March was Women’s History Month around the world. And if you follow ARTE on Instagram, you probably noticed that we celebrated Women’s ARTIVIST History Month. We organized this campaign because women are underrepresented in the art world, and most people can’t name 5 women artists. But don’t fear, because ARTE didn’t just give you 5 women artists - ARTE named 18 women who are activists and artists.
Why women artivists?
We wanted to recognize the talented and dedicated artivists using spray paint, film, textile, and/or wheat paste to tell stories about the injustices faced by their communities. From Jordan to Bogotá to Brooklyn, the 18 artivists use their preferred art medium(s) to convey how the “personal is political” and make spaces for their own stories. All the women artivists use art for “Creative Resistance” to advocate for social and political change. By amplifying their work, we hope that folks can learn from, follow, and support them.
Women street artists are also grossly underrepresented. As a woman street artist herself, Ann Lewis pointed out that at the Bowery Houston Wall, less than 15% of the artists invited to paint have been been women. She says, “It’s a public wall; it should, therefore, reflect the demographic of the public. And dare I say it should also present more challenging subject matter,” calling that the public should be able to see more women-identified artists, more artists of color and transgender artists.
Moving Forward…
We hope #WomenArtivistHistoryMonth got you excited to discover and support more women artists who are using public spaces as their galleries instigate social and political change. If you are wondering what you can to do to help address the issues women face in the art world, read and share this action list. Stay tuned when we continue #WomenArtivistHistoryMonth next March. Check out our twitter list to stay up to date on all of the street artists we spotlighted and discover new artivists we add to the group.
By Grace Webster, Team ARTE