The Art Working Parents Alliance
We’re pleased to spotlight the Art Working Parents Alliance (AWP) - a national network for parents in the art world. It’s free to join and offers a number of resources and benefits: a monthly newsletter listing events and matters of interest, WhatsApp groups specific to each sector and region, a peer-to-peer mentoring programme and regular meet-ups held both in person and online.
We were thrilled to chat to Jo Harrison and Hettie Judah, the AWP co-founders, about the network, why it was formed and how people can get involved. They also facilitated one of our EDIA online sessions in May! Keep reading to learn more…
“Our hope is that in making our status as parents visible, we can support one another and work toward a more inclusive art world.”
Please tell us a little bit more about your network, who it supports and why it was established.
The Art Working Parents Alliance was inspired by our own experiences. I (Jo) am a curator and art worker who established the research project Repronomics exploring social reproduction and cultural reproduction as invisible and exploitable ‘labours of love’ under capitalism. Hettie is a writer and curator who has been researching and working with artist mothers since 2019. In 2021 Hettie led a group of artists in writing a manifesto asking arts organisations to be more inclusive to caregivers, and has since written the book How Not to Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents).
We currently have 400 members in sectors including academia, commercial galleries, public organisations, museum education, communications and the media, as well as artists. AWP makes parents visible – to one another, but also as a group within the industry as a whole. It provides peer-to-peer support, and a platform where people can share experiences.
“AWP is an alliance, so its mission and activities are shaped by its members”
What changes would you like to see within the wider visual arts sector, particularly for parents, in the UK?
Working in the broader industry, we are both aware that the structural problems that make it so difficult for artist parents to flourish has an impact across the sector. Parents – primary caregivers in particular – face specific challenges, whether they are working in academia, the commercial sector or for public institutions. By creating a network, connecting parents across every sector of the artworld, we allow our members to identify whether the challenges they have faced are part of a wider structural pattern. Parents working in the visual arts are often invisible to one another, not least because so much networking happens in the early evenings when those with children are less able to attend events.
Photo: Jo Harrison
“Parents working in the visual arts are often invisible to one another, not least because so much networking happens in the early evenings when those with children are less able to attend events.”
Can you tell us what an AWP event might be like?
The in-person AWP meet-ups are usually hosted by art organisations with an ongoing exhibition that intersects with our interests. Typically, we begin with a tour of the exhibition – large or small – followed by a presentation on a related subject, culminating with an open and inclusive conversation. All events are relaxed – we tend to sit in a circle from which all are invited to speak, and members are welcome to bring their children, friends and partners with them.
An example of a recent meet-up held in person was at Drawing Room, a public gallery in South London, showing an exhibition on drawing as a feminist art practice. Following a tour around the show, Jo and Hettie led a conversation with Alice and Lydia Ross, the daughters of Monica Ross, one of the artists featured in the exhibition. Our online events tend to be more issue-led and have included discussions on subjects of interest to our network such as job shares and employment policy.
Do you have any international reach/dimension?
We are currently a UK based organisation as we are focussing on UK employment law, but we often get enquiries from abroad and have many international folk on our mailing list.
Have you got any projects, events or opportunities coming up you’d like to share?
You can access our upcoming and past events here: https://artworkingparents.wordpress.com/news-events
Photo: Hettie Judah
If someone were interested in getting involved or joining your community, what would you recommend they do?
Register with us as a member here: artworkingparents.wordpress.com/register - it's free to join and takes 30 seconds!
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Huge thanks to Jo and Hettie from AWP for sharing more about how/why they established, what they do and how you can get involved!
Links for AWP:
https://www.instagram.com/artworkingparents/
https://artworkingparents.wordpress.com/