HERSTORY

Exploring Miami's Women Artists Through Their Archives

This project was organized in partnership with the the Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Vasari Project, November 7, 2023 – March 31, 2024

Curated by Anita Sharma, Women’s Voices: A Journey through Miami’s Art History is an exhibition that illustrates the activities of several women’s arts organizations from the 1970s to the present that significantly contributed to the cultural landscape of Miami. Inspiration was drawn from women’s organizations, such as Women Artists, It’s Time (W.A.I.T), the Women’s Caucus of Art (WCA) Miami and Florida Chapters, as well as the artists andspaces that defined this period: Lynne Golob Gelfman, Dr. Paula Harper, Betty Kjelson, Mira Lehr, Claire Jeanine Satin, and Ruth & Richard Shack's Records.The Vasari Project's Miami Art Timeline explores the Herstory: Mapping the Women’s Art Movement in Miami.  Herstory is an exhibition that illustrates the activities of several women’s arts organizations that significantly contributed to the cultural landscape of Miami.  We travel through the early 1970s to the present through the organizational activities and records of W.A.I.T (Women Artists, It’s Time), the WCA Miami Chapter (Women’s Caucus of Art), Continuum Gallery and WAAM (Women Artists Archive Miami). 

This exhibition uncovers the rich and salient history of an independent Women’s Art movement that is largely forgotten in present times. Herstory attempts to reposition this history and bring it to the forefront, so we may understand more deeply the lineage and complexities of Miami’s multivalent art history. The cumulative impact of these organizations was considerable and the legacy of these organizations should not be overlooked. They expanded opportunities for women to participate in exhibitions and juried competitions, hosted talks and lectures, and provided professional development and educational guidance when the mainstream art world denied them access. This exhibition is not an exhaustive or monolithic presentation of the women’s art movement in Miami by any means. Herstory acknowledges the critical silences, fractures and gaps that exist in archives. By recognizing these ommissions, we are asserting that archives have a responsibility to equitably present and center the voices and experiences of BIPOC communities.

It is important to note that developments in Miami were echoing nationwide articulations of the Feminist Art movement that were challenging patriarchal norms. In Miami, as art students gathered to form W.A.I.T. (Women Artists It’s Time), artists were creating pathways elsewhere in the country. In California in the early 1970s, artists Miriam Schapiro, Judy Chicago, and art historian Dr. Paula Harper were creating the first Feminist Art Program at the California Institute of the Arts. In 1971, Where We At Black Women Artists (WWA) was formed in NYC to contest the exclusion of Black women artists from museums in NYC. This exhibition positions Miami within this larger nationwide women’s art movement. 

Additionally, Herstory offers an indispensable nod to the necessity of reparative archival preservation initiatives. The Vasari Project, an archival repository, dedicated to preserving Miami’s art history from 1945 to the present, was founded by two art visionaries, art critic, historian, and writer Helen L. Kohen and the Library’s former Art Services Manager Barbara N. Young. Together, they laid the foundation for an organization that now contains a vast compendium of primary and secondary sources that contextualize the artistic activities of Miami.  The exhibition draws from the papers of several individuals and arts organizations based in Miami during this period, including art historian Paula Harper, Miami philanthropists Ruth and Richard Shack, artists Claire Jeanine Satin, Mira Lehr,  Dr. Paula Harper, Betty Kjelson, Susan Emery Eisenberg, Lynne Golob Gelfman, Barbara Young and many others. 

W.A.I.T. (Women Artists It's Time) was formed in 1972 by a group of University of Miami art students reacting to the strict exclusionary policies of women from exhibitions. The group began with twenty members and was supported by local art patrons who had prominent roles in local arts institutions. W.A.I.T. held members' exhibitions at several venues in South Florida including the Hollywood Art & Culture Center, Grove House, the Miami Art Center, and Burdines Dadeland Furniture Area Museum. W.A.I.T. challenged the status quo by harnessing the power and agency of organizing. As a collective, they created opportunities for members to participate in local exhibitions and with support from local art patrons and they laid the foundation for the growth of a movement that opposed women’s under-representation in the arts. 

In 1972, W.A.I.T. merged with the national non-profit organization, the WCA (Women’s Caucus for Art), which kickstarted the formation of the Florida Chapter of the WCA. In 1992, when the WCA celebrated its 20th anniversary, the Miami chapter consisted of 200 members. The WCA was dedicated to promoting “professionalism and parity” for women in the arts. In Miami, they focused on organizing exhibitions to increase visibility for member artists. The Florida Chapter held monthly educational programs, published a monthly newsletter, offered workshops and maintained a slide registry of members’ artwork. Throughout their twenty-five-year term, they held numerous group exhibitions at both private/private spaces all over Miami and South Florida

Herstory also highlights recent archival initiatives taking place in Miami. In 2019, a new women-focused organization, WAAM (Women Artists Archive Miami), was formed. WAAM grew out of an urgent need to preserve and contextualize the prolific contributions of women artists from the past to the present. WAAM addresses the critical gaps and silences that are inherent in the historical record and prioritizes reparative and community-based strategies to address these historical failings. Based in Little Haiti, WAAM centers women artists through exhibition and digitization initiatives. The exhibition will present a selection of archives from the WAAM repository.

The exhibition, drawn from the holdings of the Vasari Project at the Miami Dade Public Library System (MDPLS), examines this period through a variety of printed and visual materials including newsletters, exhibition postcards and catalogs, correspondence, photographs, ephemera, artwork and other documentary evidence. Herstory attempts to reposition this history and bring it to the forefront, so that we may understand more deeply the lineage and complexities of Miami’s multivalent art history.