ARC Gallery, along with the Artemisia Gallery, was one of the first women artists’ cooperatives in the Midwest, opening in September 1973. The original members were recent graduates of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and other institutions in the Chicago area where they found few female mentors and exhibition opportunities and recognized that they needed to create safe space outside of traditional institutions in order to make their art seen. In addition to promoting their own artwork, they also featured solo and group exhibitions by many artists from across the county and more importantly, were the sites for discussion of feminist art, theory and issues for over thirty years. In 1979, ARC founded RAWspace, an area of the gallery devoted specifically to installation work by visiting artists at a time where there were limited venues for this type of art.
Artemisia Gallery, along with the ARC Gallery, was one of the first women artists’ cooperatives in the Midwest, opening in September 1973. The original members were recent graduates of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and other institutions in the Chicago area where they found few female mentors and exhibition opportunities and recognized that they needed to create safe space outside of traditional institutions in order to make their art seen. In addition to promoting their own artwork, they also featured solo and group exhibitions by many artists from across the county and more importantly, were the sites for discussion of feminist art, theory and issues for over thirty years. After losing a major grant from the Jahn Foundation, Artemisia closed its doors in spring 2003.