Mission & History
Women & Their Work is a nonprofit visual and performing arts organization located in Austin that serves as a catalyst for new ideas in contemporary art created by women living and working in Texas and beyond. Since 1978, Women & Their Work has brought groundbreaking art to Austin, with exhibitions, performances, and educational workshops.
Women & Their Work fosters the artistic growth of women artists by encouraging them to make new, adventurous work and develops audiences for whom contemporary art is meaningful. Our mission is to ensure that women artists are represented in all forms of art.
Our History
For 47 years, Women & Their Work has been a cornerstone of the Austin arts community and has actively developed the careers of more than 2,000 women artists, presenting hundreds of visual art exhibitions, music, dance and theater events, film festivals and education programs. Our goal has been to serve as a creative community hub and create space for women’s voices to be loud in Austin, in Texas, and beyond.
Nationally recognized for the quality of its work, W&TW has played an important role in the development of the visual and performing arts in Texas. Women & Their Work was the first organization in Texas to receive a grant from the NEA Visual Arts Program and was asked to participate in the prestigious Warhol Initiative in 2001. National Public Radio featured Women & Their Work and its production of an original play in a six-minute segment on Morning Edition. Women & Their Work’s exhibitions have been reviewed in Art in America and ArtForum.
Women & Their Work actively works within the community, educating audiences of all ages about contemporary art. Since 1986, W&TW has developed a comprehensive education program that reaches children in underserved Austin schools. Women & Their Work’s arts education program comprises gallery tours and talks with exhibiting artists, hands-on workshops for Austin Independent School District students, in-school performances, classroom projects and teacher workshops.
Since 1997, Women & Their Work has been committed to expanding the discourse about contemporary art. For each exhibition, a writer commissioned by Women & Their Work examines the work on exhibit and writes a critical essay, which is then published in a color catalog. These catalogs are invaluable for the artists and gallery visitors.
THIRST, our first large-scale public art installation located on Lady Bird Lake, called attention to the catastrophic drought in Texas and was viewed by over 185,000 people. It received international attention including features in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic, on Canadian public television, and on a 30-minute PBS documentary.
In 2020 after losing our lease, we (miraculously) purchased a building with the support of over 250 donors and moved in July 2021.
The archives of our 43-year history (1978-2020) were acquired by the Smithsonian Archives of American Art in 2020 ensuring that our history and website will be preserved in perpetuity. All of our publications will be in the Smithsonian Library.
In 2024, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY acquired all 160 catalogs (digital and physical) produced by CW&TW. These publications, as well as all future catalogs, will be housed at their Thomas J. Watson Library.
Board of Directors
Umbreen Ahmad, Connie Arismendi, Juliet Blake, Anahita (Ani) Bradberry, Sally Whitman Coleman, Julie Couchman, Taylor Davis, Dolores Garcia, Francés J. Jones, Esq., Kelley Cooper McClure, Andrea Mellard, Isabel Naumann, Margo Sawyer, Judith Sims, Rachel Stephens, Sally Strickland, Frances Thompson, and Scherezade Garcia Vazquez.