Finding Aid to the Woman's Building Records, 1964-1992, 2011 Coll2014-126
Kyle Morgan
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
2014
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90007
askone@usc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Woman's Building Records
creator:
Woman's Building (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2014-126
Physical Description:
24.1 Linear Feet
6 archive boxes, 5 flat archives boxes, 2 map case drawers, 1 archive carton
Date (inclusive): 1964-1992, 2011
Abstract: Artwork, administrative records, event records, financial records, promotional materials, and publications of the Woman’s
Building in Los Angeles from its founding in 1973 to its dissolution in 1991. The Woman’s Building was one of the nation’s
first nonprofit arts and educational centers dedicated to the development of women’s identity, sensibility, and creativity.
Container: 1-5
Container: 6-12
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder #, or item name] Woman's Building Records, Coll2014-126, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University
of Southern California.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Kyle Morgan, 2014.
Conditions Governing Access
Staff and payroll records are restricted until 2060. There are otherwise no access restrictions.
Separated Materials
Separated to ONE Archives audio collection:
"And those on the spirit believed," The KCALB [Gniw?] Spirit, May 24, 1987 (audiocassette).
ARTS/LA on KCRW, two stories on the Woman's Building on the 15th year anniversary, October 17 and 24, 1988 (audiocassette).
"Caged Bird Takes Flight," by Nobuko Miyamoto (audiocassette).
"Fantasticks, P.D." (audiocassette).
Vesta Awards event recordings, 1987 (2 audiocassettes), 1991 (2 audiocassettes), undated (1 audiocassette).
Separated to the ONE Archives subject files collection:
Lea Delaria subject file (1 folder).
Separated to the ONE Archives periodical collection:
Southern California Women's Caucus for Art, Spring 1992.
Biographical / Historical
The founding of the Woman's Building in Los Angeles in 1973 was the culmination of several years of activity by women artists
who were energized by the feminist movement in this country. This activity included protests of major museums for their exclusion
of women artists, the opening of gallery spaces dedicated to the work of women, the founding of the first feminist art education
programs (in 1970, by Judy Chicago at Fresno State College and in 1971 by Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro at California Institute
of the Arts), and the first large scale public feminist art installation, Womanhouse. In 1973, artist Judy Chicago, graphic
designer Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, and art historian Arlene Raven founded the first independent school for women artists,
the Feminist Studio Workshop. The FSW focused not only on the development of artmaking skills (in visual arts, writing, performance
art, video, graphic design and the printing arts), but also on the development of women's identity and sensibility, and the
translation of these elements into their artwork. Central to the founders' vision was the idea that the arts should not be
separated from other activities of the burgeoning women's community, and the three looked for a site for their school that
could also be shared with other organizations and enterprises.
This space, the Woman's Building, opened in November 1973. The Woman's Building took its name and inspiration from a structure
built by Sophia Hayden for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago to house exhibitions of cultural works by women from around
the world. When the Woman's Building first opened in 1973, it occupied the site of the old Chouinard Art Institute near MacArthur
Park. Hundreds of women came from across the United States (and from as far away as Canada, Mexico, Holland and Switzerland)
to attend the FSW. The facility was also home to galleries, theater companies, Sisterhood Bookstore, Womantours Travel Agency,
a coffeehouse, and the offices of the National Organization for Women. In 1975, the Woman's Building moved to a building on
North Spring Street, near Chinatown. At that time, the organization began to generate its own programming, so the entire three
floors of the reconverted warehouse were filled with artistic activities. In 1981, the Woman's Building underwent major organizational
change as a shift occurred in the cultural and economic climates of the United States. By that year, the organization's founders
had all left to pursue other projects, and a "second generation" of FSW graduates would carry the organization through the
next decade. That year the FSW closed, as the demand for alternative education diminished.
The educational programs of the Woman's Building were restructured to better accommodate the needs of working women. That
same year, the Woman's Building also founded two profit-making enterprises to strengthen its financial base: the rental of
artists' studio space, and Woman's Graphic Center (WGC) Typesetting and Design, a full service design studio. During the 1980s,
greater emphasis was placed on expanding the multicultural base of the organization, and on providing opportunities to assist
women artists in their professional development. Until its closing in 1991, the Woman's Building was an internationally recognized
symbol of the vitality and substance of women's creative achievements.
Source: http://www.womansbuilding.org/history.htm (accessed December 29, 2014)
Scope and Contents
Administrative records, creative works, event records, financial records, photographs, posters, promotional materials, and
publications of the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles primarily from its founding in 1973 to its dissolution in 1991. The collection
includes records for the Woman’s Graphic Center, Women’s Caucus for Art, and other affiliated organizations.
