History

Woman Made Gallery was co-founded in 1992 by Beate C. Minkovski and Kelly Hensen, two returning art students at Northeastern Illinois University. Renting a storefront on Chicago's north side, Kelly and Beate exhibited their Senior Show, "Man-Made Women." Kelly is responsible for giving the Gallery its great name and for the original WMG logo taken from her woodcut, depicting two hands forming a triangle.

What started as a personal studio space for these two friends evolved into a not-for-profit gallery serving women artists since 1992. Minkovski has continued to guide WMG as its Executive Director since 1993. Active with neighboring arts organizations Intuit and ARC, she served on the Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP) Panel for the Chicago Cultural Center from 2005 to 2008. Minkovski is part of the Special Service Area (SSA) #29 Commission jury panel for public art in Chicago’s Westtown, and has curated exhibitions for various arts organizations, including the CWCA, The Women's Art Registry of Minnesota, Women's Work in Woodstock, and The Art Center in Highland Park, Illinois. She is the 2006 CWCA award recipient for achievements in the arts.

Many devoted and able women have helped to shape and develop WMG into a strong organization. One of the gallery's major contributors is Janet Bloch, who, after refining the WMG logo, dedicated her services as Gallery Director from 1993 to January 2000. She provides ongoing support to artists with her successful Career Day workshops. Janet continues to play a significant role as the organization's Senior Advisor. Another strong supporter and guiding influence is Pamela Callahan, who started as a volunteer in 1994. Pamela served as Gallery Director from 1998 to Fall 2000 and then, as Associate Director, focused on marketing and publicity for the gallery, in addition to coordinating poetry readings through 2002. She initiated the Her Mark project, an annual publication through 2010 that included art and poetry by 44 women. Pamela Callahan is the organization's generous and inspirational Gallery Associate.

Gallery Staff

Beate Minkovski - Executive Director

Ruby Thorkelson - Gallery Assistant

Emanuel Aguilar - Preparator

Volunteer Staff

Mary Ann Anthony - Exhibition and Auction Support

Emanuel Aguilar - Marketing Support



Margaret Denny - Artisan Gallery Curator

Nina Corwin - Poetry Readings Coordinator

Mary King - Exhibition Layout

Deb Flagel - Co-Facilitator of Her Group

LuEllen Joy Giera - Co-Facilitator of Her Group

Karen Rechtschaffen - Gallery Assistance

Marty Bash and Melanie Deal - WMG Editors

Main Advisors

Janet Bloch - Senior Advisor

Pamela Callahan - Gallery Associate

Alison Zehr - Gallery Consultant

Ruby Thorkelson - Gallery Assistant Ruby Thorkelson joined WMG in July 2010 as our newest staff member. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Individualized Study: “Arts-Based Community Development” at New York University, Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Ruby brings to WMG her passion for the encouragement of women in the arts and the promotion of feminist art, and a strong Community Arts background with an established focus on education and administration, as well as experience with art handling and gallery installation.

Emanuel Aguilar - Exhibition Preparator Emanuel Aguilar is assisting WMG with all aspects of installing art for group and solo shows. In addition he volunteers his marketing skills to the organization. He is a Fine Arts Major at Columbia College with concentration in Identity Politics and a Minor in Marketing. He also studied in Florence, Italy at the Lorenzo De Medici University in 2007. Aguilar gained gallery experience at Jean Albano Gallery and A & D Gallery, has curated several exhibitions, and helped found the online arts magazine Jettison.

Past Staff Members

Kristen Carter was WMG's cherished Gallery Coordinator from 2008 through July 2010. A graduate from DePaul University, with a BA in History of Art and Architecture and a minor in Studio Art, Kristen is a PhD candidate in Art History at the University of British Columbia. Besides doing valuable work at WMG, she has written reviews for ArtSlant and for the online art magazine Jettison. We thank Kristen for her contributions to WMG, and we wish her the very best for her new life in Canada.

Mary Ann Anthony was a member of the WMG staff from 2001 to 2009. Mary Ann did everything, and she still volunteers each time we change shows and during the hectic Gala Event preparations each year.

Amy Galpin served as WMG's Gallery Coordinator from 2006 to 2009. She is currently Project Curator for American Art for the San Diego Museum of Art. Amy continues to be involved as curator for WMG's fall 2010 exhibition, "After Adelita: Myths, Heroes, and Revolutionaries."

Morgan Mills was Gallery Assistant in 2006 before relocating to California. Marty Bash helped WMG as a staff member from 2005 to 2006 before she joined the WMG Board. Zareen Siranjulla worked for WMG in 2005; Sonja Kruitwagen was Gallery Director from 2002 to 2004; and Diana Buckley worked for WMG in 2004. Nancy Nield Buchwald worked at WMG from 2002 to 2003 while she was a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago, and Jori Lewis was Gallery Assistant for the better part of 2002 until she left to pursue further studies at Berkeley. Other Gallery Staff to remember include Sheila Farley, who served as Gallery Director from 1999-2001, Meg Coleman, who worked in 2001, Elizabeth Bowles, who assisted on and off from 1997 to 2002, and Elizabeth Harms, who was there for WMG from 1997 to 2000. Then there was Tiffanie Amirante in 2001, and Kim Brenner and Brooke Davidson, who both worked from 1999 to 2000. Many of our Gallery Assistants started their relationship with WMG as interns from various educational institutions, and continued to work beyond their internships.

