Funders and History: Center for Women in the Arts at Douglass
The Center for Women in the Arts at Douglass provides experiential arts offerings to students at Douglass Residential College that advance the work and ideas of exceptional women and gender diverse artists and arts professionals through exhibitions, year-long campus residencies, and other arts opportunities.
The Gender and Arts Program was founded in 2019 thanks to a generous gift from Douglass alumna, Juliette Mittendorf Hill. However, the Creative Life of Douglass long preceded 2019. As an artist and art teacher, Juliette Mittendorf Hill (DC ’42) hoped to provide all Douglass students an opportunity to engage and interact with different arts disciplines, regardless of a student’s major. She felt that knowledge of the arts and creative practices was an important part of a well-rounded liberal arts education. Funding opportunities are available to support student projects thanks to this gift.
The Lebowitz Artist-in-Residence program was endowed in 1999 by Professor Joel Lebowitz, Director of the Center for Mathematical Sciences Research, Rutgers University, in honor of his late wives— artist Estelle Lebowitz and Ann Beneduce Lebowitz— under the leadership of Ferris Olin (DC '73), Distinguished Professor Emerita, Rutgers University.
The Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series was founded by artist Joan Snyder (DC ‘62) and established at the Mabel Smith Douglass Library in 1971 under the leadership of Library Director, Daisy Brightenback Shenholm (DC ‘44). Formerly known as the Women Artists Series, in 1987 the Series was endowed by Professor Emerita Nelle Smither and renamed in memory of her friend Mary H. Dana (DC ‘42). Founded in 2006 as the Institute for Women and Art, the IWA was renamed the Center for Women in the Arts and Humanities in 2015. The IWA was co-founded by Rutgers Distinguished Professor Emeriti Judith K. Brodsky and Ferris Olin. From its inception until 2020, the organization reported to Isabel Nazario, Associate Vice President for Strategic Initiatives in Diversity and Inclusion.