The Professional Organization For Women In The Arts
Mission
Sara Kay has served as founder and Chief Creative Officer of the Professional Organization of Women in the Arts (POWarts) since its inception in 2008.
POWarts is a catalyst for connection and growth in the visual arts, bringing together female-identifying professionals to share knowledge, expand opportunities, and create a more dynamic and inclusive industry.
Core Values and Guiding Principles
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POWarts is wholeheartedly dedicated to the principles of inclusivity, equal job access, fair, living wages, and salary transparency for all working within the greater visual arts industry. We believe that all individuals deserve equitable treatment and opportunities in all areas of their professional lives, and the freedom and ability to advance their careers in a positive, proactive, healthy, and supported way.
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POWarts is fundamentally committed to advocating for and maintaining a visual arts industry in which all workers experience physical, emotional, and financial safety.
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POWarts is rooted in a dedication to providing artworkers the tools, knowledge, and support they need to credibly and productively advocate for themselves. More broadly, POWarts is focused on holding the visual arts industry accountable and is determined to facilitate and deliver industry-wide change that responds directly to the issues, concerns, blind spots, and biases that artworkers face. POWarts believes that in order to create lasting change, everyone must play a part in assuring safe, healthy environments, fair practices, workplace regulations, and equitable treatment.
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POWarts provides its members with access to industry-specific information and data, in addition to professional development tools and resources. In fostering an open dialogue with shared resources, POWarts creates the conditions for understanding and collective empowerment.
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We are fully committed to nurturing and growing the next generation of workers in the visual arts industry. POWarts aims to build and maintain a community in which all members, at whatever point in their career arcs, can safely share their experiences, offer and receive support and assistance, and actively impact one another’s professional advancement and security.
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POWarts fosters communal engagement rooted in mutual respect. We nourish our networks to create diverse support systems and craft solutions that amplify others. We cultivate a culture of curiosity and empathy, and invite, include, and center a diverse mix of underrepresented voices, experiences, and points of view.
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The business of art requires the creative spark to exist, and cannot be fully expressed or brought forth to a wider audience without a fair, foundational set of systems supporting all the behind-the-scenes workers. Women in the visual arts community need the knowledge and tools to center themselves between these disparate but interlinked conditions, and to fruitfully advocate for their own education and advancement within a healthy industry, no matter which side of the equation they occupy.
