| Women's artistic representation and inclusion in the mainstream art world has historically been marginalized due to male-driven social and artistic ideals, which have long determined what qualifies as "great" art and, in turn, the value of the work created and the recognition of the artist. In response to this imbalance, women funders, donors, collectors and artists have created gender-exclusive museums, galleries, exhibitions, and collections. While women-only art spaces were born out of necessity starting in the 1970s, the use of gender exclusivity as a method of realizing greater representation and acknowledgment---or even just first time recognition---within various art establishments remains strong in the twenty-first century. Many art critics, scholars, and artists (some claiming feminist values and some not), debate such gender-exclusive methods when considering its potential for ghettoization. While this often-arduous work has yielded significant progress over the last half century, recent statistics focused on women in the arts have shown that unequal pay and underrepresentation are still prevalent issues in the mainstream art world. In this thesis I consider the approach of creating women-only spaces to correct the outmoded art world bias by exploring four case studies: the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Linda Lee Alter Collection of Art by Women, the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, and the Women of Abstract Expressionism traveling exhibition. The benefits and challenges of this method are better understood through looking more closely at each institution's tactical use of gender exclusivity. Reflecting on the patterns of the past, can we identify new tenets for the future or will we continue to let the status quo dominate how the story of art is shared?... |
