1992 - Present

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 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.

WMG is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that was established to work for the equal placement of women's art in the world. To effectively achieve this goal, art produced by women would be exhibited, collected and written about as abundantly as art produced by men. WMG focuses energy in these three areas by exhibiting art made by and about women, educating the public about women's art, and advocating for the equal treatment of women's accomplishments.

WMG was located on Chicago's northside in Ravenswood Manor until August 1997. In its first five years, WMG held ten juried group exhibits annually after which we reduced the exhibitions to eight per year, to allow for additional viewing time for each exhibition. We have exhibited the art of over 5000 women artists from every area of the United States, as well as from Canada, Central America, and overseas. Exhibits have ranged in theme from topics such as domestic violence and prejudice issues to stylistic themes such as the still life and surrealism. Some shows have been exclusive to artists who are lesbians, women over 50, or women of color. Representatives of the groups juried these exhibits. At Woman Made Gallery, women themselves decide what art is culturally significant. Varied perspectives are featured because we select women from different cultural and professional backgrounds to act in leadership roles such as jurors and curators.

In September 1997, WMG moved its facilities from the storefront in the Ravenswood community to Prairie Avenue, south of downtown Chicago. The move was motivated by a desire to be more centrally located to downtown and closer to the more diverse populations that reside in Chicago's Southside and Pilsen neighborhoods. This location also accommodated more exhibition space and allowed us to exhibit various works from our Permanent Collection.

Woman Made Gallery left the Prairie Avenue District early in 2003 to continue its programs in a new neighborhood in Humboldt Park, bordering Wicker Park. There the Gallery was housed until November 2005 in a 2,300-square foot space in the Acme Artist Community Building at 2418 W. Bloomingdale, among artists' studios and other not-for-profit organizations.

Since November 15, 2005, Woman Made Gallery has been located at 685 N. Milwaukee Avenue, just two blocks southeast of Intuit and close to ARC Gallery. In a 3000-square foot space distributed on two levels, WMG has expanded its exhibitions to nine group shows and at least 12 solo exhibitions, plus four thematic group shows in its Artisan Gallery, per year.

The gallery has increasingly attracted journalists and critics, resulting in complimentary articles and reviews. Persistence, professionalism and confidence in our mission have led to a heightened public interest in gallery events that continues to grow. We have also been successful in getting many women artists reviewed and featured on television and radio shows. In addition our website and online registry provide valuable exposure for an ever-growing number of women artists and their work.

Woman Made Gallery Timeline

WMG HIGHLIGHTS

• 1992
  WMG opened its doors with a Senior Show, "Man-Made Women," by Beate Minkovski and Kelly Hensen
  WMG incorporated in July
  First group show, titled "Women Do Women"
  First Holiday Bazaar

• 1993
  Janet Bloch joined WMG and became Gallery Director
  First Fundraiser: "Starving Artists' Sale"
  Unveiling of the "Great Wall of Women" Mural
  All-male show, "Men Define the Feminine," brought first newspaper review

• 1994
  Pamela Callahan joined WMG
  WMG received not-for-profit status
  First Annual Members' Show
  Slide Registry Initiated

• 1995
  First International Women's Day Celebration. Speakers: Artist Hollis Sigler & Dr. Rita Simo, Founder of The People's Music School
  "Home Is Where The Hell Is": exhibit about domestic violence
  Second Art Auction Fundraiser, at Luther Memorial Church
  First Exhibiting Professionalism Workshop

• 1996
  "Mary Mary Quite Contrary": group show about the Virgin Mary made WMG infamous
  Poetry Reading with Angela Jackson
  Gala Event: Hall of Shame Veggie Pig Roast, a festive, humorous evening with mock awards for our favorite misogynists

• 1997
  WMG moved from Chicago's northside to Prairie Avenue in the south loop
  Judy Chicago agreed to be WMG's Executive Advisor

