Joan Snyder (1940-present) is an abstract painter and feminist organizer who primarily works in New York City and New Jersey. Born in the Highland Park area, Snyder did not decide to pursue a career in the arts until after taking her first introductory art class at Douglass College in 1961. After earning a MFA at Rutgers University, she married photographer Larry Fink and began teaching at Neighborhood House in New Brunswick. She would continue to teach and serve as a visiting artist at universities like Yale, Princeton and SUNY later in her career.
In 1970, Snyder held her first solo exhibition in New York City, and participated in solo and group exhibitions at galleries and universities in the city and across the nation throughout her career. In repsonse to the gender imbalance among artistic faculty and gallery representation, Snyder became active in the feminist art movement, founding the Mary H. Dana Women Artist Series and supporting organizations like The Woman's Building. Her work can be found in the collections of institutions like the Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum, the MOMA, and the National Gallery of Art.