As we commemorate the centennial of women’s suffrage, we celebrate a momentous milestone in our nation’s march toward equality. But reaching this milestone took decades of advocacy, activism and art. Throughout the suffrage movement, the arts helped sway public opinion, rally support and gave women new tools to make their message heard.
Whether it was the poetic oratory of Sojourner Truth, scathing editorial cartoons, inspirational posters, action-oriented postcards or the (literal) loosening of constrictive fashions, the arts disseminated suffragists’ messaging across the country. The arts made the work of the suffragists more visible to a wider audience and helped women across the country feel connected to the movement.
Commemorating the arts suffrage push
The National Endowment for the Arts recognizes and applauds how the arts were used to change the narrative about the importance of women’s full participation in society and politics. In honor of the centennial, the Arts Endowment has released a book titled “Creativity and Persistence: Art that Fueled the Fight for Women’s Suffrage,” designed to commemorate the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
Since our establishment in 1965, we are proud to have continued the suffragists’ work by supporting projects that empower women through the arts, and by supporting women whose work has shaped and elevated American culture.
We feel the influence and impact of women artists on this country every single day. We feel it when we listen to the anthems of Aretha Franklin or bear witness at Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial; when we reflect on the words of Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, when we watch a performance of Urban Bush Women or when we send our daughters to programs like Project H Design’s Girls Garage and the Girls Write Now. All of these organizations, programs, and people are supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and embody the ways women lift up our nation through the arts.
Stubborn statistics remain
Yet, despite our progress, major barriers remain. Although nearly half of all full-time working artists are women, they earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. As women age, they earn progressively less than men. Women are also far less likely than men to direct feature films, to be represented by galleries or lead major museums, or to serve as conductors or composers for symphonies and orchestras.
These disparities are especially true for women of color. Just as our celebration of the 19th Amendment is tempered by the recognition that women of color continued to face extraordinary obstacles when attempting to exercise their right to vote post-1920 — obstacles that remain today — our celebration of women in the arts is tempered by the knowledge that women of color do not always face an equitable artistic landscape. They are confronted by a double set of barriers: those faced as women and those faced as cultural minorities.
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For example, according to a survey from Williams College, of 18 major American art museums, just 1.2% of artwork was by Black artists—the lowest figure of any cultural group. Black musicians account for less than 2% of orchestras nationwide; Latino musicians make up less than 3%; and just over 9% of musicians were Asian or Pacific Islanders. In the 2016-2017 season, white playwrights wrote nearly 87% of all shows produced at Broadway and nonprofit theaters, while the same percentage of productions were directed by white directors. Similar figures can be found within nearly every artistic discipline.
The American experience is not singular
These statistics are troubling, and I believe that we can and must do better. By honoring and celebrating as wide an array of perspectives as possible — on stage, on screen, on the page, on museum walls — we can prevent a kind of national myopia, one where our worldview is limited to our own experiences. The arts give us insight into and appreciation for communities and ways of life different from our own and show us that there is no singular American experience. To fully understand our country, and to fully embrace the beauty of our differences, we quite simply need to create more opportunities for the voices of women of every hue that have for too long gone unheralded.
As we commemorate 100 years of women having the right to vote, let’s be proud of the progress we have made, and let’s celebrate the remarkable women who have helped make the American artistic canon one of the richest in the world. At the same time, let’s commit ourselves to expanding this canon, and to making it richer still.
Mary Anne Carter is the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. The agency’s new book about women’s suffrage, Creativity and Persistence: Art That Fueled the Fight for Women’s Suffrage, is available for download and as an audiobook on the Arts Endowment website.
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