Cathy Keays – the history of The Women’s Art society of Montreal

Cathy Keays has published (January 2020) her new book entitled The Women’s Art Society of Montreal And Its Place in History 1894-2019.

Along with the history of the Society are local, national and international stories that coincided with each year of the organization going from 1894 to 2019. The group, also called WASM, was founded in 1894 by two remarkable Montreal women, Mrs. Alice Peck and Miss May Phillips. They started this non-profit because they wanted to help women artists have a place where they could gather to study and practice art and exchange ideas and give each other support.

Along with their studio the WASM also gave lectures on the arts as well as hosting musicals and dramas. These two women also founded the Canadian Handicrafts Guild, which continues today under the name “La Guilde” whose building is located across from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on the corner of Sherbrooke and Crescent.

Cathy Keays has published a book about The Women’s Arts Society of Montreal

Since 1998 the Studio has gone on their own, calling themselves the Women’s Art Studio of Montreal. The Society continues to give lectures on the arts and promotes the artist members through their website and social media and their Annual Juried Art Exhibit and Sale every spring. In addition to these activities, the Society has always hosted a day to celebrate the members and an Annual Holiday luncheon in December.

The book is 318 pages including many images and has detailed footnotes and a Bibliography. The first edition is sold out, but you will be able to get a “print on demand” copy or the e-book by Amazon sometime in September of 2021. The 2nd edition is all black and white. The website is: www.wasmtl.org

Cathy recently launched her own website to showcase and promote visual artists in Montreal: www.artistsinmontreal.com