NAWA was founded as the Woman's Art Club of New York by artists Anita C. Ashley, Adele Frances Bedell, Elizabeth S. Cheever, Edith Mitchill Prellwitz, and Grace Fitz-Randolph in Fritz-Randolph's studio on Washington Square in New York on January 31, 1889.
As Liana Moonie (president of the NAWA, 1987-1989) remarks in the foreword to the centennial exhibition catalog, the Club was notable for having provided a platform for professional artists, whereas, at the time, female representation in the arts was frequently restricted to the decorative.

Assessing the necessity for and role of women's artists groups in the United States, artist and historian Julie Graham writes: "These associations arose out of the genuine need of women artists which were not being met by the largely male organizations of their day: they provided support, a place to show work, and they often provided instruction and models as well ... The most successful club of those founded in the 19th century is the National Association of Women Artists."

A New York Times reporter covering the Club's third annual exhibition in 1892 of over 300 works of fine art, drew a parallel to Parisian salons, suggesting: "it is well ... that women should combine here, as they have long combined in Paris, to show their own work by itself, unaffected by the opinion or prejudices of masculine juries of acceptance and masculine hanging committees."
  As now, early exhibitions were not restricted to members, nor to New York artists exclusively, and included works by Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, Louise Catherine Breslau, Laura Coombs Hills, Rhoda Holmes Nicholls, and Cecilia Beaux.

Between 1892 and 1905, the Club's membership doubled from 46 to approximately 100, and by 1914 grew to 183 artists and 30 more associates.
NAWA was founded as the Woman's Art Club of New York by artists Anita C. Ashley, Adele Frances Bedell, Elizabeth S. Cheever, Edith Mitchill Prellwitz, and Grace Fitz-Randolph in Fritz-Randolph's studio on Washington Square in New York on January 31, 1889. As Liana Moonie (president of the NAWA, 1987-1989) remarks in the foreword to the centennial exhibition catalog, the Club was notable for having provided a platform for professional artists, whereas, at the time, female representation in the arts was frequently restricted to the decorative.
Assessing the necessity for and role of women's artists groups in the United States, artist and historian Julie Graham writes: "These associations arose out of the genuine need of women artists which were not being met by the largely male organizations of their day: they provided support, a place to show work, and they often provided instruction and models as well ... The most successful club of those founded in the 19th century is the National Association of Women Artists." 
A New York Times reporter covering the Club's third annual exhibition in 1892 of over 300 works of fine art, drew a parallel to Parisian salons, suggesting: "it is well ... that women should combine here, as they have long combined in Paris, to show their own work by itself, unaffected by the opinion or prejudices of masculine juries of acceptance and masculine hanging committees."   As now, early exhibitions were not restricted to members, nor to New York artists exclusively, and included works by Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, Louise Catherine Breslau, Laura Coombs Hills, Rhoda Holmes Nicholls, and Cecilia Beaux.
Between 1892 and 1905, the Club's membership doubled from 46 to approximately 100, and by 1914 grew to 183 artists and 30 more associates.
National Association of Women Artists