Art textbooks used to neglect the accomplishments of female artists. Many would not include their work or would display the work of very few, like Georgia O’Keefe.
The role of women in art has changed though, and now women are prominent in the world of art.
In celebration of Women’s History Month, a panel discussion titled ‘Living and Sustaining Life as a Woman Artist’ was held on Friday with seven female artists as panelists and moderated by Jacqui Nathan, art gallery director.
The panel featured a diverse group of women, ranging from mothers to undergraduate students to professors. Some come from rural backgrounds and others more industrialized ones, but they’re all female artists making a living off their art.
They discussed everything from the challenges of being a female artist to feminism.
The feminist movement helped women gain more rights, but many female artists are hesitant to embrace the term feminist because the word has developed a negative connotation.
‘It seems like young female artists want to distance themselves from feminism,’
Nathan said.
The field of art has been a field that has been traditionally male-dominated, but has more recently been impacted greatly by the work of female artists.
‘When I first came here 21 years ago there was only one [female professor] in art education and one in studio art ‘hellip; it was very much a good ol’ boy’s network,’ Nathan said.
The panel discussed the lack of female artists in textbooks when some of them were in school and not being educated about women’s contributions to the field.
Lynn Whitney, associate professor of art, believes her art is heavily influenced by the people who taught her – men.
‘I feel my aesthetic is very male because I was only taught by men,’ Whitney said.
The difficulty balancing life as a female and life as an artist was discussed, including the balancing a family, work and art.
When Janet Ballweg, professor of art, came to Bowling Green she found it hard to find time to both raise her son and work, but working instead of staying home with the kids was not readily accepted at the time.
‘I felt like I had to hide the fact that I had a son,’ Ballweg said. ‘You couldn’t divide up being a mother and an artist because you had to show that you were focused on your family or your work, not both.’
Heather Elliott-Famularo, associate professor of art, knows first-hand how hard it is to balance all her roles but she is happy because she loves what she does.
‘I wouldn’t trade anything I have for anything,’ Elliott-Famularo said. ‘I’m a mother, teacher and an artist.’