It’s not easy to be a woman in the art world. As Sigrid Kirk highlights in our recent interview, we are working within a structure built by white men many years ago and the onus is on us to carve out space for ourselves against all odds.
Sigrid Kirk, founder of The Association of Women in the Arts (AWITA) is unwilling to accept the status quo, and instead is dedicated to supporting the talent pipeline for women working in the visual arts and enabling them to build their own art world; a space that recognises women’s enormous contributions to the vibrant global art industry. Taking action towards this goal, Kirk and her co-founders Katrina Alekksa Ryemill and Kate Gordon are hosting AWITA’s inaugural conference ‘Build Your Own Art World’ in London on the 3rd of July.
Taking place at leading auction house Phillips, the unmissable AWITA Conference will focus on peer connection, building support systems and offering real and practical advice for artworld careers. The event features an illustrious array of female leaders in the corporate and cultural sectors including:
Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, CEO of Jerry Gogosian; Melanie Gerlis, Columnist and Contributor for the Financial Times; Touria El Glaoui, Founding Director of the 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair; Victoria Siddall, Board Director at Frieze; Nancy Durrant, Arts Editor of the Evening Standard, Everlyn Nicodemus, artist, curator and writer; Cornelia Parker, artist; Cheyenne Westphal, Global Chairwoman of Phillips; Emily Tsingou, Collection Curator and Advisor; Jo Stella Sawicka, Senior Director of Goodman Gallery; Andrea Schlieker, Director of Exhibitions and Displays at the Tate Britain; Alayo Akinkugbe, Founder of @ablackhistoryofart and many more.
Ahead of the conference, I spoke with the inspirational Sigrid Kirk, to find out more about her own career journey, her passionate support of women in the art industry and AWITA’s plans for the event.
When did you first become interested in the arts? And can you tell us a bit more about your own career journey?
I come from a small coastal town in rural New Zealand which was rather unique in that it was home to the Govett-Brewster, a contemporary art museum with an international reputation and reach. It also housed the archive of the avant-garde artist Len Lye, who mapped a path through modernism in London and New York. Growing up in weekly proximity to his experimental films and kinetic sculptures gave me a glimpse of an exciting international world and I sensed how artists approached the world differently. When I think about art, for me that’s where it all started.
A Masters in Art History followed at the University of Auckland before I moved to London in the late 90s. I was always interested in the intersection between commerce and culture, supporting and investigating new models and missions. This culminated with a stint at Arts & Business, then working with the start-up Zoo Art Fair and founding Arts Co, a cultural production agency. We specialised in creating unique narrative content for individuals, brands and organisations.
What has been the personal driving force behind the work you have done in the arts with museums, artists, galleries and more.
Gilbert and George once said “To be with art is all we ask” and this, and what it might mean, has always stuck with me. I find to be fully with art is not just about the object: it’s about the potential of the object idea to express potent and slippery ideas. It’s about building communities, about convening people and being part of bigger conversations that can help move the needle.
It might sound old-fashioned but I do believe that art has a higher power and we need to use its narrative potential in better ways to build bridges between disciplines, ideas and people. Commerce, culture and community are not at odds with each other and that’s why I am actively involved in fundraising and governance efforts alongside being an ideas generator.
Tell us more about The Association of Women in the Arts (AWITA), in particular, your reasons for founding the organisation.
The art world is powered by women who work in structures designed several hundred years ago by white men – think auction houses, museums, and commercial galleries. At best guess, 65% of employees in arts organisations are women and given that we work in an unregulated industry with no official figures, this finger-in-the-air number seems about right.
AWITA came about simply because we wanted to make the art world a fairer place to work. We felt the best way to do this was through mentoring, networking, and continued professional development. Very little of this exists and a high percentage of our members are self-employed and have portfolio careers. Along with my Co-Founders, Katrina Alekksa Ryemill and Kate Gordon, we felt a supportive community that was a safe place to talk about career issues and share expertise was overdue.
Your conference, taking place on Monday 3rd of July looks amazing. The theme ‘Build Your Own Art World’ really resonates with me, and I’m sure with many other young women working in art. What does this title mean to you?
