International SWAN Day – Celebrated globally on March 30

WomenArts works to empower an international community of women artists and allies by sharing news about inspiring arts projects and funding opportunities, and by facilitating the annual world-wide Support Women Artists Now (SWAN) celebrations in March and April.

Support Women Artists Now Day!

SWAN Day/Support Women Artists Now Day is an international holiday designed to showcase the power and diversity of women’s creativity. Be a part of SWAN Day by creating or participating in a local event or online activity that Celebrates Women Artists!

The official date of the Sixth International SWAN Day is Saturday, March 30, 2013, but please feel free to celebrate it any time during March or April that is convenient for you. The spirit of SWAN events is far more important than the exact dates.

SWAN Day – Ways to Participate

Many of us have been inspired by Sandra Oh’s wonderful performances on the hit television program, “Grey’s Anatomy,” in the movie, “Sideways,” and on stage in groundbreaking plays like Diana Son’s “Stop Kiss.” For Support Women Artists Now Day/SWAN Day, The Fund for Women Artists asked Sandra who she turns to for inspiration.

She told us that she feels she is braver and truer to herself because of the powerful role model of another woman artist, the Icelandic singer and composer, Björk.

Sandra’s words capture the true spirit of SWAN Day. We believe that women artists have always inspired and helped each other, and we want to celebrate the power of that mutual support on SWAN Day and every day.

For more information about SWAN Day or to sign up for the SWAN Day mailing list, please visit www.SwanDay.org.

SWAN Day is a grassroots effort that is being coordinated by WomenArts through our website. Everyone is invited to help us create this new holiday. No fees or application forms are required.

Ways To Participate

Organize Arts Events for SWAN Day – There have been over 900 SWAN Day events in 23 countries in the past 5 years. Join the fun by organizing an event in your community!

To post your event on our website, please visit our SWAN Calendar and then click on the link labelled “Post Events” at the top right of the SWAN Calendar page. Your event can be a performance, exhibit, rally, parade, workshop, or any other activity that draws attention to women artists or raises money for women artists in your community.

We have posted Publicity Tools and Fundraising Tools to help you organize your event, and you can download our official SWAN Day logo. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us.

Host a SWAN Day Party – Gather friends at your house to talk about ways that you might help the women artists in your community. Invite local artists to speak at the party or use the WomenArts Network to find artists that you would like to support. If you want to find films written and directed by women to show at your party, you can check out our page of Websites with Helpful Information about Women in Film. Ask everyone to contribute some amount of money and then make a group decision about which artist you want to support.

Introduce Students to Women Artists in the US & Elsewhere – If you are a teacher and would like to introduce your students to women artists, please contact us, and we will try to hook you up. We are especially interested in organizing some international pen-pal or exchange programs.

Donate to Your Favorite Women Artists – If you love seeing the work of a particular woman artist, send her a check on SWAN Day to help her make more art.

Start Wearing SWAN Shirts, Jewelry and Other Items – Since the abbreviation of “Support Women Artists Now” is “SWAN,” you can show your support by wearing shirts, jewelry and other items featuring swans. When anyone asks you, tell them you are wearing swans because you want to see more art reflecting women’s perspectives. These casual conversations are a great way to make people more aware of the discrimination faced by women artists. We have SWAN shirts, hats, and mugs available in the SWAN Store at: www.cafepress.com/swanday.

Special Thanks: WomenArts is supported this year by generous grants from the Nathan Cummings Foundation, The Sister Fund, the Harnisch Foundation, the HEW Foundation, Do A Little, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, the Gratitude Fund of the East Bay Community Foundation, and by gifts of time, energy and money from artists and arts supporters around the world.

There have been over 900 SWAN Day events

in 23 countries in the first five years of this new holiday.

To see the events listed so far for this year, Join Us for the Sixth International, please visit our SWAN Day Calendar>>

 

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Please be sure to credit WomenArts if you publish information from our website.
WomenArts is the new name of The Fund for Women Artists, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

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