National association of women artists

Founded in 1889 as a non-profit, member-supported organization of women in the fine arts with the name of New York Women's Club, it remains the oldest active professional women's art group. The names changed beginning 1913, when it became the Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. From 1916 to 1941, it was the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, and from 1941 forward, the name has been National Association of Women Artists. However, primary purposes remained the same, which are to encourage and promote creativity of women in the visual arts and to promote public awareness about them. NAWA sponsors year-round juried exhibitions for members and exhibitions that travel worldwide. Founding members of what was then called the New York Women's Club included Adele Bedell, Anita Ashley, one of the early presidents, and Olive Brown, Matilda De Cordoba, Ethel Prellwitz, Elizabeth Watrous, Fanny Tewksbury, Elizabeth Cheever and Emma Eilers. Among later members after the first name change are Louise Nevelson, Anna Hyatt Huntington, Malvina Hoffman, Anne Goldthwaite, Elizabeth Nourse, Theresa Bernstein, Claude Hirst, Charlotte Coman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Schille. Sources: http://www.anny.org/2/orgs/0231/nawa.htm; Peter Falk, Art Historian; AskART.com