When we selected the theme of Art+Activism for the 2020 campaign, we could not have imagined what has happened this year. Despite the fact that many of our events were forced to be canceled due to the global pandemic, there is still much to celebrate!
In 2020, we celebrated Art+Feminism events in 6 continents, in 27 countries and 20 different languages.
[Map of the world, marked with red dots indicating where Art+Feminism events took place in 2020.]
We’ve spotlighted a few events in Peru, Brazil, Turkey, and Germany on our website. Participants this year created articles for Irma Poma Canchumani, Mavi Doñate, Rhina Toruño, Group Material, Kantarama Gahigiri Hertha Sponer, Marian Pastor Roces, Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill, Ingeborg Kahlenberg, People’s Flag Show, Anne Marie Komissar, Kasturba Gandi, Guadalupe Rosales, Jota Mombaça, Bety Reis, Joana D’Arc da Silva Cavalcante, Djuena Tikuna, Olga Mariano, Lina Bögli and Anne Boyer, to name a few. We also want to acknowledge and thank all the organizers and partners whose events, unfortunately, weren’t able to move forward this year as planned. We recognize and celebrate your labor and efforts, as well. We are truly thankful for our global community!
As we continue to navigate virtual space together, we’ve created a Collaborative Virtual Resource Guide, along with Accessibility Considerations. We’ve also created a Remote Learning Resource List for teachers and professors preparing for the fall semester and beyond. We are actively creating and consolidating information for organizers for our next campaign.
And as we find ourselves simultaneously in a pandemic and in a civil rights movement, art + activism seem more pertinent than ever. We created a Collaborative List around the George Floyd Uprisings. We also recognize our own internal learning and unlearning that is necessary within our organization as we all strive to center interactional feminism and anti-racist practices. As part of that journey, we’re currently engaging internally with restorative practices training facilitated by harp+sword and the first phase of strategic planning with Wayfinding Partners.
Leadership Transition
[Screen capture of an Instagram post. Two people stand on a subway platform, with their heads inclined toward each other.]
Jacqueline Mabey and Siân Evans, co-founders of Art+Feminism, are stepping down from their roles as co-lead organizers involved with the day-to-day operations at the end of August. Even though this has been a planned transition for over a year, it’s bittersweet for the organization. What they started as a passion project among friends has grown into a global organization, and we’re forever grateful. They have both graciously served for seven years and we wouldn’t be the organization we are today without their kindness, dedication, activism, and collaboration. They’re both already doing big things – Jacqueline is starting a PhD in History of Art at University College London. Siân has recently stepped into the role of co-chair for the Staff Empowerment Council at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), where she is a librarian, and wants to spend more time on her writing and research. You can stay up to date as they both enter their next chapters at https://failedprojects.net/ and https://sianevansmls.com/. Please join us in celebrating them both and extending gratitude for all their tireless efforts. They will be missed.
We are delighted to share that in Fall 2020, the co-lead organizing team will consist of Amber Berson (Montréal, Quebec), Mohammed Sadat Abdulai (Accra, Ghana), and Melissa Tamani (Lima, Peru). We are also happy to share that Project Administrator Nina Yeboah (Stone Mountain, GA) will be joining Kira Wisniewski (Baltimore, MD) as Art+Feminism’s full-time staff in the role of Program Manager starting this fall.
2020-2021 Regional Ambassador Interest Form
[A person stands in library in front of a screen, pointing at text projected onto it. There is an Art+Feminism banner in close proximity. Photo taken at 2020 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at Women’s Library, Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by Yagmurkozmik / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).]
Regional Ambassadors play a key role in the development and success of a project that promotes editorial and content inclusivity in Wikipedia. At the core, Regional Ambassadors work with their region by establishing and nurturing relationships and managing communication and project pipelines alongside the leadership team. Regional Amabssadors have strong project management skills, a demonstrated history of work in social justice/community organizing, an interest in the arts and feminist work, and a working knowledge of the Wikipedia community or other online technology community. Read more here. If you’re interested in joining us in this capacity, we invite you to complete this form.
Special Thanks to our 2019-2020 Regional Ambassadors!
Regional Ambassadors: United States of America
Stacey Allan, California
Amanda Meeks, Southwest & Midwest
Megan O’Hearn, New York
Jaison Oliver, South
Gabrielle Reed, New England
Sophie Reverdy, Mid-Atlantic
Taryn Tomasello, Northwest & Midwest
Richard Knipel, Wiki Regional Ambassador
Regional Ambassadors: International
Daniela Brugger, Europe/UK
Medhavi Gandhi, South Asia
Gisselle Giron, Latin America
Walaa Abdel Manaem, Middle East
Jessie Mi, Asia
Juliana Monteiro, Lusophone countries
Athina Petsou, Europe/UK
Sofia Stancioff, Canada
Dominique Elaine Yao, Francophone Africa + France
Zita Ursula Zage, Anglophone Africa