Women's Art Association of Canada
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| Motto | Labore et Constantia |
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| Formation | 1887 |
| Type | Non-profit association |
| Legal status | Active |
| Purpose | Support women artists |
| Headquarters | Toronto |
| Location |
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| Coordinates | 43°40′10″N 79°23′47″W / 43.669475°N 79.396434°WCoordinates: 43°40′10″N 79°23′47″W / 43.669475°N 79.396434°W |
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Region
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Canada |
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Official language
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English, French |
| Website | www |
The Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC) is an organization founded in 1887 to promote and support women artists and craftswomen in Canada, including artists in the visual media, performance artists and writers. At one time it had almost 1,000 members. Although smaller today, it still plays an active role in fundraising and providing scholarships for young artists.
In 1886 the young Canadian artist Mary Dignam (1857–1938) returned from six years in Europe, where she had supported herself by organizing art tours for young ladies in Italy and the Netherlands. She joined the staff of Miss E.K. Westmacott's Associated Artists' School of Art and Design, founded in Toronto in 1884, which taught handicrafts to women. She began to teach classes in drawing, painting and modeling in the school's studio on the 2nd floor of the Arcade building. In 1887 Dignam created a young women's artists organization which shared the premises of the handicrafts school. The organization was part of the Lyceum Club. After two years, Dignam replaced Miss Westmacott as president of the school.
In 1890 Dignam incorporated the artist's organization as the Women's Art Club. It was renamed the Women's art Association of Canada in 1892. Dignam wrote later, "We had a Royal Academy branch in Toronto but I found I had to do something to open the door for women and the only way seemed to be the organization of the Women's Art Association." The association adopted the motto of the Plantin Press of Antwerp, Labore et Constantia (Labour and Constancy), the colors of red and white and the wild rose as emblem.
The goal of the association was to encourage and support Canadian women artists, including those involved in branches of fine art, applied and performance arts. According to the 1907 Bill No.30 An Act To Incorporate The Women's Art Association of Canada, "The objects of the Association shall be the creating of a general interest in art and the encouragement of women's work for the purpose of mutual help and co-operation of its members, the establishment of art lectures and reading clubs, the holding of exhibitions of painting, designs, sculpture, engraving and the industrial arts, and the encouragement and development of the art handicrafts and home industries of Canada."
In a 1917 article in Woman's Century the WAAC stated, "Service is the keynote to happiness. Every part of the Art Association's activities is based on service to the individual, to the community, and to the nation." The 1919 National Council of Women of Canada Yearbook defined the purpose of the WAAC as "to create a general interest in art, to encourage art handicrafts and home industries, and to establish art lectures and exhibitions of painting, sculpture and design." The yearbook added that "In this way it hopes to supply in some measure that great need of the artist: a public able to understand and trained to appreciate the best in art." The WAAC appreciated and promoted the different cultural heritages of native Canadians, French Canadians and immigrants from different countries.
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