Art_Market_-_February_2016_

NEWS

art NEWS

In March, Museums Promote

Women Artists Through Social

Media Campaign

By Rain Embuscad

Think of an artist off the top of your head. If

a man came to mind, the National Museum

of Women in the Arts (NWMA) is hoping to

change that.

On March 1st, the NWMA will officially

launch a social media campaign designed to

push women artists to the fore. Organized

for this year's Women's History Month, the

project calls special attention to the gender

imbalance in the art world both nationally

and globally. This comes shortly after the

museum's launch of Women, Arts and

Social Change, a public program dedicated

to addressing social and political issues

that affect women in the arts.

The NWMA is calling on other arts

institutions to join them in sharing

quotes, statistics, images, and other

pertinent information about women

artists both living and past with the

hashtag #5womenartists. The tag,

which is directly pulled from the

campaign's name, "Can you name five

women artists?," will be shared across

their social media accounts, including

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and

other platforms.

A number of art-world heavyweights

have announced plans to participate,

including the Solomon Guggenheim

Museum and the New Museum, both

in New York, and the Los Angeles

County Museum, among others.

According to NWMA's press release,

these organizations are encouraged

to share information about women

artists in their respective collections

and exhibitions.

"We are so pleased by the tremendous

response that we have received from

participating museums planning to

join us as part of Women's History

Month with the #5womenartists social

media campaign," NMWA director

of communications and marketing Amy

Mannarino told artnet News in an e-mail.

While prominent women artists are likely

to take center stage, a representative

of NWMA told artnet News in a phone

conversation that the museum plans on

promoting the works of emerging and mid-

career artists as well.

The campaign runs through the month of

March.

Mickalene Thomas, A-E-I-O-U and Sometimes Y, 2009

Gift of Deborah Carstens; © 2009 Mickalene Thomas

Courtesy of the artist and Lehmann Maupin; National Museum

of Women in the Arts