|
Changing Houston, Changing Women's Lives:
The Houston Women's Caucus for Art, 1978 - 1988 (Continued)
By MaryRoss Taylor
As part of the Conference, HWCA presented two exhibitions. Arizona artist Muriel Magenta (who later was National WCA President) juried "Heartland" at the Jung Center. Toby Topek of the HWCA organized an outdoor sculpture exhibition, "12 On Site," which opened the night of October 23 on a vacant lot at 4300 Montrose.34
|
Caucus members Roberta F. Harris, Candace Knapp, and Toby Topek were conference panelists; Gertrude Barnstone, sculptor and HWCA president for 1980 - 1981, Suzanne Bloom, Linda Graetz, Lynn Randolph and Jana Vander Lee all moderated MACAA panels.35
Randolph's presidency began with an emphasis on local personal ties, but concluded with a burst of nationally visible activity. Caucus membership increased steadily: sixty in 1979, eighty in 1980, rising to 101 in February 1981.36 |
|
The Caucus took bigger steps in every area during 1981. The ambitious "Houston / Austin: the Exchange" exhibitions opened in January. The credibility of Caucus exhibitions was sustained by the practice of submitting possible works to outside professionals who made the selections. For "The Exchange," Annette Carlozzi, then curator at Laguna Gloria Art Museum in Austin, chose the Austin show. Marti Mayo, then curator at the Contemporary Art Museum, selected Houston art. Both exhibitions were shown at St. Edwards University in Austin (sponsored by Women & Their Work) and at the University of St. Thomas art department gallery in Houston.37
In November 1981, the Caucus co-sponsored a major exhibition with catalogue at Lawndale of national and local artists curated by Charmaine Locke: "The Image of the House in Contemporary Art."38
New York artist Jackie Apple spoke in May at Rice Media Center.
Previous political actions were overshadowed by the impact of the next Caucus project, a challenge to the Museum of Fine Arts. The Caucus launched the offensive with a two-and-one-half page single-spaced "Open letter to the Board of Trustees." The letter objected to the appointment of New York critic Barbara Rose as Curator of Exhibitions and Collections and to the covert sale of works by the museum to fund purchases of art from Ms. Rose's husband, pop songwriter Jerry Leiber.39
In the end, the Caucus action led to the resignation of the director William Agee, the demotion of Rose, and public changes in traditional Trustee procedures. Agee was replaced by Peter Marzio, who still directs the Museum of Fine Arts; HWCA singlehandedly created the opportunity for Marzio to make his mark on Houston.
Click to continue...
|
