While March 8th is celebrated annually as International Women’s Day, this year’s observance is markedly different. The organizers of January’s Women’s March have declared March 8th “A Day Without a Woman” in order to both emphasize the vital role women play in our socio-economic system and to highlight the disparities between men and women in the workplace. You too can participate in the following ways:
1. If at all possible, women take the day off, from both paid and unpaid labor
2. Avoid shopping for one day (with exceptions for shopping from small, women- and minority-owned businesses).
3. Wear red in solidarity with A Day Without A Woman
Some galleries and art institutions are finding their own ways to participate in the day: New York galleries Metro Pictures and Koenig & Clinton and Sacramento’s Verge Center for the Arts are closed for the day. Also in NYC this week are a number of Wikipedia-edit-a-thons hosted by Art+Feminism. Additionally, Italy has announced free admission for women to all its museums and cultural institutions. As an added bonus, the institutions are highlighting works that were created by and feature women.
Glasstire has republished Francesca Fuchs’s 2015 article Artist and Mom, an op-ed about the challenges and pleasures of having children while being a female artist. Also today, Apollo, an international art magazine, published an article titled Are things looking up for women in the arts? To read that, go here.