The Women in Visual and Literary Arts (WIVLA) attempts to combine the talent of visual artists and writers in order to stimulate the creative process and provide a forum for female artistic endeavors through shows and networking. The organization began in 1993, the brainchild of "a writer, an artist, an art consultant and a gallery owner." Within a year, membership flourished quickly. The organization holds monthly meetings that include a featured speaker, and also holds exhibits and readings where members may present their latest work. In the future, WIVLA hopes to provide "studios, writing suites, workshop space, gallery, gift shop and library" in order to facilitate the flowering of artistic activity among the women of Houston.
The papers of the Women in Visual and Literary Arts (WIVLA) consist of meeting minutes, fliers about events, and newsletters. All material dates from 1994 to 2001. The collection arrived in the Special Collections in excellent order, arranged neatly into newsletters and meeting minutes, which were filed and arranged chronologically. Other papers had been divided by event or subject. The records are arranged into seven series: Organization, Meetings, Newsletters, Events, Anthologies, Communication, and Rosters. The material in each series is arranged chronologically.
Terms are either Library of Congress Subject Headings or taken from local sources.
Open for research.
Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, locating copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form. For more information, consult the appropriate librarian.
Women in the Visual and Literary Arts Records, Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries.
Donated by Women in the Visual and Literary Arts, 1999.
Leigh Fought, June 1999, additions made by Amanda R. Martinez, 2006
The organization series contains material relevant to Women in the Visual and Literary Arts as an organization. The folders in the organization series are by-laws, treasurer's reports, general information, and guidelines pertaining to the organization. Several copies of the by-laws are contained in the by-laws folder, and the treasurer's reports folder contains all of those documents from 1994-1999. Treasurer's reports are closed for three years and are not to be photocopied at any time.
The meetings series predominantly contains minutes for bi-monthly meetings; but announcements, agenda, notes, and clippings about speakers at the meetings also fall within this series. Meeting minutes are to be closed for three years and are not to be photocopied at any time.
Beginning in 1995, as membership grew, WIVLA began to publish a newsletter. These newsletters seem to have been produced with a desktop publishing program, then copied and mailed to members.
The events series contains fliers, invitations, and lists for events hosted or co-sponsered by WIVLA. Most of these are found in the miscellaneous folder. Beginning in 1997, the events became larger and more accompanying documents in regard to planning and calls for participants were added. These shows are separated into their own folders. The members' activities folder contains invitations to shows or workshops held by members of WIVLA, but which WIVLA itself did not sponsor. This series is arranged in chronological order.
The Anthologies series contains showcasing the collaborations between artists & writers in WIVLA.
The series contains correspondence between WIVLA members regarding upcoming activities and events, and press releases about events.
The rosters series contains two sub-series: members and officers. These are lists of members and their contact information. Material contained in this series may be sensitive and the membership rosters are not to be photocopied. Researchers should consult with the archivist before using the information.