SAM HULL

advancing women artists through knowledge building, exposure, and support

ARTemis's mission has the power to do more than just advance the woman artist through knowledge-building, exposure, and support.

Life imitates art and art imitates life. To raise the equality of women globally, we need to increase the presence and the participation of women in the arts, which will lead to more leadership roles and the sharing of more female ideologies and forms of expression.

What we know for a fact is that although in the US over 50% of the population self-identifies as female, in art women’s voices are drastically underrepresented. In the visual arts, less than 28% of solo exhibits in museums feature women artists. In film, only 326 of the 1565 director, producer, and content writer jobs are held by women. In the music industry, it is widely reported that more than 95% of the producers and engineers are men, leaving only 5% of positions held by women. This means that the artistic messages being promoted and consumed by our society are largely shaped by male voices and interests.

Without the equal participation of women’s voices in the arts, our society is filled with a skewed "male" dominated view of life. Intentionally or unintentionally these views can be misogynistic. Women are portrayed as secondary. Women are objectified. Women are victimized. Women are held in traditional roles. Women are rendered voiceless.

Circular patterns historically find women stifled in the arts, in education, in political representation, and in financial means. We live in a society where the majority of decisions and laws pertaining to women's health are made by men. The voice of half of our society has been marginalized for the entirety of our country’s existence.
To help support the work being done to raise women’s health, education, and financial status, it is necessary to raise how women participate and are portrayed in the arts – and therefore in society. A balance is long overdue. How our society is expressed in the arts can affect the generations to come, which can lead to social justice, the alleviation of poverty, representation both visually and verbally of underrepresented peoples and a quality of life improvement for everyone. Our art simply needs to be inclusive of women equally to that of men.

 

To increase the voice and presence of women in the arts, ARTemis:

 

• Prepares women artists mentally and professionally to step up into more prominent roles in the arts.

• Connects women artists to the funding and means necessary to bring women-create arts to a larger audience.

• Provides means to increase the awareness, reach, and consumption of women created and focused arts (70 mile program).

• Teaches men, non-artistic women, universities and producing organizations about the importance of equal representation and how bringing equality is beneficial, not harmful, to business.