How Not To Exclude Artist Mothers (And Other Parents) with Hettie Judah
Wednesday 23rd November, FRIEZE No.9 Cork Street
Trinidad Fombella, Helen Nisbet, Hettie Judah, Polly Morgan and Eva Rothschild
AWITA hosted a panel discussion at FRIEZE No.9 Cork Street to platform and discuss issues for artists and professional parents working in the arts sector. Hettie Judah, art writer and critic, has spent a number of years campaigning on the topic of art and motherhood and moderated the conversation.
Joining her on the panel were artists Polly Morgan and Eva Rothschild, as well as Helen Nisbet, Director of Art Night and Turner Prize Judge 2023, and Trinidad Fombella, Director of Gathering. Hettie moderated a conversation discussing their unique experiences of navigating their careers as mothers.
It is clear that these women have all experienced the general lack of inclusivity towards mothers and caregivers within the art world. However, through bringing to light their observations, a door is opened for systemic change to take place, and to dismantle
“This idea that if you're a parent, you're not a serious person. You're not taking your job seriously. You're not a serious artist,”
The Female Artist as Mother
The talk began with the panelists discussing their perspectives on mothers being acknowledged in the art profession. Both Eva and Polly spoke about the lack of exposure towards artists who were parents, especially when they were first establishing their careers. For Rothschild, whilst attending art school the lack of mother artists meant that having children and pursuing her career was seen by her as something that "you shouldn't do."
Similarly for Polly, when establishing her artistic career, the successful female artists were the YBAs, and others who did not have children and rarely discussed the idea. She said that "I just kept quiet about the fact that I planned to have kids at some point" for fear of being judged.
Trinidad also touched upon a woman’s fear of speaking about their plans for motherhood. When applying for a job that she thought was ideal for her at the time, she found out she was pregnant, so “I just didn't go to the second interview”. Fombella’s reasoning was the same as Polly’s and Eva’s resistance to wanting to be a mother and artist - the art world is simply not inclusive enough towards parents.
Since becoming a mother, Polly said that social media played an important role in counteracting any shame associated with being a mother and artist. It gave her an opportunity to ‘be a lot more visible’ when becoming “really antisocial” with the hectic transition into motherhood. It gave her a platform to “put up a much more accurate presentation of myself” than she felt possible at public events.
Polly Morgan and Hettie Judah
Helen Nisbet
The Artist’s Studio
For those working in the art profession, there is such little support that allows for the separation of artist and mother as childcare is rarely catered for. For Helen, this has not only been an issue towards her productivity when juggling her career as a mother, but also for the artists she plans to work with. She feels it is a moral imperative which should be legislated for.
Helen also shared the challenges of being a freelancer (similar experience to that of an artist). "It's really tricky for us to survive", Helen explains, "I've been able to do it, because I have a really supportive team of people" but the panel recognised that not everyone has these family structures. This problem is attributed to the general lack of flexibility and financial support given to caregiving professionals.
Both Polly and Eva discussed how having a separate space to create work away from their children is beneficial to their productivity. Eva stated that ‘as a sculptor, having a studio is the most important thing to me,’ as it allows her to compartmentalize the role of mother and artist. Her studio allows her to be both productive and use her role as mother in her work. In her film ‘Boys and Sculpture,’ she uses her sons as inspiration and finds that this "ongoing situation of being a parent is really interesting especially if you live somewhere that you're not from." Hettie agreed and deduced having children can be "culturally enriching." Eva continued, speaking about the positives of parenthood. She worried
"that somehow my brain would shrink, but of course, it didn't. It's just another door opens and there's a whole other bit and…there are more possibilities.”
Having the luxury of a studio however is something that she does not take for granted, as with most artists, renting or owning a space external to their home is financially unachievable. Polly has a studio in her basement which she finds she can use better now with less interruptions from the her children who now go to school and nursery. For an artist, the studio and office are mutually exclusive spaces, and in other professions it seems that having a separate space away from home, especially for mothers, is catered for.
Audience Participation
For the second part of the discussion, the audience were given a chance to participate by sharing an offering or request in response to one of two questions: As a parent working in the art world, what one change would make a positive difference? And what one thing could I change to make things easier for parents in my sector?
Eva Rothschild’s response to the questions called for structural change, as she discussed the lack of financial support and infrastructure set in place for working parents and necessary childcare. This was a general theme when audience members discussed their ‘offers’ and ‘requests’ to support parenting art workers. Artists are frequently denied opportunities because of the lack funding for childcare. AWITA member and director of Cynthia Corbett gallery, Cynthia Corbett spoke about her own experience:
‘When I started in the art world in 2000, the truth is, I could not afford to take a job anywhere that I was offered, because I couldn't get a job that was going to pay me enough to pay for childcare. It was an issue then and it's still an issue now.’
Some of those who spoke, being Cynthia, Fatos Ustek and Mary Doyle, discussed the support they had in place for parent artists, extending to fulfillment of childcare costs.
For Cynthia, it is not just financial support that she felt was integral, but general understanding directed at parenting art workers. For those employed and exhibiting works in her gallery, she tries to express ”“empathy, kindness and the understanding that everyone is a person and will have issues in their life.” This ties into Artist Margarita Gluzberg’s poignant request for greater memory in the art sector. She thinks that when being an artist, “you can have time off, but everybody forgets that you exist,” as the lack of flexibility regarding certain predicaments lead to some artist’s work being overlooked as a whole.
Elizabeth Dellert, Managing Director of Cromwell Place, concluded the discussion requesting us to lead by example and not be opportunist. She said, “especially in the high pressure corporate and commercial art industry, we definitely need to look after each other.”
All Images from the event can be found here.