Friday, May 9, 2008

The time to write!


While taking time to devote to writing is not exclusively a woman's problem, there are rather urgent reasons why we need to consciously support women in the arts. Consider these facts, from A Room Of Her Own Foundation:

  • Only 9 out of 52 winners of the National Book Award for Fiction are women.
  • Only 11 out of 48 winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction have been women.
  • Generations of students studied art history with a text that did not include one woman artist—Mary Cassatt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Louise Nevelson and Lee Krasner were all excluded.
  • Women writers won 63 percent of the awards but less than 30 percent of the money in awards and grants reported by Poets & Writers. (January/February 2003 issue)
  • In 2002 all but one of the Pulitzer Prize finalists for Fiction and Poetry were male.
  • 94 percent of all the writing awards at the Oscars have gone to men.
  • Of the major artists represented by major New York galleries, only 16 percent are women.
  • Only 25 percent of the advisory members of the National Endowment for the Arts are women.
  • A recent study by the Coalition of Women’s Arts Organizations showed that in all one-person shows for living artists in American museums, only 2 percent of the featured artists were women.
  • A 1992 study showed that only 17 percent of artists in galleries nationally were women, whereas the Bureau of Labor indicated that 48 percent of professional American artists were women.
  • 51 percent of all visual artists are female and women hold 53 percent of art degrees, but 80 percent of art faculty members are male.
  • 68 percent of total art income in the U.S. goes to men and 73 percent of all grants and fellowships in the arts go to men.

3 comments:

Susan Bearman said...

Yo, girls. Let's get busy.

Hey, Helen, have you heard of Zemanta?

Computer Clarity © 2004 said...

Hi Susan,

Yes, I know of services like Zemanta that match pictures, articles and links to our logs. On a blog that doesn't strive for a singular purpose it's a cool idea, but for now, I like the tighter focus I try for here at ReleaseYourWriting.

Thanks,
Helen

Susan Bearman said...

I love your focus. I just wanted your opinion for those of us who are newbies. Thanks.