Arrangement
The records are organized in the following series:
Series 1. Administrative records, 1964-1992
Series 2. Creative works, graphic materials, and publications, 1973-1991, 2011
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Date and method of acquisition of most materials is unknown. Busz Words and Celebrating Women project posters were donated
in January 2016 by Cheri Gaulke and Jerri Allyn.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Feminists -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Feminism -- Study and teaching -- Archival resources
Lesbian feminism -- Archival resources
Works of art
Women artists -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Lesbian artists
Woman's Building (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Woman's Building (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Archives
Women's Caucus for Art -- Archives
Woman's Graphic Center -- Archives
Administrative records Series 1.
1964-1992
Arrangement
The series is arranged in alphabetical order.
Scope and Contents
Administrative records, event records, financial records, and promotional materials of the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles,
bulk 1973-1992. The collection includes records for affiliated organizations such as the Woman’s Graphic Center and Women’s
Caucus for Art. The administrative records include articles of incorporation, bylaws, meeting minutes, correspondence, notes,
policies and manuals, grant applications, membership records, leases, staff and volunteer records, insurance records, backup
diskettes, and ephemera. The financial records include statements, reports, journals, ledgers, receipts, tax records, budget
records, sales records, fundraising records, and check registers. The promotional and event records include voting tallies
for Vesta Awards nominees, seating arrangements, publicity photographs, clippings, fliers, bulk mail, programs, pamphlets,
press releases, brochures, event cards, correspondence, and invitations.
Box 1, Folder 1
Administrative records
1987-1991
Box 1, Folder 2
Archival provenance of Woman's Building records
1990-1992
Box 1, Folder 4
Art history lectures
undated
Box 1, Folder 6-7
Articles of incorporation
1973-1981
Box 1, Folder 8-11
Artist studios records
1981-1991
Box 1, Folder 12
Artistic director resumes
1990-1991
Box 7, Folder 6
Backups of catalog, slide library, and registry
undated
Physical Description: [8 5-inch floppy disks]
Box 1, Folder 13-20
Board of directors records
1986-1991
Box 1, Folder 21
Brochure copy
1978
Scope and Contents
Includes two black-and-white photographs of Woman's Building gatherings.
Box 1, Folder 25
California Arts Council grant materials
1989-1991
Box 5, Folder 35
Check registers
1984-1991
Box 1, Folder 26-28
Correspondence, notes, and ephemera
1985-1992
Box 1, Folder 30
Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles, grant materials
1990-1991
Box 1, Folder 31-33
Development coordinator and committee records
1987-1991
Box 1, Folder 35
Fees to artists, writers, and teachers records
1989
Box 6, Folder 11
Feminism subject file
1977
Box 5, Folder 1-26
Financial records
1977-1991
Scope and Contents
Includes financial statements, reports, ledgers, journals, and receipts.
Box 1, Folder 36-37
Fliers, bulk mail, and press releases
1978-1991
Box 1, Folder 38
Food is Art event records
1987
Box 1, Folder 39
Holiday sale records
1981-1984
Box 1, Folder 41
Instructions on accounting
1991
Box 1, Folder 42-44
Insurance records
1988-1992
Box 2, Folder 1-3
James Irvine Foundation grant materials
1973-1990
Box 1, Folder 46
Mail orders for Textile as Texts and Apsara publications
1988-1989
Box 2, Folder 6-13
Membership records
1987-1991
Box 2, Folder 4
Matter of Confidence fundraising records
1987-1992
Box 2, Folder 5
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) computer gift records
1989-1990
Box 2, Folder 14
Networks periodicals, Bay Area Video Coalition
1977-1979
Box 2, Folder 23
Nonprofit papers for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and State of California
1975-1989
Box 5, Folder 36-37
Payroll records
1987-1991
Conditions Governing Access
Access restricted.
Box 2, Folder 25
Postcard project records
undated
Box 6, Folder 1-10
Promotional and event materials
1970-1991
Scope and Contents
Includes fliers, pamphlets, event cards, programs, press releases, invitations, and clippings.
Box 2, Folder 26
Q and A database information
1991-1992
Box 2, Folder 27
Reference materials and ephemera
1985-1988, undated
Box 2, Folder 31-32
Staff records
1985-1991
Conditions Governing Access
Access restricted.
Box 2, Folder 33
Supplemental and planning materials for grants
1989-1991
Box 2, Folder 34
Times Mirror Foundation grant materials
1982-1991
Box 6, Folder 17-18
Vesta Awards records
1964-1991
Scope and Contents
Includes an image of Beah Richards.
Box 3, Folder 1-39
Vesta Awards records
1986-1990
Scope and Contents
Includes images of events and of nominees Brenda Levin, Susan Grode, Nobuko Miyamoto, Didi Daniels Peters, Esther McCoy, Helen
Lundeberg, Sheila Benson, Lydia Takeshita, Meredith MacRae, Carmen Zapata, Ruth Hirschman, Phranc, Beatrice Wood, Elyse Grinstein,
Marija Gimbutas, Wanda Coleman, Marion Post Wolcott, Cecile N. McCann, Jude Narita, Frances E. Williams, Carolyn See, Gloria
Molina, Cathy Guisewite, Zan Dubin, Mary Jane Eisenberg, Lita Albuquerque, Helen Harrison, Irene Fertik, May Sun, Gema Sandoval,
Bella Lewitzky, Holly Harp, Mary Ann Bonino, and Judy Chicago.
