Changing Houston, Changing Women's Lives:
The Houston Women's Caucus for Art, 1978 - 1988 (Continued)
By MaryRoss Taylor

Although occasional shows mixed established and emerging Houston artists, the Caucus offered exhibitions in places where an unusually large and broad audience saw them, or at multiple sites that increased the art community audience. Documentation was a priority; the 1984 show at Two Houston Center was accompanied by a forty-six page illustrated catalog; a "preview party" celebrating its publication took place at Moody Gallery on Friday, June 15, 1984.⁶⁴  Betty Moody, a popular and well-regarded gallery owner specializing in Texas artists, was on the HWCA Community Advisory Board.⁶⁵

Swanner became the next chapter president, and a gallery coordinator, Paula Dugan, was paid to handle exhibitions and write grants in 1984 - 1985. She was successful at this new job, but as the season progressed the Caucus won and spent more grant money than the group could match dollar for dollar. The shortfall was in the budgeted goal of $10,000 individual contributions, which occurred despite a membership directory of 126 names. By February 1985, the $60 monthly cost of the newsletter was a worrisome burden.

The new generation of leaders questioned the wisdom of continuing as part of a national feminist organization. Swanner floated the idea of a name change, reporting that prospective corporate donors wanted to help art groups, not political organizations. The members debated whether to leave the national organization. Half the dues were remitted to the national office, which was also the only arm of the organization eligible to compete for National Endowment for the Arts grants, which were imagined to be a panacea by many arts groups in the mid-1980s.

The busy schedule of Firehouse exhibitions and activities in 1984 - 1985 gave no hint of the questions being raised about the Caucus's identity. Fall 1984 began with a solo exhibition by Louisiana sculptor Clyde Connell. The next solo exhibition was by Jose Valdez, a brickmaker whose clay work addressed his experiences as an immigrant worker on the Texas-Mexico border.⁶⁶  Group shows presented books made by Texas artists, a juried show of sculpture by chapter members, new feminist video ("Revising Romance"), and a curated show of prints that was an event of the Southern Graphics Conference at Rice University.⁶⁷

The biggest project of the year was "Self Images," an invitational show curated by artists James Surls, Derek Boshier, Rachel Hecker and Toby Topek. It filled the Firehouse Gallery and Midtown Art Center from April 5 to May 11. The Houston Coalition for the Visual Arts promoted "Self Images" as part of a seven-site "assemblage" of artist-organized exhibition during the annual meeting of the National Association of Artists' Organizations in Houston.⁶⁸  The energy level of the Houston art community had never been higher.

The thirty-six page illustrated catalogue for "Self Images" was handsome, but the bill came as the season ended with a budget shortfall. Paying for the catalogue took the organization over two years. To the Caucus, which had operated with a balanced budget ranging from $1000 to $20,000 since 1979, a $7000 bill was monumental.⁶⁹  The exhibition schedule went forward at the Firehouse for the 1985 - 1986 season without a paid staff member. More significantly, the chapter's cash crunch terminated the tradition of bringing exhibitions from around the nation to Houston.

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