Twenty-five years ago, local artist and DelArt supporter Valetta started the Regional Center for Women in the Arts (RCWA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to women artists and women in need. The RCWA hosts exhibitions with the dual purpose of promoting emerging and established women artists who work in the Delaware Valley and donating 50 percent of exhibition gallery sales to charities that support women.
With the help of a volunteer board and large network of artists and supporters, Valetta and the RCWA hosted exhibitions at venues of all sizes, including the Noyse Museum, the Widener University Museum Gallery, the University of the Arts, and the Delaware College of Art and Design. Sale proceeds have gone to charitable organizations such as Women Against Rape, the Friends Association for Care and Protection of Children, and Pathways PA.
RCWA will end its quarter century of service by the end of 2025; it will close their center in downtown West Chester, Pennsylvania, and auction off the collection in May. Valetta, a longtime supporter of the Museum, has chosen DelArt to be the beneficiary of the auction.
“It’s been a pleasure and privilege to collect art from so many talented women artists working in the Delaware Valley,” says Valetta. “I’m excited for the works we are auctioning off to enrich the lives of new owners and support DelArt’s important mission—particularly its focus on collecting and exhibiting regional female artists.”
“The Delaware Art Museum has a rich tradition of highlighting the work of women artists,” adds Margaret Winslow, DelArt’s Head Curator and Curator of Contemporary Art. “In the past few years alone, we’ve hosted exhibitions highlighting the careers of luminaries like Margo Allman, Helen Mason, and Angela Fraleigh, and we are constantly collecting art by women artists, both regionally and nationally. We’re honored to be the recipient of such a meaningful donation.”
In addition to collecting and exhibiting works by Delaware Valley women artists and making financial donations to area nonprofits, the RCWA has given numerous prizes and grants to women in all disciplines of the arts and has found innovative ways to support women in need. For example, RCWA organized a program called First Art on the Wall, where artists donated framed works of art to women moving from shelters to their first residences, and created the International Fabric of Peace project, which brought women together to create and exhibit quilts.
Several of the RCWA’s works of art will be included in DelArt’s April 26 Art of the Cocktail fundraiser silent auction. The complete auction, hosted by RCWA to support DelArt, is being held on Saturday, May 3. Visit rcwaweb.org to learn more about the RCWA and the auction.