SWAN Day Brings Attention to Women Artists

SWAN DAY: Support Women Artists Nowis a new International Day of Celebration specifically for women artists. The annual event was created three years ago at the end of Women's Month. The Third International SWAN Day was Saturday, March 27, 2010, but it is celebrated throughout the months of March and April, 2010 as well. So there is still time for you to learn about and participate in SWAN Day activities.

SWAN Day is the brainchild of WomenArts. WomenArts, originally incorporated as The Fund for Women Artists, is a non-profit arts service organization dedicated to helping female artists. In their quiet way, founded in 1994 by Martha Richard, this organization has provided resources for over 500,000 visitors yearly. My colleagues and I have benefited tremendously from the information they provide through a regular newsletter for arts, film and theater that provides free networking, fund-raising and advocacy services.

Their continuing list of funding resources alone is priceless. The archives of its early grant proposals and other source materials about women artists are included in the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Manuscripts at the Smith College Library.

The main purpose of SWAN Day is to focus attention on the actual creative work of women artists so that people the world over can see what it might be like if the creative work of women were fully integrated into everyone's life. You can visit the website to get help with event and fund-raising ideas, marketing materials, logos, and find other ways to participate.

Activities that can be held to help achieve the goal include: make a financial contribution to your favorite women artists or woman artists' organization; hold a film festival, gallery opening, art auction, fashion show or charity theatrical performance. In 2009, there were over one hundred and seventy SWAN Day events in twelve different countries.

This year, 2010, is the 75th anniversary of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the U.S., WomenArts invites you to honor women artists of the WPA as part of your SWAN Day celebration this year. This is a brand new idea for participants. During the Great Depression of the 1930's, which most of our grandparents lived through, the WPA was a federal jobs program created to stimulate the U.S. economy. A little known point of interest is that at its peak, the WPA employed over 40,000 artists.

According to the website, "SWAN Day 2010 is made possible by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lambent Fund of the Tides Foundation, and the Leo S. Guthman Fund, The Sister Fund, and by gifts of time, energy and money from artists and arts supporters around the world."

At the very least you can take your favorite female artists to lunch and praise her work. Or buy a ticket to her next performance, buy a piece of her artwork or handmade jewelry, or help her advertise her work and services through good word of mouth.