Box 4, Folder 1-29
Vesta Awards records
1990-1991
Scope and Contents
Includes images of Holly Harp, Anne Bray, and the Daughters of the Dust project.
Box 10, Folder 3
Vesta seating arrangement layouts
1986-1989
Box 2, Folder 37-43
Woman's Graphic Center records
1980-1989
Scope and Contents
Includes articles of incorporation and documentation of its bankruptcy.
Box 6, Folder 19-24
Women's Caucus for Art (WCA) records
1984-1985
Scope and Contents
Primarily exhibition records for the Southern California WCA.
Box 4, Folder 30-45
Women's Caucus for Art (WCA) records
1978-1986
Scope and Contents
Includes administrative records, publications, and financial records.
Creative works, graphic materials, and publications Series 2.
1973-1991, 2011
Scope and Contents
Architectural drawings, artist books, booklets, books, calendars, drawings, laminated display material, manuscripts, paintings,
panel displays, periodicals, photographs, poetry, posters, and other creative works of the Woman’s Building, Woman's Graphic
Center, Women's Caucus for Art, and other affiliated organizations, 1973-1991, 2011.
Arrangement
The series is arranged in alphabetical order.
Box 8, Folder 4
"Architectonic Inscapes," by Nina Kuo
1984
Physical Description: [1 booklet and 1 audiocassette, 2 copies]
Box 10, Folder 4
Architectural drawings
undated
Map-case 4.4
Architectural drawings
circa 1975-1991
Box 7, Folder 1
Booklets, artwork
1988, undated
Box 1, Folder 24
Calendars
1987-1990, undated
Box 12, Folder 2
"Celebrating our Heroines," postcard workshop panels
undated
Physical Description: [8 panels]
Box 9, Folder 10
"Contact," clackbook series number 1 by Kathryn Clark
1983
Box 1, Folder 34
Doin' It in Public, book
2011
Box 9, Folder 11
Flower engraved on wood
undated
Box 10, Folder 1
Graphic arts and ephemera
1978-1982, undated
Box 8, Folder 3
"Holly Greene Series, Book IV," by Vida Hackman
1984
Box 8, Folder 2
"Inside the Closet," poetry
undated
Box 9, Folder 9
Laminated display materials
1977-1984, undated
Map-case 4.4
Laminated display materials
circa 1975-1991
Box 10, Folder 7
Laminated display materials
1975-1992
Box 8, Folder 5
Laminated letters to the Woman's Building
1975
Physical Description: [1 continuous laminated roll of letters]
Scope and Contents
Letters from women to the Grandview Building talking about art design.
Box 9, Folder 8
"Lie in my Lap," artist book by Darla Mayer
1984
Box 9, Folder 7
"Look Ahead, Los Angeles!" compilation of artworks by various artists
1989
Box 6, Folder 13
"An Oral History of Lesbianism," a play byTerry Wolverton
1979, undated
Box 7, Folder 5
Photographs, framed or on foam core
circa 1990
Scope and Contents
Includes images of Carolyn Weathers, Eloise Klein Healy, Kitty Tsui, Lynette Prucha, and female Los Angeles police officers.
Box 5, Folder 39-40
Photographs of artworks, unidentified people, and the Daughters of the Dust project
1977-1991
Physical Description: [35mm slides]
Box 1, Folder 40
Photographs, photocopies
undated
Box 8, Folder 1
Poetry
undated
Scope and Contents
Includes limited edition and signed works.
Box 7, Folder 2-4
Postcard project display materials
1988-1990
Box 7, Folder 7
Postcards with images of the Woman's Building
undated
Box 11, Folder 4
Posters, Busz Words project
1990
Biographical / Historical
Project of Cheri Gaulke.
Box 11, Folder 3
Posters, Celebrating Women project
Circa 1990
Biographical / Historical
Project of Cheri Gaulke.
Box 11, Folder 2
Posters, Cross-Pollination project
1986
Box 10, Folder 2
Posters, programs and events
1974-1991
Map-case 2.1
Posters, paintings, and other graphic arts
circa 1975-1991
Box 6, Folder 14-16
Publications of the Woman's Building and/or its members
1974-1988
Box 9, Folder 4
Single page artworks by various artists
1980-1990
Box 2, Folder 28-30
Spinning Off periodicals
1978-1981
Box 9, Folder 6
Stanford University printed poetry
1982
Box 9, Folder 12-13
Tea and coffee cups
undated
Box 9, Folder 5
"Today... tomorrow," poetry
1987
Box 9, Folder 1-3
Valentines show materials
1981-1985
Map-case 4.4
Wedding display panels
undated
Physical Description: [2 folded cardboard panels]
Map-case 4.4
Woman's Building, 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, display panels
undated
Physical Description: [10 panels]
Box 2, Folder 36
Womanspace periodicals
1973