In the wake of #metoo in ceramics, @potsinaction encourages every ceramics and craft organization to adopt and establish clear and unambiguous policies regarding inclusivity, diversity, and safety. It’s high time that leaders and educators in our field commit to more actively creating environments that are welcoming and safe to all, regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, gender, culture, disabilities, religion, age and socioeconomic status. While we have made progress, more work is needed. Ceramic machismo and its perniciousness within clay culture has been tolerated for far too long.
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Don’t assume that your programming is without bias or that you’ve done all you can do. Instead, be active in the education of your trustees, staff, and writers about the damage done from bias, prejudice, microaggressions, harassment, and assault. Hire staff and elect trustees who mirror the breadth of diversity in this country. We understand that organizations are slow-moving ships and that it takes time to craft statements that reflect the core values and uniqueness of organizations. Much of the important work done by art orgs happen outside the realm of social media, but posting publicly on this issue matters deeply. While an overnight response is not expected, this is a call to action to get the ship turning on all platforms.
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If you are part of an organization, institution, or school, speak up! Demand transparency and clarity about what steps they are taking to be more inclusive, diverse, and safe for those who don’t have equal privileges. Victims and survivors need practical tools and support for where to go when an incidence takes place. For those of you who have reposted about #metoo in ceramics – thank you! Now take the next step to compose your own statement or tell your #metoo story as a way to crack open the field and let in the light. If you have been part of this field, support survivors of sexual harassment by believing them and speaking out to change institutional policies.
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Image of Viola Frey, a powerhouse woman who worked within the male-dominated California expressionist ceramics movement of the 1960s. Viola Frey (1933 – 2004) is not defined by her obstacles. She was internationally known and revered during her lifetime and her monumental figures have made a profound mark on the art world internationally. However, in her 1995 @archivesamerart oral history transcript, she recounts the many ways she worked at a “double disadvantage.” She faced obstacles her male counterparts were unburdened by, including securing studio space, having her work dismissed or derided, and feeling isolated as a woman operating outside the “macho thing.” In the classroom, she says, “The feminist-type art had no chance at all.” Excerpts from her oral history:
VIOLA FREY: Yeah. And it sort of did dominate. Sometimes the faculty even would just attack in such a gross way that the student would be weeping, they’d be so upset at the way they were treated. It was pretty ugly.
PAUL KARLSTROM: This is male faculty?
VIOLA FREY: Yes. They could not. . . . They would just say, “I cannot critique or look at a work like this.” A #metoo message from the past. Photo by Michael Macor. — @ayumihorie and @tessmattern
Don’t assume that your programming is without bias or that you’ve done all you can do. Instead, be active in the education of your trustees, staff, and writers about the damage done from bias, prejudice, microaggressions, harassment, and assault. Hire staff and elect trustees who mirror the breadth of diversity in this country. We understand that organizations are slow-moving ships and that it takes time to craft statements that reflect the core values and uniqueness of organizations. Much of the important work done by art orgs happen outside the realm of social media, but posting publicly on this issue matters deeply. While an overnight response is not expected, this is a call to action to get the ship turning on all platforms.
.
If you are part of an organization, institution, or school, speak up! Demand transparency and clarity about what steps they are taking to be more inclusive, diverse, and safe for those who don’t have equal privileges. Victims and survivors need practical tools and support for where to go when an incidence takes place. For those of you who have reposted about #metoo in ceramics – thank you! Now take the next step to compose your own statement or tell your #metoo story as a way to crack open the field and let in the light. If you have been part of this field, support survivors of sexual harassment by believing them and speaking out to change institutional policies.
.
Image of Viola Frey, a powerhouse woman who worked within the male-dominated California expressionist ceramics movement of the 1960s. Viola Frey (1933 – 2004) is not defined by her obstacles. She was internationally known and revered during her lifetime and her monumental figures have made a profound mark on the art world internationally. However, in her 1995 @archivesamerart oral history transcript, she recounts the many ways she worked at a “double disadvantage.” She faced obstacles her male counterparts were unburdened by, including securing studio space, having her work dismissed or derided, and feeling isolated as a woman operating outside the “macho thing.” In the classroom, she says, “The feminist-type art had no chance at all.” Excerpts from her oral history:
VIOLA FREY: Yeah. And it sort of did dominate. Sometimes the faculty even would just attack in such a gross way that the student would be weeping, they’d be so upset at the way they were treated. It was pretty ugly.
PAUL KARLSTROM: This is male faculty?
VIOLA FREY: Yes. They could not. . . . They would just say, “I cannot critique or look at a work like this.” A #metoo message from the past. Photo by Michael Macor. — @ayumihorie and @tessmattern
The River Arts District in Asheville needs to step up!