On August 4 Woman Made Gallery released a statement acknowledging racism exists within the Board of Directors.
We thank all who acknowledged and took the time to comment with messages of support as well as the messages with constructive criticism. We are taking it all in. Our post was not meant to ask for absolution, but to acknowledge the difficult and ongoing work that WMG is committing to undertake.
Apologies that the first time the message posted without the content and with a link that didn’t work.
The most important next step is to begin taking action. To live into the uncomfortableness of where we find ourselves and to start fixing forward.
Today we’re announcing that we are canceling the Craftivism show scheduled for exhibition 18-September through 10-October. We met with Shannon Downey about her decision to withdraw as juror to get her input on how we should move forward. We came to the agreement that the artists who have applied to be a part of the exhibition will receive full reimbursement of their entry fee. We are reaching out to each of them individually. We were heartened that we were able to engage in a meaningful and constructive conversation with Shannon and we are hopeful that through our actions and transformation, there will be an opportunity to revisit this theme and work with Shannon in the future.
The gallery will sit empty that month. If anyone has ideas on how we might put the space to use during that time, please reach out. general@womanmade.org
We are working on our sizable to-do list and will share ideas, actions and progress in regular updates.
The WMG Board is taking this seriously. Thank you.