The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-31
NEWS OF TIE WEEK IN WORLD OF SOCIETY Birmingham Women Who Are
 Devoted to Art NOTES AND PERSONALS Birmingham Woman Talks About the Low Esteem In Which Ameri-
 cans Are Held In French
 Galleries.
BY ANNIE kENDRlck WALKER.


 T was surprised to see a young wom- an I had danced with in the cotillon the evening before getting on a street car a little after o'clock a few mornings ago." said a man who has always regarded the requests R. S. V. P. on the corner of his Invitations, and who pays party calls promptly, and is therefore quite an extraordinary per son. II was quite surprised to see her, because I happened to know that she did not reach home before o'clock, but here she was. signalling the mo- torman and stepping in the car with every appearance of having a bJl3y' day beore her, or of being late some where, and with not a moment to spare.
 This sort of thing happened three times-each time had seen her at the club, dining-had dined with her, in fact, or we had played bridge together at Mrs. D.'s and to my surprise I would see her the next morning-an unearth- ly hour for some women-downtown by little after 8. Of course I asked her what was taking her into tlye city so early.
 " I go down to one of the studios to draw every morning. she told me. We have model--and it's just fine.'
 T told her that did not even know there were studios here-where were they any way-and who had any time to draw-or pose, or be interested in things like that, or what encourage ment did Birmingham give to artists If any one paints pictures, who would buy them if they were way off in some studio where no one would ever think of going?
 And she told me of the number of for years right here in their, studios, now wedged in among sky -scrapers and looking out upon house tops and chim- neys-painting here day after day, with no real encouragement, no real art spirit that should express itself in the organizat ton of art clubs and leagues, the holding of exhibitions, and in art lectures, I decided that Birmingham was lacking in appreciation of real values and did not measure up to the high standards of other southern cities.
 From what this young woman told me I judge that there must be nearly a dozen studios in the heart of Bir- mingham, wh ere rents must be very { high but which are leased by ambi- tious women artists whose work Is highly creditable and who are strug gling along In an atmosphere almost wholly commercial.
 What applies to the women, whose wings and paintings represents years of study both here and in New York and Paris, would apply also to the young woman who, after studying music in New York or Berlin, or Dres- den, settles down in Birmingham to make her living. It seems to me that 1t would be disheartening to every one of them to leave the Latin quarter wh ere she studied for a year or two, and try to sell some of her Paris types In Birmingham, or say fare well to Dresden or her music master in New York, and open stulo in Bir- mingham. But I am told they are con- stantly doing it. and there must be some reason for it-some reason. "Of course there is reason for it." said a woman whose art education is limited to artistic dinner cards-there's s success for every woman who has the patience to wait for it-success, money,