1999 NATIONAL CONFERENCE

February 1999

Igniting the Edge: Forging New Geographies, Categories & Identities

celebrated art and artists within the feminist community, which opened just a few days before the College Art Association National Conference.

The WCA National Conference hosted by the SCWCA took place at the luxurious Hyatt Regency Los Angeles in downtown Los Angeles, and included the Honor Awards, featured speakers, panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions, art tours and performances. There were also visits from the Guerilla Girls, book signings, networking opportunities, political action meetings, viewing of the Equity Report in development, and board meetings.

Hundreds of women artists came from around the country, and the conference made about $25,000. The SCWCA donated over 10% of the proceeds to the national WCA for an endowment fund, as well as setting up a local endowment fund, which will provide greater security for the chapter to be able to hold big events. The conference was coordinated by Jean Towgood under the SCWCA presidency of Ada Pullini Brown. It was made possible by all the volunteered hard work of a number of SCWCA members (see Conference Chairs).

WCA 1999 HONOR AWARDS

Judy Baca, Linda Frye Burnham, Judy Chicago, Evangeline (E.J.) Montgomery, Arlene Raven and Barbara T. Smith were honored at the Honor Awards ceremony and banquet.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

The Opening Address was given by artist, writer and activist June Wayne, and the Keynote Speaker was performance artist and author Coco Fusco.

TOURS

Tours went to the Getty Center, Olvera Street and the Brewery, the latter including a variety of performances.

WORKSHOPS

The conference held four workshops: No Limits for Women Artists, Professional Workshop, Marketing for the Millenium, and Collaborating With Art Therapists: Co-Creating Community.

PANELS

There was a wide variety of panel discussions held ranging from recreating art history to healing issues to collaboration to global perspectives to performance to the language of identity.

EXHIBITIONS

A number of exhibitions were held in conjunction with the conference, including a regional exhibition, a Women of Color exhibition, the Timeline and Media Room installation, a June Wayne retrospective, and an exhibition of work by SCWCA core volunteers.

CONFERENCE CHAIRS

• Conference: Ada Pullini Brown, Jean Towgood
• Treasurer: Janice DeLoof
• Panels: Betty Brown
• Honor Awards: Rosalie Friis-Ross
• Registration: Myra Gantman
• Workshops: Lucy Blake-Elahi
• Regional Exhibition: Janice DeLoof
• WOC Exhibition: Patricia Lazalde
• Media Room: Diana Hobstetter
• Volunteers: Anita Miranda
• Performances: Barbara T. Smith

Many thanks to all the people who supported the Conference Chairs.