| Year | Venue | Recipients of WCA Honors Lifetime Achievement Award |
| 1979 | Washington D. C. | Isabel Bishop, Selma Burke, Alice Neel, Louise Nevelson, Georgia O'Keeffe |
| 1980 | New Orleans | Anni Albers, Louise Bourgeois, Caroline Durieux, Ida Kohlmeyer, Lee Krasner |
| 1980 Alternate Awards | Washington D. C. | Bella Abzug, Sonia Johnson, Sister Theresa Kane, Rosa Parks, Gloria Steinem, Grace Paley |
| 1981 | San Francisco | Ruth Bernhard, Adelyn Breeskin, Elizabeth Catlett, Sari Dienes, Claire Falkenstein, Helen Lundeberg |
| 1982 | New York City | Bernice Abbott, Elsie Driggs, Elizabeth Gilmore Holt, Katharine Kuh, Charmion von Wiegand, Claire Zeisler |
| 1983 | Philadelphia | Edna Andrade, Dorothy Dehner, Lotte Jacobi, Ellen Johnson, Stella Kramrisch, Lenore Tawney, Pecolia Warner |
| 1985 | Los Angeles | Minna Citron, Clyde Connell, Eleanor Raymond, Joyce Treiman, June Wayne, Rachel Wischnitzer |
| 1986 | New York City | Nell Blaine, Leonora Carrington, Sue Fuller, Lois Mailou Jones, Dorothy Miller, Barbara Morgan |
| 1987 | Boston | Grace Hartigan, Agnes Mongan, Maud Morgan, Honoré Sharrer, Elizabeth Talford Scott, Beatrice Wood, Patricia Hills |
| 1988 | Houston | Margaret Burroughs, Dorothy Hood, Miriam Schapiro, Edith Standen, Jane Teller |
| 1989 | San Francisco | Bernarda Bryson Shahn, Margret Craver, Clare Leighton, Betye Saar, Samella Sanders Lewis |
| 1990 | New York City | Ilse Bing, Elizabeth Layton, Helen Serger, May Stevens, Pablita Velarde |
| 1991 | Washington DC | Theresa Bernstein, Mildred Constantine, Otellie Loloma, Miné Okubo, Delilah Pierce |
| 1992 | Chicago | Vera Berdich, Paula Gerard, Lucy Lewis, Louise Noun, Margaret Tafoya, Anna Tate |
| 1993 | Seattle | Ruth Asawa, Shifra Goldman, Nancy Graves, Gwen Knight, Agueda Salazar Martinez, Emily Waheneka |
| 1994 | New York City | Mary Adams, Maria Enriquez de Allen, Beverly Pepper, Faith Ringgold, Rachel Rosenthal, Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein |
| 1995 | San Antonio | Irene Clark, Jacqueline Clipsham, Alessandra Comini, Jean Lacy, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Celia Álvarez Muñoz |
| 1996 | Boston | Bernice Bing, Alicia Graig Faxon, Elsa Honig Fine, Howardena Pindell, Marianna Pineda, Kay WalkingStick |
| 1997 | Philadelphia | Jo Hanson, Sadie Krauss Kriebel, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Moira Roth, Kay Sekimachi, Tee Corinne, Ofelia Garcia |
| 1999 | Los Angeles | Judy Baca, Judy Chicago, Linda Frye Burnham, Evangeline J. Montgomery, Arlene Raven, Barbara T. Smith |
| 2001 | Chicago | Joyce Aiken, Marie Johnson Calloway, Dorothy Gillespie, Thalia Gouma-Peterson, Wilhelmina Holladay, Ellen Lanyon, Ruth G. Waddy |
| 2002 | Philadelphia | Camille Billops, Judith K. Brodsky, Muriel Magenta, Linda Nochlin, Marilyn Stokstad, Barbara Wolanin |
| 2003 | New York City | Eleanor Dickinson, Suzi Gablik, Grace Glueck, Ronne Hartfield, Eleanor Munro, Nancy Spero |
| 2004 | Seattle | Emma Amos, Jo Baer, Michi Itami, Helen Levitt, Yvonne Rainer, Elizabeth A. Sackler, Tara Donovan |
| 2005 | Atlanta | Betty Blayton-Taylor, Rosalynn Carter, Mary D. Garrard, Agnes Martin, Yoko Ono, Ann Sutherland Harris, Andrea Barnwell Brownlee |
| 2006 | Boston | Eleanor Antin, Marisol Escobar, Elinor Gadon, Yayoi Kusama, Maura Reilly |
| 2007 Awards for Women in the Arts | New York City | Barbara Chase-Riboud, Wanda Corn, Buffie Johnson, Lucy R. Lippard, Elizabeth Murray, Connie Butler |
| 2008 | Dallas | Ida Applebroog, Joanna Frueh, Nancy Grossman, Leslie King-Hammond, Yolanda López, Lowery Stokes Sims, Santa Barraza, Joan Davidow, Tey Marianna Nunn |
| 2009 | Los Angeles, | Maren Hassinger, Ester Hernandez, Joyce Kozloff, Margo Machida, Ruth Weisberg, Catherine Opie, Susan Fisher Sterling |
| 2010 | Chicago | Tritobia Hayes Benjamin, Mary Jane Jacob, Senga Nengudi, Joyce J. Scott, Spiderwoman Theater, Juana Guzman, Karen Reimer |
| 2011 | New York | Beverly Buchanan, Diane Burko, Ofelia Garcia, Joan Marter, Carolee Schneemann, Sylvia Sleigh, Maria Torres |
| 2012 | Los Angeles | Whitney Chadwick, Suzanne Lacy, Ferris Olin, Bernice Steinbaum, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Karen Mary Davalos, Cathy Salser Lynn Hershman Leeson |
| 2013 | New York City | Tina Dunkley, Artis Lane, Susana Torruella Leval, Joan Semmel, Leanne Stella |
| 2014 | Chicago | Phyllis Bramson, Harmony Hammond, Adrian Piper, Faith Wilding, Hye-Seong Tak Lee, Janice Nesser-Chu |
| 2015 | New York | Sue Coe, Kiki Smith, Martha Wilson, Petra Kuppers |
| 2016 | Washington, DC | Tommi Arai, Helène Aylon, Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Stephanie Sherman |
| 2017 | New York | Audrey Flack, Mary Schmidt Campbell, Charlene Teters, Martha Rosler, Kat Griefin |
| 2018 | Los Angeles | Lee Bontecou, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Gloria Orenstein, Renee Stout, Kathy Gallegos and Amelia Jones |
