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15. What about Woman Made is unique from other art cooperatives like, for example, Artemisia Gallery?
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I don't know a lot about the running of Artemisia. One major difference is that Woman Made is not a cooperative, that is, artist members are not required to work a set number of hours as part of their membership, which I believe is the case at Artemisia. WMG membership is not required to enter any of our shows (except the annual Member's Show and the Holiday Bazaar). Of course, we love when artists become members and also volunteer, but this is totally up to them. Also, I've heard great things about Artemisia's Mentorship program, where younger artists are connected with more established artists for a set period of time. There are great things about both places. I don't see them as competitive at all. Each fills a void and empowers women artists.
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16. Are there ways in which Woman Made has not gone far enough; ways you would like to see Woman Made go further?
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We talk about this alot. One thing is to have more space, be able to show MORE art, both in the group shows and also to have more solo shows for women. We started this just a couple years ago and can only offer solo shows about 5 times a year. While the group shows offer a myriad of voices on different topics--like a collection of short stories--we'd also like to be able to offer more novels, more in-depth looks at one artist's voice and vision. Both are so necessary and there are so many deserving artists that need to be shown! This is when we dream of a building of our own.
Another thing is to bring more of the community in to see the work and to learn about these artists. While I was drawn in by the name Woman Made, many people are discouraged by it (men come through the door and whisper, "Is it all right for a man to visit?"). So, we are looking for more ways to welcome the public.
Also, we are exploring ways to connect artists with collectors, and to cultivate new collectors, those who are just starting out buying art. Woman Made shows hosts of emerging artists as well as those more established, but we aren't a commercial gallery and while most work is for sale, we are not trained to sell. And this would be something to pursue. It's the next step. We've helped to prepare these artists, given them exposure, exhibition opportunities, but to really help them economically, they need to sell their work. We've also started pursuing more jurors who are curators and in positions of power in the art world, who can help "to promote the equal placement of women's art in the world."
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17. What are your thoughts on and interpretations of the conditions of women artists in the United States?
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"The pioneering feminist artists of the 1970’s have mellowed and are aging. Most of these women have continued to do their art in spite of limited returns financially or minimal art world recognition. A large percentage of these women’s granddaughters have little real understanding of the price these early women artists had to pay for the progress that the young women artists now enjoy and take for granted in all areas of their lives.
There are more women art faculty in the colleges and universities, most however, are in adjunct and not tenure track positions. Their salaries are lower than their male counterparts.
More women art students choose to attend a graduate art program, and there are more financial aid possibilities and scholarships and assistantships available to them.
Besides the studio arts, the feminist art movement of the 1970’s also opened the doors for the women art historians and curators who now work in museums, galleries and for art publications. Many of these women chose to support women artists and their art by including them in exhibitions and collections. Women however are still under represented in museum collections. Visit: www.guerillagirls.com
There are a large number of talented women in the visual arts producing accomplished and intelligent bodies of work. However, the economic conditions for women in the arts, mirrors the economic conditions of women in all realms in the USA. There is still an economic gender disparity. Will women artists ever make a living from their efforts? Male artists are still perceived as more bankable, just as they are in the corporate world.
An example is the May 2004 Sotheby’s Contemporary Art auction in New York City. On one day there were 360 pieces of art offered for sale. Only sixty of the 360 pieces were by women artists, and many of those lots were multiple works by the same women artists: i.e. Joan Mitchell, Louise Bourgeois, Cindy Sherman etc. The largest number of works by women was towards the end of the auction and they were a generation or more removed from Mitchell and Bourgeois."
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18. What does Woman Made do to counterbalance the gender inequality of the American art scene, i.e., what is your mission?
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"Woman Made Gallery (WMG) was founded in 1992 to provide women artists with the opportunity to exhibit, perform, publish and sell their work and to offer a place for support and community. According to an NEA 1992 statistic only 17% of works in U.S. galleries are by women although 48% of the artists in the U.S are women (Bureau of Labor, 1993). The prevalence of discrimination is not so amazing when we consider that just 35-40 years ago there was virtually no mention of women artists in university art history courses or in texts on art. Because discrimination does exist, WMG is here to provide women with opportunities to exhibit, curate, perform, read, teach and develop leadership. Since its inception in 1992 WMG has exhibited the art by more than 4000 women.
We have not read of any new research made on the 1992 statistics, but we know that the permanent collections in most museums are still made up of mostly male made art. A place like WMG will always be necessary until there is more understanding and equal acceptance of women's expressions resulting from their experiences and viewpoints."
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19. How have your actions as an organization led to changes or advancements in the situation of women artists?
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"Most certainly, we exhibit many "first time" artists: women whose work is being professionally exhibited for the first time. This validation is important to help a woman artist believe in her work and her voice.
We offer exhibition opportunities for women artists that focus on subjects and themes seldom if ever found in mainstream art venues: women and aging, domestic violence and abuse. These subjects are avoided in commercial venues because the artwork is usually not perceived as popular or saleable.
We are not an artists cooperative; many women can not afford the membership fees that are necessary to run a cooperative gallery. Our low memberships and/or fees for exhibiting give women artists of all incomes an opportunity to exhibit."
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20. In what way can you see that women are gaining ground in the art world?
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"There are more women of diverse ethnic heritage. These women were slow to respond to the feminist momentum of the 1970’s which was mainly middle-class white women. When more diversity was demanded in the educational realm the result was more women students, more women faculty, and more art historical focus on women in the arts and women’s issues in general, there was more effort made in recruiting women of diverse ethnicities."
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