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gallery and performance space. Artist Judy Chicago (who had organized the Fresno program), designer Sheila de Bretteville and art historian Arlene Raven had been teaching in the feminist program at Cal Arts, and had come to feel that it was impossible to realize what they conceived of as feminist education within the confines of a patriarchal institution -- even an institution as progressive and experimental as Cal Arts. Ahwila de Bretteville once explained, "We are putting out so much energy dealing with daily hassles, trying constantly to democratize the administration. At some point we realized that we might as well be doing all that work for ourselves. We might as well argue with the building inspectors and whoever else we'd encounter out there, and put our energy into creating our own independent institution."

That institution was the Feminist Studio Workshop. With a faculty of three, word-of-mouth and small ads in feminist and art publications, it attracted thirty students. Tuition, $750 per person, provided initial operating funds. By the end of the first year, it was clear -- largely from personal contact, and extensive correspondence with prospective students -- that the FSW was viable enough not only to continue, but to expand. Writer Deena Metzger, graphic artist Helen Roth, art historian Ruth Iskin and performance artist Suzanne Lacy joined the faculty, with Judy Chicago withdrawing to return full-time to her art.