Current and Past Interns

We are thankful to all of the interns who make many important contributions to Woman Made. Each intern meets with staff to choose the day or days of the week that she wishes to work at Woman Made. Internships at Woman Made are unpaid, but we encourage students to contact their universities about receiving credit. Potential interns do not have to be affiliated with a university. Typically, an intern works at least one day a week for a 10- to 15-week period.

Interns assist staff members with publicity, installation of art, artist relations, editing of the website, grant research, and many other activities. They help keep the gallery organized and help with a variety of tasks that increase the daily productivity of Woman Made.

Interns come from a variety of universities and organizations, including the School of the Art Institute, Loyola University, DePaul University, Northwestern University, Columbia College, and organizations like the Urban Life Center, located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. Interns' areas of interests are diverse and have included studies in visual art, painting, art history, sociology, and gender studies.

Our 2010 interns include Ryna Frankel, Michele Finkelstein, Priya Bhayana, Inna Komarovsky, Cara Boldarini, Amber Bookenberger, Emily Heap, Stephanie El Tawil, Whitney Stoepel, and Lizzie Jones. Thanks to our 2009 interns Cara Boldarini, Colleen Griffin, Caitlin Andler, Christine Galvez, Christa Heilman, Sara Higley, Liz Kozik, Tasha Mills, Jalpa Pandya, and Devin Prendergast.

We are thankful for all of the work Jadine Collingwood assisted Woman Made with during her extended internship, which ended in July 2008. Jadine wrote press releases, helped update the database, worked opening receptions, packed and unpacked art work, and contributed immensely to the community at Woman Made. We wish Jadine the best of luck in her graduate studies at the University of California-Berkeley.

Volunteers

Several volunteers help out from once a month to once weekly. We appreciate Deb Flagel and LuEllen Joy Giera, who are Co-Facilitators of Her Group, and Mary King who does a fabulous job laying out WMG exhibitions. Thanks to Margaret Denny for helping us with our Artisan Gallery and being there at opening receptions. Volunteers who helped with outreach programs at the Women's Treatment Center and at several Chicago elementary schools include Sandra Garber, Karen Rechtschaffen, Sadie Gerbic, Marlene Skolnik and Marilyn Mack. Other helpful gallery volunteers include Cara Boldarini, Laura Callier, Diane Chin, Shannon Cleary, Sandy Wong Darroch, Laurel Delaney, Julie Foreman, Sally Sepsey Grimes, Mary Jo O'Hearn, Joan Pantsios, Louise Pappageorge, Michelle Perkins, Barbara Puechler, Caren Helene Rudman, Ellen Rodman, Lora Sherman, Cynthia Staples, Cynthia Strohschein, Jennifer Towslee, Tamasha Williams, Beth Van Riper, Jere Van Syoc, Gail Willert, and many others. They assist us at various tasks, from changing shows to welcoming guests at opening receptions.

Past volunteers whom we miss very much are Mary Stoppert and Carmen Perez, who were the Artisan Curators from 2005 to 2008. Then there is Lauren Levato, who did a tremendous job as our Poetry Coordinator through 2007. Other past volunteers who left their good mark on WMG include Lora Sherman, Elizabeth Neubauer, Ed Misley, Fiona McLaren, Beth Shank, Alexandra Zonis, Melissa Neiss, and Marta Wojcek. And there are those volunteers who have helped repeatedly at special events or with special tasks: Karen Abbott, Tiffany Amirante, Eleanna Anagnos, Carol Augustine, Gina Bader, Janet Beals, Monica Brown, Kathryn Ferrell, Andrea Ginsburg, Barbara Grzybowski, Laura Hermann, Allison Hill, Alison Hilsabeck, Sandra Holubow, Deborah Hughes, Patty Johnston, Angela Just, Catherine Lundgren, Judith Nolan, Roxana Pereira, Jennifer Riehm, Lisa Rivas, Zareen Sirajullah, Laurel Smith, Amy Seidenbecker, Helen Gagel Squires, Eileen Wasserman, and Alexandra Zonis. There are many, many other great volunteers who have contributed their time and energy throughout the years. Sometimes their contributions were a one-time commitment and other times they got "stuck" and more intensely involved. Laura Stempel faithfully coordinated the Women's Group each 4th Sunday of the month. These "Her Group" sessions are now guided by Deb Flagel and LuEllen Joy Giera. Artist and writer Andrea Harris and Ellen Wade Beals volunteered their skills to write periodic articles for past WMG newsletters. There are over 100 volunteers who have helped at WMG over the past few years, and we are very grateful and truly fortunate to know all of them. At WMG many cooks don't spoil the food, but make the organization stronger, more diverse, and more exciting.

Through volunteering, local artists accomplish two things: they give to a good cause, and learn professionalism when dealing with galleries in general. If you are interested in being a volunteer at Woman Made Gallery, please email us at gallery@womanmade.org or call us at 312-738-0400.

Images on the left side from top to bottom depict Beate Minkovski and Kristen Carter; images on the right side from top to bottom show Kelly Hensen, Janet Bloch, Pamela Callahan, Ruby Thorkelson, Emanuel Aguilar, Mary Ann Anthony, and Karen Rechtschaffen surrounded by her fabulous artwork.