Two new arts organizations open in New York City, Artist Space and the Women's Interart Center. The Senate approved the equal rights amendment. The first video games and consumer hand held video recorders are introduced. The NEA provides funding for alternative spaces within their public arts program. The Western New York Artists Committee protests the Albright-Knox Gallery's regional selection procedures for their annual exhibition.
Art Park opens in Lewiston, New York.
Charles Clough and Robert Longo begin the groundwork for the creation of what is now Hallwalls . The first personal computer is introduced. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago features Body Works , a collection of studies on body art. Artists Space located in New York holds the first exhibition of graffiti art. In Buffalo, Nina Freudenheim opens a commercial gallery.