The Heresies Collective was founded in 1976 by a group of feminist artists, with the goal of increasing discourse around the ideas of feminism, politics, and their relationship to art.
[1] The founding collective members listed in the first publication were:[1] Patsy Beckert, Joan Braderman, Mary Beth Edelson, Harmony Hammond, Elizabeth Hess, Joyce Kozloff, Arlene Ladden, Lucy Lippard, Mary Miss, Marty Pottenger, Miriam Schapiro, Joan Snyder, Elke Solomon, Pat Steir, May Stevens, Susana Torre, Elizabeth Weatherford, Sally Webster, and Nina Yankowitz.
The film, The Heretics, by collective member Joan Braderman, lists the following additional women as members of the Heresies Collective:[2] Joan Snyder, Pat Steir, Michelle Stuart, Emma Amos, Patsy Beckert, Janet Froelich, Su Friedrich, Ida Applebroog, Sue Heinemann, Sabra Moore, Miriam Schapiro, Cecilia Vicuna, Nina Yankowitz, and Amy Sillman.
While the publication was the primary activity of the collective, members of the group were also involved with other arts and political movements in New York.
[4] In 1984 the collective staged a demonstration in front of the Museum of Modern Art called the Women Artists Visibility Event (W.A.V.E.