00600	WOMEN'S FINE ARTS INVITATIONAL
00700	
00800	
00900	
01000		In keeping with the current feminist spirit and in observation of International Women's
01100	
01200	Year, the Women's Fine Arts Invitational spans the month of November at 510 Emerson Street
01300	
01400	in downtown Palo Alto.  Forty-four Peninsula women artists have mounted a one hundred
01500	
01600	and thirty piece exhibit in vast quarters donated by Cornish and Carey Realty.   With
01700	
01800	a cooperative spirit and a score of paint brushes, crews of artists have transformed a
01900	
02000	six-room basement into a museum-quality exhibit space.  Donations of equipment and time
02100	
02200	were also given by the UP Press, the Rich Paint Company, the Kelly-Moore Paint Company,
02250	
02300	and other organizations.
02400	
02500		The installation complete, a gala party attended by over 500 people marked the
02550	
02600	exhibition's opening Saturday, November 1.   Costumed men and women and dancers
02700	
02800	led by Claire Cooley added color to the festivities.
02900	
03000		The political function of the exhibit is emphasized by the display of a large and
03100	
03200	brightly hued bi-centennial quilt, designed and fabricated by 42 local women.  The quilt
03300	
03400	depicts some of the sacrifices and struggles that men and women endured to gain the
03500	
03600	independence of the nation and to gain other social and economic goals throughout
03700	
03800	American history -- securities and freedoms we are prone to take for granted.   Palo Alto
03900	
04000	women contributing to the quilt are Vivian Andreas, Gertrude Reagan, Shirley Cahn, Mary Hyman,
04100	
04200	Diane Giberson, Genny Guracer and Evelyn Chaney.
04300	
04400		The position of today's woman artist is humorously elaborated in a series of cartoons
04500	
04600	by Bulbul:  artists are pictured in typical predicaments faced by females in the art world.
04700	
04800	Male attitudes, conscious and unconscious, are exposed by the cartoonist.
04900	
05000		Themes of concern to women -- those of pregnancy, motherhood, the house-bound wife,
05100	
05200	female consciousness, and the beauty  of the female form and psyche -- are variously stressed
05300	
05400	in art works by Joanna Despres, Helen Morrison, Janice Haefner, Arielle Moore, Ann Hogle, Pat
05500	
05600	Sherwood, and others.  A concern for the individual is displayed by Sara Todd, Naomi Mendelzun, 
05700	
05800	and Deborah Monroe.  Environmental and ecological concerns spark the work of Marjorie Berry, 
05900	
06000	Gail Efron, Eulalia Andreasen, and Andrea Hendrick.  The high quality exhibit includes painting, 
06100	
06200	drawing, hard and soft sculpture, a large section of graphics, photographs, multi-media works,
06500	
06600	and a room environment of projections and music by Nancy Fox.  Since the exhibit is an
06700	
06800	invitational, the artists themselves were able to select works that reflect honestly their
06900	
07000	current personal attitudes, aesthetic commitments, and involvement with the women's movement,
07100	
07200	without the intermediary screen of juror or dealer.  This makes a strong, expressive show.
07300	
07400		On Thursday evenings (with the exception of Thanksgiving) a series of free
07500	
07600	entertainments will be presented in the galleries under the sponsorship of the Women's
07700	
07800	Coffee House.  On November 6 at 8:30 p.m. Helen Anderson, singer-composer-guitarist, will
07900	
08000	present a musical program.  On November 13 at 8:30 p.m. The Women's Ensemble, a five-woman
08100	
08200	theater troupe, will present a drama.  On November 20 at 8:30 p.m. Susan McDonald will give
08300	
08400	a poetry reading.
08500	
08600		On two Sundays in November the Women's Invitational will be the site of organizational
08700		
08800	meetings:  Sunday, November 9, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom;
08900	
09000	Sunday, November 23, the Stanford Women's Center.   On Sunday, November 16, the Palo Alto
09050	
09075	City Council and the Palo Alto Arts Director and members of the city's Arts Department will be
09125	
09175	guests of the women artists in an informal gathering featuring tea and crumpets.
09500	
09600		The organizing committee for the Women's Fine Arts Invitational includes Agnes Murray,
09700	
09800	Stanford;  Joan Kagel, Ann Miya, Edith Smith, Judith Wasserman, Marjorie Lorraine, Palo Alto;
09900	
10000	and Jean Struthers, Los Altos.
10100	
10200		The exhibit is open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays, 12 to 5 p.m., during the month
10300	
10400	of November.  It is open Thursday evenings, excluding Thanksgiving, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
10500	
10600	Most of the works of art are for sale.
10700	
10710	
10720	
10730	
10740	
10750	
10760	
10800	
10900	
11000	
11100	
11200	
11300	
11700	
12200												Edith Smith
12300												3732 Laguna Ave.
12400												Palo Alto, CA.  94306
12500												(415) 493-9386