Our history
Following a series of women-only exhibitions and meetings at the Ewing (now George Paton) Gallery, a meeting was arranged in 1975 by then-Directors Kiffy Rubbo, Meredith Rogers and artists Lesley Dumbrell and Erica McGilchrist to discuss setting up an archive of women’s art.
Amidst the energy and activism of that International Women’s Year, the group put a call-out to women artists to each submit two slides of work, received 160 slides in short order, and the Women’s Art Register was born.
Volunteers (L–R) Ruth Drayson, Genevieve Tobin and Mar Cruz working in the archive on the Slide Re-housing project, 2018. Photo by Caroline Phillips.
The original slide collection grew quickly, and was held at the Ewing & George Paton Gallery for almost four years. Concurrently, from mid 1977, historical research and the production of more slides was being undertaken by artists Anna Sande and Bonita Ely, who worked tirelessly to research and develop educational materials about women artists from the past, and from around Australia, in a project known as the Women’s Art Register Extension Project (WAREP). The two ever-expanding collections were moved to, and merged, at the Carringbush (Richmond) Library in 1979, still its location today.
By late 1976, the associated discussion groups that formed around the collection became known as the Women’s Art Forum. Its members met at restaurants, galleries and exhibitions, discussing the works and relevant issues, and continuing to add to the archive. A strong focus of the community was to educate, therefore the Women’s Art Register has produced a number of educational kits that were distributed to schools and libraries around Australia. Extending this educational remit, the Women's Art Register has acted as a unique publishing house, producing its bi-annual magazine, the Bulletin, since 1988.
The Women’s Art Register has played a major role in public events that celebrate and acknowledge the contribution of Australian women artists. In 1988, a dinner of 1200 women was organised at the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Melbourne, to accompany the exhibition of Judy Chicago’s A Dinner Party. In 1995, an exhibition was held at the National Gallery of Victoria Access Gallery, as part of the National Women's Art Exhibition. In 2015 the Women’s Art Register presented the award-winning AS IF: 40 years and beyond—Celebrating the Women's Art Register, a mini-festival of exhibitions, artist walks and public programming. Today the Women’s Art Register continues to amplify the voices of women artists in Australia through advocacy, innovative public programming and the continued care and preservation of our unique archive.
Isabel Davies, Life Member, speaking at the AS IF: Echoes of the Women’s Art Register launch at West Space, 2015. Photo by Danielle Hakim.
Women’s Art Register catalogues and ephemera from the archive.