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For Immediate Release
WORLDWIDE SWAN DAY CELEBRATION
MARKS GROWTH OF WOMEN ARTISTS MOVEMENT
San Francisco, CA, March 12, 2009 – On five continents, women artists and their supporters are organizing events for the second annual SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now Day), an international celebration of women’s creativity held on March 28 and the surrounding weeks.
SWAN Day is a growing worldwide movement that spotlights the diverse contributions of women artists. Whether their creative work involves a passion for social justice, a longing for cross-cultural understanding, or a sheer love of the arts, women are expressing solidarity with each other and sharing their visions with their communities.
The first SWAN Day was celebrated in March 2008 with 160 events in 11 countries. The holiday was officially recognized by the Mayors of New York, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Portland, OR, and several smaller cities.
The range of events being planned for SWAN Day 2009 is as diverse as the artists involved. In San Francisco, there will be a women’s film festival; in Washington, D.C., an exhibit of Mary McFadden’s fashion designs at the National Museum of Women in the Arts; and in New York City, there will be 20 events including a panel at Lincoln Center Library, a showcase of short films, dance events, and a production of The Lonely Soldier, Helen Benedict’s play about women soldiers in Iraq. Groups around the U.S. and in Kenya, Germany, Canada and Ghana are planning their second annual festivals, while new events will take place in Jamaica, Argentina, Israel, and China. Many film screenings, plays, dance performances, concerts, prose and poetry readings, and house parties are being listed at www.SwanDay.org.
SWAN Day was conceived by Martha Richards, Executive Director of The Fund for Women Artists in San Francisco, and Jan Lisa Huttner, the force behind Chicago’s Women in the Audience Supporting Women Artists Now (WITASWAN). The holiday is coordinated by The Fund for Women Artists through a special website at www.SwanDay.org where visitors can post events on an interactive map, download free promotional materials, learn fundraising basics, and find out about proposed SWAN Day events.
The Fund for Women Artists is a non-profit organization that helps women artists get the resources they need by providing free online funding, networking, and advocacy information, and by building alliances of women artists and supporters. The Fund for Women Artists’ website serves over 500,000 visitors a year.
For more information about The Fund for Women Artists, please visit www.womenarts.org.
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