Female artists get paid 10 p vs £1 paid to male artists
Female artists get paid 10 p vs £1 paid to male artists, a mere 10%, this is according to a study conducted by Helen Gorrill. This is even when there are regularly around 70% female artists in art education. Furthermore, prices of art created by females drop even further if the art is signed. The information above, was found in an article by the Guardian Newspaper .
An uncomfortable reality, but too important to ignore and not to share. As I embarked on my own art journey, it seemed to rapidly come to my attention all the challenges that being an artist entailed. Creating an art career, the dos and don'ts were lengthy. There was a new level of complexity for females.
However, I was rightfully encouraged by the wonderful book by Hettie Judah (see image below), because it not only highlighted the current and prevailing aspects of art education and practice that continuously amount to hurdles to overcome by female artists, and anyone with regular caretaking responsibilities. These hurdles inevitably contribute in part to the current imbalance in the art world. Hettie’s book is groundbreaking in its analysis and scope and more importantly it also emphasizes all the ways communities and individuals are taking matters into their own hands to make actual change happen.
HOW NOT TO EXCLUDE ARTIST MOTHERS (AND OTHER PARENTS)
HETTIE JUDAH
I have always being creative, since I was very young. Once I grew up I longed for the day when I would finally do art full time. I had every intention to obtain an art education, but reality made it impossible for me to do so. In spite, of all the things in my own life that kept me from actively working in a creative practice, my deep desire to make art and to share it with the world prevailed. Shortly after establishing my art practice I decided to create an in person community for female and gender non-conforming artists, to encourage and support others in their art journey. At the core of our community is collaboration over competition, and we regularly work on empowering each other, something that is prevalent for female artists is how often they undervalue their work. I often reflect on this particular issue and notice how much as a society we expect and rely on free labor by women. This is something that is overlooked and often actively ignored. We must do better as a society to help girls and women aspire to be who they are meant to be and in doing so to also understand that their work and efforts should be valued and rewarded equally to that of their male counterparts.
(Above, on the left, me as a little girl; and on the right this past summer living my art dreams as an artist in Venice surrounded by some amazing artists and friends).
My intention with sharing all this is to encourage readers to see for themselves who they are choosing to collect art from, and if they are willing to actively seek more female artists to collect from, in an effort to help address the imbalance in the art world. By doing so you will be contributing to a more equitable art world.
Additionally, it is so important to share how valuable it is for people to be willing to follow our art both in social media, and in person; attend our exhibitions in person wherever possible. Taking the time to share our work with others. Art has always been an important part of our lives as humans, we have always been creative beings since the earliest of times. I encourage you to care enough about us female artists to make an impact by sharing about us in your immediate circle, as a way to get our names out in the world. Talk about the pay disparity and our perseverance and dedication to our art careers.
Many female artists have been finding a way to share about themselves, their feelings, their lives, also about things that matter to them; and have dared to do so through their art even when they were often discouraged, forbidden and too often ignored.
