Women in American Art

Initiatives in Art and Culture’s 2022 American Art Conference highlights the contributions women have made in the American art industry

November 11-12

Initiatives in Art and Culture
122 East 66th Street
t: 646.485.1952
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For the past 25 years Initiatives in Art and Culture has presented dynamic conferences dedicated to a variety of topics in American art. This year’s 26th annual event is no different with the theme of “Women in American Art” that will focus on the roles women have played in American art. Often unrecognized and overlooked, women have been artists, teachers, patrons, gallerists, scholars, curators, subjects and philanthropists. They have forged noteworthy paths in American art both past and present, playing primary or secondary roles in creating museums, painting and sculpting art and pushing for the public prominence of the arts. Attendees gather during a past presentation of the Initiatives in Art and Culture’s American Art Conference. Photo by Alice Young.

This American Art Conference will show the underpinnings of the historic and contemporary art worlds and spotlight key players in discussions by some of the foremost curators, collectors, dealers and historians. Through these events, women artists will be considered in the conversation of American art, perhaps some for the very first time.Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Portrait of Madam Sisley, 1873. Oil on bard, 7 x 5½”. The Bennett Collection of Women Realists.

According to the event, “Given that 2021 has seen the first female vice president take office, thereby constituting a real if unofficial ‘year of the woman,’ it is the ideal time for such consideration. The coming year will also mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Linda Nochlin’s seminal essay, ‘Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?’ and it is thus useful to consider whether or to what extent the institutional obstacles she identified as preventing Western women from succeeding in the arts have been removed.”Georgette Seabrooke Powell (1916-2011), Grandmother’s Birthday, ca. 1961-62. Oil on canvas, 40 x 24 in. The Bennett Collection of Women Realists.

Peggy Bacon (1895-1987), Nude in the Living Room, ca. 1947. Oil on canvas, 12 x 8”. The Bennett Collection of Women Realists.

The conference will include receptions, viewings and book signings to complement formal talks and panels all related to the theme. There will be notable participates in the event including collectors of figurative art by women, Steven Allen Bennett and Dr. Elaine Mellotti Schmidt. The couple’s collection includes historic and contemporary examples. Wanda Corn will discuss the persona of Georgia O’Keeffe, while there will be a presentation from Clarisse Fava-Piz, Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow at The Meadows Museum, SMU, Dallas.Faith Ringgold, Groovin’ High, 1996. Silkscreen, ed. 96 of 425, 32½ x 44 in. © 2018 Faith Ringgold, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / Courtesy ACA Galleries, NY.

Gallery owner Debra Force, of Debra Force Fine Art, will anchor a panel on the role of women as dealers, advisors and at auction houses. There will also be a dialogue from Dakota Hoska, the assistant curator of Native American art at the Denver Art Museum. Nonie Gadsden, of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, will discuss the museum’s exhibition of 20th-century women artists in “Women Take the Floor”.Doris Lee (1905-1983), The View, Woodstock, 1946. Oil on canvas, 27½ x 44 in. The John and Susan Horseman Collection of American Art. Courtesy the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

There will be several other museum exhibitions spotlighted including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art’s Women in Motion show from Anna O. Marley. The exhibition, and the presentation, will focus on the “networks of women artists working professionally in the American art world from PAFA’s founding in 1805 to the end of World War II.”

This timely conference will take place November 11 and 12 at The Cosmopolitan Club in New York City. All required health and safety measures will be in place, including following the Cosmopolitan Club’s guidelines of checking that guests are fully vaccinated. The Club also has a dress code that will need to be followed. The conference will be open both days 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with evening events. —