Women's Artists' Group Fights Discrimination

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Women in the arts are speaking out and taking action against what they feel is sexual discrimination within their fields. The recent founding of the Coalition of Women's Art Organizations and the January convening of a conference of women artists in New York City are two recent signs of this. In addition, Margaret Costanza, special assistant to President Carter, and Joan Mondale, wife of the Vice-President, have been very supportive of women artists' groups, and instrumental in gaining them public attention.

Women artists' groups support their arguments with many statistics. According to Judith Brodsky, a founding member of the Coalition, who also teaches at Beaver College in Pennsylvania, "Women represent 50% of the pool of professional artists. This figure is supported by a number of surveys, the most recent of which is a survey of recipients of the Master of Fine Arts degree, conducted by the College Art Association." Brodsky, who is also president of the Women's Caucus for Art, a national organization of over 2500 artists. art historians and others, which was begun under the auspices of the College …