Statements to Use in Press Releases, Print In Programs, or Read At Your Events
Please feel free to use any of the copy on this page that suits your needs, and to make cuts as needed, but please be sure to credit Martha Richards for her statement and WomenArts for the others.
WomenArts retains all copyrights for the statements on this page, but grants free use of these statements for any SWAN Day event.
Selections
Special Greeting from Martha Richards
Brief Description of SWAN Day
Longer Description of SWAN Day
Special Greeting from Martha Richards
Executive Director of WomenArts
On behalf of WomenArts, I send greetings to all of the women artists and their supporters who are celebrating the 9th International Support Women Artists Now Day.
When we celebrate SWAN Day, we are coming together to use our creativity for positive change. We are bringing new harmony to the world through our songs and building movements infused with the grace of our dance. We are making pictures that open people’s eyes, and telling stories that heal people’s hearts.
On SWAN Day we celebrate our global unity and also the unique individual voices of the women artists next door. There are thousands of talented women artists all over the world who are making wonderful contributions to their communities year after year. SWAN Day is a day to recognize and thank these women.
Please take some time to make a direct connection with at least one woman artist on SWAN Day. Talk to her in person, give her a call, write her a note, or send her a gift – do anything that shows that you appreciate her creativity. There is tremendous power in these simple acts of respect and recognition, and they provide models of the supportive attitudes and behavior that we want to spread around the world.
Thanks so much to all of you for making SWAN Day 2016 a wonderful success. We encourage you to seek out the work of women artists on SWAN Day and every day. Together we will build a world where women artists get the respect they deserve.
Best Wishes for Happy, Peaceful, and Prosperous SWAN Day,
Martha Richards, Executive Director
WomenArts
SWAN Day/Support Women Artists Now Day is a new international holiday that celebrates women artists. It is an annual event that is celebrated as part of Women’s History Month on the last Saturday of March and during the surrounding weeks. For more information, please visit www.swanday.org.
Longer Description of SWAN Day
SWAN Day/Support Women Artists Now Day is a growing worldwide movement that spotlights the contributions of diverse women artists. Whether their art involves a longing for cross-cultural understanding, a passion for social justice, or a sheer love of the arts, women are expressing solidarity with each other and sharing their visions with their communities through a wide range of SWAN Day events.
In the first nine years there have been over 1,400 SWAN events in 26 countries. There have been festivals, film screenings, play readings, concerts, exhibits, community forums, and parties – all featuring women artists. The holiday was officially recognized by the Mayors of New York, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Portland, OR, and several smaller cities.
People celebrate this new holiday by participating in SWAN Day events and by making donations to their favorite women artists. SWAN Day is celebrated on the last Saturday of March and the surrounding weeks. The long term goal of SWAN Day is to inspire communities around the world to find new ways to recognize and support women artists.
SWAN Day is administered by WomenArts through its websites at www.womenarts.org and www.swanday.org. Everyone is invited to help create this new holiday. There are no fees or application forms required. For more information, please visit www.swanday.org.
SWAN Day 2016 is made possible by gifts of time, energy and money from artists and arts supporters around the world.