Announcing the Second International
Support Women Artists Now Day!

SWAN Day/Support Women Artists Now Day is a new international holiday that celebrates women artists.  It is an annual event taking place on the last Saturday of Women’s History Month (March). The first SWAN Day took place on Saturday, March 29, 2008 and was celebrated with over 160 events in 11 countries. Please join us for the Second International SWAN Day on Saturday, March 28, 2009. By focusing attention on the work of women artists, SWAN Day helps people imagine what the world might be like if women’s art and perspectives were fully integrated into all of our lives.

Women Artists Who Inspire Us Actress Sandra Oh For SWAN Day 2008, Sandra Oh talked about being inspired by Bjork. See Sandra's Video>>

People celebrate this new holiday by participating in SWAN Day events and by making donations to their favorite women artists. The long term goal of SWAN Day is to inspire communities around the world to find new ways to recognize and support women artists as a basic element of civic planning.

Our friends at MoviesbyWomen.com did a half-hour interview with our Executive Director Martha Richards about SWAN Day. You can listen to it by clicking here or by visiting their website. (Look for Audio Podcast #9.)

How Can I Participate in SWAN Day?

SWAN Day is a grassroots effort that is being coordinated by The Fund for Women Artists through its websites at www.WomenArts.org and www.swanday.org.  Everyone is invited to help us create this new holiday. There are no fees or application forms required.

Here are some ways you can participate in SWAN Day:

• Organize Arts Events for SWAN Day 2009 -  Over 160 artists and groups organized events for SWAN Day 2008 all over the world.
  Join the fun by organizing an event in your community!

To post your event on our website, click on Host an Event or use the button in the left margin of this page.  These events can be performances, exhibits, rallies, parades, auctions, or other activities that draw attention to women artists or raise money for women artists in your community. Our software gives you tools to invite friends to your event, post announcements and track RSVPs.

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 write to us at info@WomenArts.org and put "SWAN Day Event" in the subject line. 

• 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 at www.WomenArts.org/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 write to us at info@WomenArts.org, 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.

What Will The Fund for Women Artists Provide?

The Fund for Women Artists is providing online coordination of this event through its website.  Links to the most current information about SWAN Day will always be available at www.SwanDay.org and through the home page of The Fund for Women Artists at www.WomenArts.org. 

The Fund for Women Artists is a small non-profit arts service organization.  We do not have the funds to provide cash grants for SWAN Day events, but we will do our best to help you make your event a success.  Here are the services we will provide:

• Use of the Official SWAN Day Logo - A high-resolution version of the official SWAN Day logo designed by Kristie Hansen-Kemp (www.gohkdesign.com) is available for download and can be used for the publicity or fundraising for your event.  Download our Official SWAN Day logo. There is no fee for the use of the logo.

• Information about Fundraising from Individuals and Sample Fundraising Letters -   SWAN Day will be a great opportunity to learn and practice new fundraising skills. We are especially interested in teaching women artists how to build a base of support for themselves by approaching individuals for contributions.

The Fund for Women Artists is providing the following fundraising aids:

 - A free online tutorial about raising money from individuals at www.WomenArts.org/swan/fundraising.htm and

 - A sample fundraising letter at www.WomenArts.org/swan/proposal.htm. 

- Free bi-monthly enewsletters that list upcoming funding and festival deadlines for theatre and film/video artists. The latest issues are posted at www.womenarts.org/fund/EmailNewsletterSign-Up.htm. 

- There are hundreds of pages of annotated lists of foundation funders on our website at www.WomenArts.org/fund/fundlists.html 

• Publicity for your Event on The Fund for Women Artists Website -  The Fund for Women Artists has installed software that will let you post information about your SWAN Day event on our website. 
  Click here to Post Your Event. You can include links to your profile page on the WomenArts Network and to your own website.

• Sample Press Releases and Mayoral Proclamations - The Fund for Women Artists has hired Massey Media (www.massey-media.com) as our press representative for SWAN Day.  We will be working with them to obtain as much media coverage as possible for SWAN Day events at the national and international level.   We have posted sample press releases and a Mayoral Proclamation that you can download in the Publicity Tools section of our website.

Where Did the Idea for SWAN Day Come From?

The idea for SWAN Day grew out of a collaboration between The Fund for Women Artists and Chicago's WITASWAN (Women in the Audiences Supporting Women Artists Now).  WITASWAN is an informal alliance of women who are using their power as consumers to increase opportunities for women artists.  It began as an initiative of the Illinois chapter of the American Association of University Women.  The complete history of WITASWAN is at www.films42.com/witaswan.asp.

Since WITASWAN was co-founded by Jan Lisa Huttner, a Chicago film critic, it was launched with a focus on women filmmakers.  WITASWAN members make a commitment to see at least one film every month that is directed or written by a woman, whether it is in a theater or on a DVD. 

Jan Lisa Huttner invited Martha Richards, the Executive Director of The Fund for Women Artists, to speak at an American Association of University Women conference in Bloomington, IL in April 2007.  (For pictures of this historic meeting see www.aauw-il.org/WITASWAN/index.html).  The idea for SWAN Day was born during the car ride between Bloomington and Chicago, as Huttner and Richards discussed ways to build more direct connections between women artists and women audience members.

Huttner had demonstrated through her work with WITASWAN that there were women audience members who wanted to see more work by women, and Richards had built the WomenArts Network, an online directory of over 1,000 women artists from all over the world.  In the car and over a shared pizza dinner, they came up with the idea of SWAN Day as a galvanizing annual event that would serve both artists and audience members. 

What Is The Fund for Women Artists?

The Fund for Women Artists is a non-profit arts service organization dedicated to helping women artists get the resources they need to do their creative work.  Created in 1994 by Martha Richards, the organization has raised over $4 million and created a website that provides free networking, fundraising and advocacy services to over 500,000 visitors a year.  For more information about the programs of The Fund for Women Artists, please see the About Us section of our website at www.WomenArts.org/share.