When Jennifer Hill read about the first International Support Women Artists Now Day (SWAN Day), she realized immediately that this was a project she could get behind. A vocalist and front-woman for her band, Hill knows first-hand about the difficulties and challenges women artists of all genres and mediums face.
“When I got the e-mail from the Fund for Women Artists…I said...‘This is something that I can do,’” Hill said.
She decided to become involved in the international project and coordinated a SWAN event at the Backstage Pass in New London.
“This specific event sounded cool because a lot of times, I’m the only girl [performing at a venue],” she added. At open mic nights, “I’m usually one of out maybe two girls there, or the only girl.”
In addition to being in the minority among performers, Hill added that most venues are owned by men and most managers in the music industry are men.
When they write their own music, as she does, Hill said that women performers have an even more difficult time.
“So many girls I meet write their own stuff and they can’t really get past a Tuesday or Wednesday night.”
A global celebration of women artists, SWAN Day was conceived by Martha Richard, of the Fund for Women Artists, and Jan Lisa Huttner of Chicago’s WITASWAN (Women in the Audiences Supporting Women Artists Now).
The Fund for Women Artists is a non-profit organization which helps women attain resources for their creative work. Over the last 10 years, they’ve raised more than $4 million for women artists.
WITASWAN is an informal alliance of women who, as consumers, increase opportunities for women artists. The group began as an initiative of the Illinois chapter of the American Association of University Women.
Long term, SWAN Day organizers and participants hope to inspire communities to recognize and support women artists as “a basic element of civic planning.”
Hill’s event on March 29 filled the Backstage Pass with women artists, musicians, and comediennes, performing throughout the day and into the night.
Hill thinks that the event drew more than 100 people, and considers it a success for every woman artist involved. She reported that all of the women vendors sold some of their work.
“It worked as far as spreading the word about women artists,” she said.
For more information on SWAN Day, visit www.SwanDay.org.
By Michelle Royce Williams
Special to the Times