Towards a Genealogy of Women Artists' Groups in Canada
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STRATE= SPACES: Towards a Genealogy of Women Artists' Groups in Canada Maura Lesley Broadhurst A Thesis in The Department of Art History Presented in Partial Fdfihent of the Requirements for the Degree of Masta of Arts at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada @3Maura Broadhursî, 1997 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1*1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliogaphic Services setvices bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON KtA ON4 Canada Canada Yom file Vmreférence Our Ne Notre raWrence The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence aIlowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sel1 reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fïlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur fonnat électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. iii ABSTRACT Strategic Spaces: Towards a Genealogy of Women Rets' Spaces in Canada As part of an alternative to canonid Canadian art history, this thesis looks at the histories of women artists' spaces in Canada Overlooked by predominant texts addressing Canadian art history, these spaces have provided a physical place where many Canadian women artists have gathered to train, exhibit, and s~ppoaeach other as professional artists throughout the twentieth-century. The lack of documentation of the activities of the groups has resuited in a widespread ignorance among Canadians of women artists' histories, and in a case of amnesia causing a repetition of history. The creation and growth of women artists' groups have so far been followed by their deterioration and often death. With their activities and successes forgotten, similar pups fodyears later are destined, or doomed, to repeat history. By studying organizations of both "firstl' and "second-wave" feminisms, this thesis looks at the similarities and clifferences of several women artists' spaces in order to begin to understand this disturbing cycle. This material is based Iargely on archival information analyzed through the use of contemporary feminist theory. By puhg together these scattered pieces it is my hope to begin to trace a genealogy of women artists' groups in Canada In documenthg the activities of these spaces, perIiaps the cycle can be slowed and the genealogy strengthened. Although this thesis bars my name. my wrïting is the result of inspiration by the teachings, discussions and support of so many people. Above aiI my supervisor Dr. Janice Heuand inspired me not only with her teaching and ideas, but with her continual encouragement, praise and niendship. Your example has helped me to grow and impmve. both as a student and as a person, over the last two ym. I wodd also like to thank my two readers, Dr. Brian Foss and Dr. Catherine MacKenzie, for their thne and thoughtfd input. As professors and as individuals you share your kmwledge generously and as readers you brought this same generosity to my thesis. Thank you also for your respect and your humour. Over my two years at Concordia 1have found an incomparable community of niends and colleagues. I find it rare because it is a mixture of respect and genuine interest in one another's work as well as an escape £Zedwith fun and relaxed comfort. My tirne working in the Slide Library provided me with the space for quiet thhkbg at times, and for shulating, often hilarious discussions at others. Thanks to all of my CO- workers for your fiendship and particularly to Janice Anderson for your guidance and your Iove. The wornen 1 have been fortunate enough to study and live with in Montreal are incredibly special. 1 look up to each of you for your intelligence, your humour and your courage. Cynthia, Caroline. Rhonda, AUyson, Abbie and, of course, Grayna, you ail make me proud to be a woman. And finally 1 need, as always, to thank my family. How lucky 1am to have the opportunity to grow and leam wntinually within a stimulating yet challenging environment. Few people have the unconditional support of so many people. In particular 1want to thank my brother Lauraice whose interest and input inçpired and encouraged me, and my sister Joanna who made Montreai feel like home. By paxticipating in my We here you bot.helped to link two important worlds in my life. Idedîcute thh work to my three nieces Annie, Elizabeth and Meredith. May you know your histories and mny them with you to mate strongfitures. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction ...................................................... 1 Chapter One Once 'Round the Cycle ........................................ .20 Chapter Two Amnesia versus History ....................................... -55 Chapter Three The Politics of location: Personal and Public ...................... .88 Conclusion ....................................................... 110 Bibliography ...................................................... il3 Appendices ....................................................... 126 INTRODUCTION Contemporary Canadian women artists are descendants of a vâried ancestry marked by numemus fighters and survivors. Faced with a continual partial writing of the country's art history, many women artists have had to stniggie to have their stories recognized, documenteci and remembered To achieve this goal some women have grouped together to fonn supportive networks from which they could resist discrimination. These groups have included informal gatherings of fiends and cornunities, and more formal organizations like schools, galleries and associations. One of the earliest of these formal groups was the Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC). Fomed in 1887, the WAAC was highly active into the 1930s, providing some women with the space to prove theniselves as capable professional artists, travelling to Europe to represent Canada in international exhibitions and having works purchased by public institutions like the National Gallery of Canada. The success they gained seemed to indicate an end to the sexist inequality in the Canadian art world and therefore an end to the need for separate spaces. 'Cn Old Mistresses, however, Griselda Pollock and Rozsika Parker explain that women's limiteci access to established schools and galleries resulted in more than a restriction fkom exhibitions and professional statu, "[ilt signified their exclusion hm power to participate in and determine dinerently the production of the languages of art, the meanings, ideologiu, and views of the \korld and social relations of the dominant culture."' Although gaining access to schools and academies resulted in their inclusion in an increased nurnber of exhibitions, women-artistst sdescontinued to be ignored by the main texts on Canadian ;ut. Consequently, Canadians continuecl to be largely unaware of the work by individual artists, and of the achievements of many collective organizations. By the end of the 1960s many women artists felt that discriminatory practices were again becoming overwhelming. Women-only gmups were re-established but with little or no howledge of their ancestors. Canada's amnesia with regard to its women artists has helped to create a disthkg cycle. The cyclical nature of women artists' groups in Canada con6rms Rosi Braidotti's belief that patriarchy depends on the hgmentation of women's history for its SurvivaL2 As a feminist Canadian art historian, 1 feel that the work of women artists in this country must be accompanied by written documentation and a theoretical analysis of their activities in order to link the scattered hgments. In contributhg to this endeavour, 1 hope that this thesis will strengthen Canadians' knowledge of women artists; and 1hope also to act as an intervention in Canadian art history, to destabilize its assumptions and force a continual shift in its l~nowledge.~ 'Rozsilca Parker and Griselda Pollock, Old Mistresses: Women,Art and ide010gy (London & Henley: Routledge & Kegasl Paul, 198 l), p. 135. 2Rosi Braidotti, Pattern of Dissonance: A s~dyof women in contemporary philosophy tm. Elizabeth Guild (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 1991), p. 149. 3~ her 1996 book Generations and Geographies in de Visual Arts, Griselda Pollock proposes that "[f'Jeminism demaflds that certain issues remah in view, and it functions as a resistance to any tendency to stabilize howledge or theory around fictions of the generically human or the monolithicdLy universal or any androcentnc, racist, sexist, or ageist myth of imperial westeni culture and its (ofta not so) radical discourses" and that "femulism signifies... a 3 In the ktchapter of this thesis 1 look back to the donand development of the fbt"Canadian" women arîists' group. The Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC) provides an example of a t'first-wave" ffeminst art association. By establishuig the reasons behind its foundation, its struggles, achievements and its membership, 1hope to draw parallels with later wornen artists' groups. in this sme, the WAAC represents one tum of the cycle. In Chapter Two, 1pose possible reasons for the apparent pause