A.I.R. Gallery

is a not-for-profit, self-underwritten arts organization, with a board of directors made up of its New York based artists.

continues to offer an alternative venue for women that protects the creative process and the individual voice of the artist.

Feminism at that time had barely penetrated the New York Art scene and a 1970 Whitney Museum protest drew attention to the less than 5 percent female representation.

Directed by activist art critic Lucy Lippard, the two, together with Dotty Attie and Mary Grigoriadis, visited 55 studios to select and invite women artists to form a co-op.

At the first meeting on March 17, 1972, in Williams' loft, women artists met, among them were Maude Boltz, Linda Vi Vona, Nancy Spero, Louise Bourgeois, Howardena Pindell, Ree Morton, Harmony Hammond, Cynthia Carlson and Sari Dienes.

Still, having to deal with feminist politics was in the center, which meant fighting prejudices and fears that the showings would be considered second-rate.

"[2] The gallery was structured to be both an exhibition space for art by women and a radical, progressive, and even subversive, not-for-profit institution.

Its cooperative nature and its democratic structure have meant that the members vote on all decisions and participate in monthly meetings to plan exhibitions, programs, and the overall direction of the gallery.

The Fellows leave the program with a series of naturally forged relationships, experiences, and essential skill sets that are necessary to continue their careers as visual artists.

Fellowship artists include (1993–2021): Tenesh Webber, Diyan Achjadi, Angie Eng, Debra Hampton, Juri Kim, Sheila Manion-Artz, Fay Torres Yap, Elizabeth Zechel, Enid Crow, Christine Gedeon, Marni Horwitz, Fay Ku, Diane Meyer, Jinnine Pak, Hye-Kyung Kim, Jill Parisi, Sarah Blackwelder, Pattie Lee Becker, Soyeon Cho, Betsy Alwin, Megan Biddle, Margarida Correia, Stephanie Lempert, Brynna K. Tucker, Claudia Vieira, Lauren Simkin Berke, Barbara Hatfield, Kharis Kennedy, Katherine Dolgy Ludwig, Anita Ragusa, Hanna Sandin, Nivi Alroy, Monica Carrier, Ari Tabei, Elena Wen, Jennifer Williams, Jennifer Wroblewski, Damali Abrams, Suzanne Broughel, Kira Nam Greene, Jee Hwang, Keun Young Park, Annette Rusin, Jiyoon Koo, Juliana Cerqueira Leite, Meghan Mcinnis, Anne Percoco, Sam Vernon, Elisabeth Waterston, Rachel Farmer, Dina Kantor, Amelia Marzec, Jayanthi Moorthy, Laura Petrovich-Cheney, Susan Stainman, Ian Gerson, Shanti Grumbine, Jessie Henson, Sujin Lee, Hannah Smith Allen, Naho Taruishi, Aimée Burg, Annie Ewaskio, Bang-Geul Han, Einat Imber, Katherine Tzu-Ian Mann, Régine Romain, Željka Blakšić, Amber Esseiva, Sara Mejia Kriendler, Amanda Turner Pohan, Alexandria Smith, Claudia Sohrens, Fanny Allié, Andrea Burgay, Shadi Harouni, Daniela Kostova, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Negin Sharifzadeh, Manal Abu-Shaheen, Elizabeth Hoy, Eleanor King, Marykate Maher, Alison Owen, Naomi Elena Ramirez, Rachelle Dang, H. A. Halpert, Sareh Imani, Victoria Manganiello, Aliza Shvarts, Crys Yin, Melanie Crean, Isabella Cruz-Chong, Kim Dacres, Macon Reed, Gabriela Vainsencher, Zhiyuan Yang, Aya Rodriguez-Izumi, Caroline Wayne, Daniela Puliti, Dominique Duroseau, Karen Leo, Megan Pahmier, Aika Akhmetova, Destiny Belgrave, Lizania Cruz, Kyoung Eun Kang, Sky Olson, Bat-Ami Rivlin.

"created a wide-ranging network of individuals and organizations that collectively rallied to counter the patriarchy of the art establishment".

stating "New York City where I moved in 73 I saw how the women's collectives: A.I.R., Soho 20, and others were shaping the feminist art movement".

began to rely on financial support from sources whose bureaucratic complexities necessitated the gallery shift its organizational structure, if not compromise its feminist principles".

Dotty Attie, Rachel bas-Cohain, Judith Bernstein, Blythe Bohnen, Maude Boltz, Agnes Denes, Daria Dorosh, Loretta Dunkelman, Mary Grigoriadis, Harmony Hammond, Laurace James, Nancy Kitchell, Louise Kramer, Anne Healy, Rosemary Mayer, Patsy Norvell, Howardena Pindell, Nancy Spero, Susan Williams, Barbara Zucker[12] There are five tiers of membership programs for self-defined women artists at AIR Gallery.