Ad Hoc Women Artists’ Committee and Artists in Residence (A.I.R.)

Both of these groups developed out of the Art Workers’ Coalition (AWC) to focus specifically on the under-representation of women artists in museums, art galleries and the dealer system in general. They broadened the AWC’s early stress on artists’ rights to include identity politics and a feminist awareness that countercultural critiques of the Vietnam War were inseparable from critiques of patriarchy and racism. The Ad Hoc Women Artists’ Committee was involved in activism and protest, while Artists in Residence (A.I.R.) was the first women’s co-operative art gallery.