MC 1462

Inventory to the Linda L. Cunningham Collection

By Alexis Vitello

November 2018

Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries

Finding aid encoded in EAD, version 2002 by Tara Maharjan, November 2018

Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University received an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.

Biographical Sketch

Linda L. Cunningham (1939-) is a sculptural and multimedia artist who was an active participant in the feminist art movement in the 1970s and 1980s. She is a New York City-based artist who exhibits extensively both in New York and Germany. As a former professor (1976-2002), Linda Cunningham founded and administered the exhibition program at Franklin and Marshall College. During her tenure, she was involved with various national women artist groups, including the Women’s Caucus for Art and the Coalition of Women’s Art Organizations, which actively focused on increasing women’s presence and acknowledgement within the art community. She was also involved in organizing the first open artist studios in the South Bronx in 2005, and in early 2009 she helped found BronxArtSpace. Currently she lives in Florida.

The Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA) was founded in 1972 after a gathering of women members at the College Art Association’s (CCA) 61st conference in San Francisco, CA. The gathering addressed the lack of female representation at the conference, both on the board of directors and presenters. Inspired by the second wave feminist movement, female artists collaborated to gain recognition within the art community. Elected at the first gathering, Ann Sutherland Harris was elected WCA’s first president. Members of WCA organized protests, female-focused art exhibitions, and conferences. They also promoted increased research on women artists and feminist perspectives on art. Efforts included developing women’s studies courses for colleges and universities and publishing writings of various lengths on the topic. A major event in the organization’s early history was participating in the National Women’s Conference in Houston, Texas on November 18 to 21, 1977, as part of the International Year of the Woman (IYW). IYW was an initiative created by the United Nations in 1975 to end discrimination against women worldwide. The United States had numerous events held by private and public organizations to honor the year’s designation, such as the conference in Houston. The federal government created the National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year to gather and present statistical information on the status of women in society. The report they created included a national plan of action that presented recommendations on major issues affecting women.

In 1977, right before the Houston conference, the Coalition of Women’s Art Organizations (CWAO) was created within WCA to act as a political lobbying group. Designated as a 501(c)(6) organization, the CWAO was legally allowed to dedicate all their activities to political issues, unlike the WCA which was limited to 20 percent of total expenditure for political activities. Linda Cunningham designed the organization’s structure and wrote its bylaws before the first official meeting in January 1978 in New York. Utilizing the IYW Commission report, state arts workshops and panels feedback, and a CWAO poll, she worked with other activists to create the coalition’s first national platform. Cunningham also served as CWAO’s Vice President of Membership. The group was pivotal in political actions included lobbying Congress and testifying on arts legislation and the publication of statistics on sex differentials in employment and in exhibition opportunities.

On September 27, 1986, WCA sponsored a nation-wide series of events under the title Women Artists Visibility Event II (WAVE II) “Now You See Us”. The event was a follow-up to 1984’s WAVE “The Museum of Modern Art Opens But Not To Women Artists” in New York. The events were intended to draw attention to the work of contemporary women in the visual arts and the failures of some major institutions to recognize their contributions to the field. Institutions identified as transgressors were ones that received public funding but did not represent diverse populations in their collections and exhibitions. Linda Cunningham was the national coordinator for the event that included 16 WCA chapters from across the country. Some of the chapters that participated were New York, Miami, Kentucky, Seattle, Minnesota, San Antonio, Indiana, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. The local events consisted of protests, marches, guest speakers, performance art, and discussion groups.

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Scope and Content Note

The Linda L. Cunningham collection documents Linda Cunningham’s career as a female artist activist during the 1970s and 1980s. It is approximately 1 cubic foot in size, comprising 2 1/2 manuscript boxes and 1 oversized archival box. Her work with two different art activist organizations is represented in the collection, the Coalition of Women Art Organizations and the Women’s Caucus for Art. Records include organizational bylaws, press statements, event programs, newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, negatives, and event planning documents. Majority of the collection consists of items that Cunningham personally generated or collected as part of her activism. A substantial portion of the collection documents the Women Artist Visibility Event II (WAVE II), which Cunningham organized. There are newspaper articles, photographs and letters that record the planning process and the response to the events from across the country. The Collection comprises two series: 1) ORGANIZATIONAL PAPERS AND PUBLICATIONS, 1977-1995, and 2) MEMORABILIA,, 1986.

Oversized items, including posters and newspapers, are housed in oversized storage boxes. The collection contains 3 t-shirts that are housed separately with oversized items from the collection. Folders retain the names given by the creator, as does the order of the documents within each folder. The folders are organized alphabetically within four groupings, the National Women’s Conference, CWAO, WCA and WAVE II.

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Related Material

Judith Brodsky Papers

Miriam Schapiro Papers

Women's Caucus for Art Records

Women's Caucus for Art, New York City Chapter

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Restrictions

No restrictions.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Linda L. Cunningham Collection. MC 1462. Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.

Provenance

Linda L. Cunningham personally donated the collection to Rutgers University Special Collections and University Archives in 2018. She collected the records during her time working with feminist artist groups, both nationally and in New York.

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References

Garrard, Mary D., “Feminist Politics: Networks and Organizations.” in Power of Feminist Art, edited by Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard, 88-103. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1994.

Cunningham, Linda L., “Linda L. Cunningham.” Accessed 10/9/2018.

Dickinson, Eleanor, “The History of the Women’s Caucus for Art” in Blaze: Discourse on Art, Women and Feminism, edited by Kathy A. Halamka and Karen Frostig. Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007.

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Detailed Description of the Collection/Container List

This section provides descriptions of the materials found within each series. Each series description is followed by a container list, which gives the titles of the "containers" (for example, folders, volumes, or cassettes) and their locations in the numbered boxes that comprise the collection. The availability of any digital items from a container is indicated with a hyperlink.