We have to give credit for the title to Julie Lomax, CEO of a-n The Artist Information Company, who used this when she spoke at our 5-year-anniversary event at Cromwell Pace. There is no one pathway to success and to having a rewarding career. So much of it is finding the right pieces and people that work for you. It’s not a recipe but more a sort of wonderful alchemical soup. Building blocks to your own art-world.
Tell us more about the incredible speakers who will be sharing their wisdom throughout the event. Who are you most looking forward to hearing from?
There are so many incredible women taking part it’s hard to single any one out, but I am really looking forward to hearing from three powerhouses Emily Tsingou, Bona Montagu and Martine D’Anglejan-Chatillon. These women have had long and successful commercial careers and really have been market makers as advisers, dealers and producers. We’ve titled their session simply Three Women, consciously echoing Lisa Taddeo’s seminal book. Not because they will be sharing any of their sexy laundry but because they’ve been friends, have worked alongside each other for several decades, and yet are very singular and authentic women.
The event’s speakers are so diverse and offer a rich view of potential career paths in the arts, with talks and workshops by the likes of Melanie Gerlis, Columnist and Contributor for the Financial Times, Touria El Glaoui Founding Director 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair, Victoria Siddall, Board Director at Frieze and world-renowned artist, writer, curator, and former art dealer Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, better known as @jerrygogosian. Tell me more about your reasons for bringing together these particular women.
I think emotional resilience is a term that stands out. We wanted women with very different journeys in art, with very different personal styles, to help us unpack the tools that attendees might need in their own careers. We hope that over the day women might recognise something of themselves in the speakers and case studies and be able to take that away and use it.
Your event comes at a timely moment where there’s a sense of change in the air, a number of young London galleries have made it their mission to shake up the art world for example. In your view, why does now feel like the right moment to host AWITA’s inaugural conference?
I think for us it was almost a 7-year itch…we’ve spent a long time working below the radar building up a licence to operate and the time felt right. If I’m honest I also think we may have gotten a bit grumpy…there is certainly more visibility on women artists and leaders but visibility is only one half of the equation. We also have to value the extraordinary work enabled by women across the creative industries and it feels as if there is still a lag here. The creativity of women can and does drive production, creates jobs and brings huge economic gains to the country. In 2019 arts and culture contributed £10.47 billion to the UK economy. There were an estimated 226,000 jobs in the arts and culture sector in 2019, but is it fairly accounted for and measured?
The event format seems exciting. Describe how the format is different from a traditional conference and tell us more about the involvement of the infamous Jerry Gogosian.
Less didactic with short punchy talks, workshops and live life coaching sessions that are emotionally rich and honest (Chatham House rules). Even our look and feel are different; designer Lara Bohinc is creating a living room style set for us complete with ‘kissing couch.’ We’ll also have a pop-up photo studio for attendees to get professional headshots with a ‘glow up’ station provided by cult beauty brand Barbara Sturm.
And yes, Jerry Gogosian will join us for the full day, skewering the machinery and behaviour of the art-world and delivering leadership and management advice. At the close of the day, she’ll take to the couch as herself – Hilde Lynn Helphenstein – and talk honestly about her journey in the art-world, what she’s learnt and what she’s going to do next.
What do you hope people will take away from the event?
Tangible and practical tools along with renewed purpose and passion.
It’s very inspiring to talk to you and hear about your commitment to supporting the careers of women in arts. With this in mind, I would love to know, in a few sentences, what your advice would be for women in the art world today.
Simply, I think just keep going. But keep going together.
The Association of Women in the Arts (AWITA)’s inaugural conference, ‘Build Your Own Art World’, will take place on Monday 3rd July at Phillips, London. INFO: awita.london
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- Alayo Akinkugbe
- Amy Sherlock
- AWITA
- Bona Montagu
- Cheyenne Westphal
- Cornelia Parker
- Emily Tsingou
- Everlyn Nicodemus
- Farah Nayeri
- Jo Craven
- Jo-Stella-Sawicka
- Kate Gordon
- Katrina Alekksa
- Martine D Anglejan Chatillon
- Melanie Gerlis
- Nancy Durrant
- Sarah Munro
- Sigrid Kirk
- Susie Ashfield
- The Association of Women in the Arts
- Touria El Glaoui
- Victoria Siddall
