Beyond Talking about women artists- Building a Living Art Project

After my talk on artist Faith Ringgold, holding photo of her piece 'American People Series #19: US Postage Stamp Commemorating the Advent of Black Power, Oil on canvas, 1967. The original is 183 x 244 cm

A few weeks ago I gave a talk on the Black American artist Faith Ringgold. I really enjoyed exploring how politically engaged she was and how her approach to art and activism evolved from her early work to her mature period. The questions from attendees opened up the paintings even further, always a sign of a good session.

Data-gathering at Newport

The second trolley load at Newport Central Library

Last Saturday I spent all day at Newport Central Library, tucked away in their local-studies area, logging the art monographs they keep in storage. Two large trolley-loads of books, many too old to have a barcode or even an ISBN!

Refocusing the project towards aims for women artists

The monthly artist talks part of the pilot at Abergavenny Library runs until June and so this feels like a good moment to take stock.  

My original plan had three strands: delivering the talks, adding books on female artists to the collection, and gathering data from libraries across Wales and the UK to see whether the gaps I've noticed are local or nationwide. Running all of that alongside a full-time job has proved ambitious - so, belatedly and true to form, I'm pausing the data-collection strand to concentrate on the pilot.

I see the next phase in Abergavenny shifting from preparing talks to raising awareness around the town, so more people can get involved. That might mean:

• creating public art to draw attention to the issue

• forming a working group to choose 48 artists whose books we'd like to add to the library, then finding ways to source or fund them

• running workshops, deep-dives, and hands-on sessions - alongside liaison with the council to make it happen
  

I'm also thinking of turning future sessions from straight talks into a more collaborative, making-and-activist space, with room to revisit the nine artists I've already covered for anyone who missed them. That suits me too: I get to return to each artist with deeper knowledge and address questions that came up the first time round as well as freeing up time and attention to move closer to the pilot projects aims.

I'm seeking out people who've run similar projects to learn how they've worked with a shifting group of participants - many who are artists themselves or arts-curious. 

Käthe Kollwitz and printmaking

My next talk is on Käthe Kollwitz, Saturday 25 April at Abergavenny Library. Researching her work has sent me down a joyful rabbit-hole of lithography and woodcut; I want to understand the processes first-hand, so I've booked a day course in woodblock printing with earth pigments (with Nichola Goff at Abergavenny Art Shop & Chapel) and am eyeing up lithography courses at places like The Lemonade Press in Bristol.

June Saturday Salon: Print & Plants

Last month's Saturday Salon in my front room was a treat. I've since been catching up with several of the artists who'll be showing art in June - this week I visited photographer David Morgan-Davies in his studio and was delighted by the potential of the pieces he has in mind. The theme is Print & Plants; the Salon will be at lunchtime on 6 June. If you'd like an invitation, drop me an email at wynnepaton@outlook.com or a DM on Instagram @wynnepaton.

A kindred project: In Her Steps

A friend recently pointed me to the work of Mercedes Lucy, who has created a series of tiles depicting women - largely forgotten - up to 1900, and tiled the front steps of her house with them. The project is called In Her Steps and has since expanded beyond artists to all women who've done noteworthy things. It's a lovely resonance with what I'm trying to do: surfacing less publicly known figures.

Come along

Do join me for my talk on Käthe Kollwitz and an update on the project at 11am until Noon on Saturday 25 April, on the Mezzanine in Abergavenny Library. You can book ahead on Eventbrite (it helps to have an idea of numbers), but you're also welcome to just turn up.