WARM: A Feminist Art Collective in Minnesota

In 1976, the Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota opened a gallery in downtown Minneapolis—and introduced the Twin Cities to a feminist approach to art. WARM was a significant presence both nationally and locally, offering educational workshops, a mentoring program, and an alternative exhibit space for Minnesota women artists. Its longevity and success rivaled those of feminist art collectives in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and renowned artists and critics such as Miriam Schapiro, Judy Chicago, Harmony Hammond, and Lucy Lippard participated in WARM’s programs and exhibits.

WARM, the first history of this important group, includes an essay that places WARM within the national feminist art movement. Twelve Minnesota artists are featured, representative of the more than one hundred women who belonged to the organization and worked in a variety of art media, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, textiles, graphic design, and installation art.

Joanna Inglot is associate professor of art history at Macalester College.

Distributed for the Weisman Art Museum