Art+Feminism is pleased to announce the appointment of Kira Wisniewski to the position of Executive Director. Wisniewski is a seasoned professional with a passion for community, capacity building, and the arts. She brings to Art+Feminism — recently minted as a nonprofit entity and supported by a $249,000 grant by the Wikimedia Foundation — over ten years of expertise in nonprofit structures, operations, and events.    “We’re thrilled to have Kira as Executive Director,“ said co-founders Siân Evans, Jacqueline Mabey, and Michael Mandiberg. “We created a nonprofit whose bylaws ensure collaboration and consensus-based decision making. Kira shares these values and is keen to build an operations model informed by feminist principles.”

Art+Feminism is also announcing that the 2020 Art+Feminism Edit-a-thon will take place at The Museum of Modern Art’s Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education Center on March 14, 2020. Art+Activism is the theme of the global 2020 Art+Feminism campaign, which will inform the day-long program of editing, workshops, and a panel discussion at The Museum of Modern Art.

Of the appointment, Wisniewski said, “As someone who strives to always center those at the margins, I’m excited and honored to join an organization that is specifically, intentionally, and directly impacting how folx can learn and read about art. I hope to continue the amazing and important work the organization has already accomplished by collaborating with our community and network around the world. I’m invigorated by the immediate tasks at hand to establish a strong board of directors and create a solid foundation of organizational structure to push our work forward in 2020 and beyond.”

Outside of Art+Feminism, Kira is the host and co-organizer of CreativeMornings/Baltimore, co-founded the nonprofit 826DC, is an Awesome Foundation Baltimore Trustee, and volunteers with Fluid Movement and Special Olympics DC.

This moment of transition marks several exciting leadership appointments for the organization. Art+Feminism co-founder Michael Mandiberg joins the newly-created Board of Directors, where they are joined by Sheetal Prajapati and Roderick “Roddy” Schrock. Prajapati is a Brooklyn-based educator and artist, currently working as an arts and culture advisor through her consulting agency Lohar Projects, and as faculty at the School of Visual Arts (New York) in the Master of Fine Arts program. “It’s tremendously exciting to welcome Kira as Art +Feminism’s first Executive Director,” said Prajapati. “As a longtime supporter and now founding board member, I look forward to working with Kira, my fellow board members, and the Art+Feminism team to expand these critical networks of support, care, and action across the globe.” Schrock is a curator and arts executive, and since 2015 has been the Executive Director of Eyebeam in New York City, an institution dedicated to supporting art that engages technology, and the host of the very first Art+Feminism edit-a-thon in 2014. Schrock, on his appointment to the board, said, “I am extremely proud to support this organization, at this exciting time, as we set the foundation for Art+Feminism to grow into the future by harnessing the immense power of its community.”

The Art+Feminism project continues to expand around the world. Regional Ambassador for West Africa, Mohammed Sadat Abdulai, and Regional Ambassador for Canada, Amber Berson will join Siân Evans, Jacqueline Mabey, and Melissa Tamani Becerra as Lead Co-organizers. Returning as Regional Ambassadors are Daniela Brugger, Basel; Walaa Abdel Manaem, Cairo; Medhavi Gandhi, Chandigarh; Amanda Meeks, Flagstaff; Dominique Eliane, Ivory Coast; Stacey Allan, Los Angeles; Richard Knipel, New York; Taryn Tomasello, Portland; Juliana Monteiro, São Paulo; and Jessie Mi, Taiwan. As well, Art+Feminism promoted Nina Yeboah from Community Fellow to Program Administrator.

Founded in 2014 by Siân Evans, Jacqueline Mabey, Michael Mandiberg, and Laurel Ptak, Art+Feminism is a do-it-yourself campaign to improve coverage of gender, feminism, and the arts on Wikipedia. Art+Feminism is a response to the gendered gaps in content and participation on the encyclopedia anyone can edit. Art+Feminism creates accessible training materials and step-by-step organizer kits to foster the organization of edit-a-thons. At these events, people of all gender identities and expressions collectively create and update articles on Wikipedia, add images to Wikimedia Commons, expand WikiData entries, and more. Since its founding, over 14,000 people at more than 1,100 events around the world have participated in our edit-a-thons, resulting in the creation and improvement of more than 58,000 articles on Wikipedia.

The Art+Feminism initiative is made possible by the support of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Image: Portrait of Kira Wisniewski by Ivylise Simones [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)].