Press
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Connecticut Women Artists: 90 Years of Promoting Women in the Arts
WEST HARTFORD, Connecticut, February 28, 2020. Recently celebrating the 90th anniversary of its promoting and supporting women in the arts, Connecticut Women Artists, originally founded as the Society of Women Painters and Sculptors of Hartford, is now thriving as a statewide organization of highly accomplished artists working in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, assemblage, photography, clay, metal, fiber, textiles, and glass.
Now numbering close to 200 members, the organization had its genesis in the scarcity of exhibit opportunities for women artists in the male-dominated art community in Hartford in the early twentieth century. Two women, Jessie S. Goodwin Preston (1879-1973) and Helen Townson Stimpson (1886-1977), both professional artists, brought together the group’s first exhibition, at Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum, in 1929.
The original 20 artist-founders are now the subject of an upcoming exhibit, Where are the Women? Presented at the University of St. Joseph, 1678 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117-2764, which will show the highlights of the founding members' work and rediscover art never exhibited to contemporary audiences.
Connecticut Women Artists (CWA) now presents one open juried show, one members' juried show, and one Council Members' show each year at respected art venues throughout the state. The organization chooses jurors from among the most talented and significant women currently working in visual arts. CWA is also a long-standing Award Patron of the annual Connecticut Regional Scholastic Art Awards which supports the outstanding artistic achievement of youth in Connecticut.
For more information about CWA visit the website at: www.ctwomenartists.org.
Media Contact: Diane Cadrain, Vice President, Connecticut Women Artists, Inc., (860) 966-0647
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For images of members’ work, visit the Featured Artist Gallery on the CWA website.