Why is the art industry still failing women – and what needs to be done?

Overwhelmingly, the 2022 Burns Halperin Report found that perceptions of progress outweigh reality in the art world, which relies on instinct more than hard data. Only 11% of acquisitions at the 31 US museums were of work by female-identifying artists. Progress has not been escalating but plateauing: Acquisitions peaked in 2009. The situation is compounded when race and gender intersect. Two years ago Black American women represented 6.6% of the US population, but 0.5% of museum acquisitions.  

Many museums are working hard to embed change, but it takes a lot of time and enormous commitment. ​​‘I wish we could be more honest about the infrastructures that make solving this problem really challenging,’ says Deana Haggag, an arts and culture program officer at the Mellon Foundation in New York. ‘For museums it’s not just committing your budget or calendar, because there are broader issues. For instance, for every female artist you collect, a donor will give you work by 25 male artists. This is something that is going to take a very long time to repair.’  

‘Museums end up being a final resting place for artists, but there are a lot of milestones female artists have to cross before they get there,’ Haggag continues. ‘Whether that’s education, residencies, studio access, which collector buys your work, there are a million hurdles before an artist makes it to a museum, and every single one disadvantages women.’

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