Installation view, 'WATERSHED' by Anita Glesta, 2015, at Lyttelton Flytower, National Theatre, London (2015).
Advocacy at Art W
Women artists have always been vastly underrepresented in both private and museum collections. While 51% of visual artists working today are women, women artists make up only a quarter of solo exhibits in the United States and barely 30% of artists represented by major contemporary galleries in New York and Los Angeles. The National Museum for Women and the Arts estimates that of the total art currently on view in the United States, only 5% was created by women artists – the same as the percentage of women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.
At Art W, we believe that the parallel between these two statistics is no coincidence. In a world where collecting art is increasingly seen as an investment, too few of our financial leaders are informed about the investment potential of work by women artists. Art W is committed to changing that fact by raising the profile of talented women artists through our educational outreach and curatorial services.
“Even when women artists are known all over the globe, the market value of their work remains lower than that of their male peers – yet these valuations are rising and attracting more collectors, making art by women artists one of the best investments in the contemporary art world.”
ART W IN ACTION: 'WATERSHED'
Artist Anita Glesta's 'WATERSHED' installation catalyzes the conversation about climate change and infrastructure issues that are critical to the future of waterfront cities. Art W continues to promote this large-scale public art project as it moves around the world.
Installation view, 'WATERSHED' by Anita Glesta, 2015, at Lyttelton Flytower, National Theatre, London (2015).
Art W was a sponsor of this project's installation at the National Theatre in London in 2015. We continue to work in partnership to find WATERSHED additional venues globally to raise awareness of Glesta's work and the issues of climate change. Find out more about WATERSHED or watch this interview with Glesta by Studio International. You can view the work on the artist's vimeo page.
ART W EVENT: Artist talk with grimanesa amorÓs
Installation view, Grimanesa Amorós, 'Golden Waters', Scottsdale, AZ, 2015
Art W launched the annual Women Series Spotlight at El Museo del Barrio, an annual lecture program celebrating living Latina artists, in September 2015. Art W Founder and Marjorie Martay and El Museo curator Rocio Aranda-Alvarado kicked off the new partnership with an intimate evening highlighting the pervasive public works of Peruvian-American artist Grimanesa Amorós. The artist-led presentation and panel discussion was followed by a Q+A and a private reception immediately after.
The event drew nearly 100 people to learn more about Amorós' extraordinary installation projects around the world.
Watch the Art W event at El Museo dl Barrio with Grimanesa Amorós.