• 1998
  Collaboration with "Awareness Alert: Breast Cancer" and the "Coalition Against Domestic Violence"
  Traveling exhibition, "Silent Victims," mounted at the capitol building in Springfield, Illinois
  Woman Made received an anonymous donation of $10,000 from a woman artist
  For the first time, WMG received grants from both the Sara Lee and Puffin Foundations
  Galganov & Associates created WMG website, www.womanmade.org



• 1999
  Advised by Judy Chicago, WMG offered solo shows alongside group exhibitions
  Slide and lecture series started, titled "An Artist You Should Know"
  Received $5000 grant from the Kaplan Family Foundation and $5000 from an anonymous donor
  Raised close to $50,000 at the November Art Auction
  Woman Made's First Annual Art Gallery Bus Tour

• 2000
  Debut of the Online Artists' Registry, offering artists their own websites
  WMG Calendar 2000 sparked the Gallery's annual calendar project, which evolved into the HER MARK project, an annual publication with art and poetry by women
  Career Day Workshop with Janet Bloch started, as a follow-up to Exhibiting Professionalism
  Antje Gehrken started "Big Fish, Little Fish, Volume I: Emerging Women in Chicago Music"

• 2001
  Women, men and local area school children exhibited work in the "Prejudice" show
  Mary King started free monthly women's art groups on the 4th Sunday of every month at WMG
  Janet Bloch became WMG's Senior Advisor
  Started the custom of having a panel of WMG members jury the Members' Show each year
  WMG received CityArts Program II Grant from the City of Chicago for three consecutive years

• 2002
  Largest pool of art entries ever (over 500), with Faith Ringgold as juror, for the 5th International Open
  New workshop, "You the Juror," a great success
  WMG worked with Chicago Communities in School to bring art projects to Chicago Public Schools
  New website section, "Women Artists," highlighting artistic achievements of local women artists
  10-Year Anniversary Party

• 2003
  WMG moved to the the Acme Artists Community Building at 2418 West Bloomingdale
  WMG hosted "Traditions: The Blessing & The Curse," a partly juried and partly invitational show exhibiting work by artists from the US and overseas whose work addresses the social, cultural, political, and psychological aspects of contemporary femininity, its possibilities and its perils
  Pamela Callahan named WMG Associate for Life

  

• 2004
  WBEZ put the spotlight on WMG and the 7th International Open on its program "Eight Forty-Eight."
  Whitney Eskew interviewed Marisol for the WMG Newsletter
  "War Forum," a group exhibition of work by 24 artists and 8 poets, both male and female, displayed works which dealt with the destruction and trauma of WWII and the treatment of Jews, the Vietnam War, the war in Iraq and the horrors of 9/11

• 2005
  Woman Made honored Janet Bloch and Pamela Callahan for their services to the organization
  Under the direction of Mary Stoppert and Carmen Perez, WMG started the Artisan Gallery, in honor of the many fine women working in traditional and untraditional craft disciplines
  "Sapphire and Crystals: Black, White and Blues" at Woman Made Gallery was part of Chicago Artists’ Month
  WMG moved to Chicago's Riverwest neighborhood, to 685 N. Milwaukee Avenue
  WMG successfully completed art programs at Burr and Goethe Elementary Schools in Chicago and exhibited the work of 80 children

• 2006
  Woman Made Gallery formed part of the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Corridor (MAAC) together with neighboring arts organizations ARC and Intuit, providing excellence in the arts through exhibitions, education and community programming
  WMG doubled the number of solo exhibitions to 12 per year
  The Chicago Women's Caucus for Art honored Beate Minkovski, co-founder and Executive Director of Woman Made Gallery, for her achievements in support of women in the arts

• 2007
  WMG opened the new year with "From Sham to Shame," with responses by women about the war in Iraq
  As part of our Outreach Initiative, WMG conducted art programs at The Women's Treatment Center
  Galganov & Associates, WMG's website developers, created an Automation Program which allows artists to submit their work online
  Past jurors showed their work in the 15th Anniversary Exhibition in August
  Alison Zehr guided WMG in the development of a Strategic Plan