Can you name five women artists? The two Greeley art historians behind Women’s Art Wednesday are on a mission to make sure the answer is yes.

Paloma Barraza, left, and Jane Thompson started an Instagram page called Women’s Art Wednesday in 2018 to teach the world about women artists throughout history. This week, they published a book. Courtesy photo.

By Dan England

As Jane Thompson worked on her bachelor’s degree in art history at Colorado State University, a class piqued her interest. It was about women in art. She took the class, but it made her wonder: Why did there have to be a separate class?

She didn’t like the answer: That was essentially the only place where she would learn anything about women’s role in art’s long history. And it was an elective, not a requirement. Why were women relegated to a footnote instead of just being included in her studies? A close friend, Paloma Barraza, had to ask a professor for an independent study on women’s art history to learn anything, and she was getting a master’s degree. It was crazy, they thought. 

It was a heartbreaking revelation for Thompson. 

“You have to go out of your way to find it,” Thompson said of women’s art history. “This discipline I love undervalues women’s contribution to society.” 

Art, of course, isn’t the first discipline to do that, but both decided they could do something about it. They began an Instagram account in 2018 called Women’s Art Wednesday and started to teach the world – and Greeley – about amazing artists who happened to be women.

Thompson and Barraza began their studies after both were inspired by an art class at Greeley Central and shared a friendship as a result. They also played on the soccer team together. Thompson eventually did get her degree from CSU. Barraza received a bachelor’s from the University of Colorado and then got a master’s in art history from the University of New Mexico. 

Women’s Art Wednesday features 52 women artists — one for every week of the year. Courtesy photo.

The account was a hit, so much so they put together a book with the same name, Women’s Art Wednesday, that they self-published and released on Wednesday this week. 

The book is a cool milestone and a curated collection of artists from their weekly Instagram posts, beefed up and with illustrations of the artists inspired by the artists’ styles. But it’s really just a symbol, albeit an important and exciting one, of their overall mission to teach the world about women artists. 

They have spoken at universities and schools and plan to hit up more high school classes this year. They’ve also partnered with galleries and even some of the artists they talk about in the book. When they hosted an art show with 30 women artists at Margie’s Java Joint in downtown Greeley, it was the busiest day on record for the coffee shop. 

Art influences our lives more than we realize, both said. It’s a reflection of the times, history and major events of our lifetimes, and when women are excluded from their place in art history, they’re essentially excluded from the record. 

“(Art) is a great tool to look at history,” Thompson said. “When women aren’t celebrated, it undermines the experience and restricts them from going forward.”

Thompson and Barraza both consider themselves feminists — Thompson’s mother talked with her about the realism of Barbie dolls growing up — but this project doesn’t have much to do with feminism, they said, even if a few dismiss their work by asking for Man Art Monday. It has to do with history: Both, remember, are local art historians as well as women. 

Some women were pioneers of a style or form, Barraza said, but their accomplishments were overshadowed because it was implied that men inspired them, when many times it was the other way around. The mission is about setting the record straight and educating the public about roughly half of the population’s contributions to a discipline they both love. They don’t think women artists are better than men. But they also think women artists deserve a place among them. 

They also have a question for you: Can you name five women artists? That’s the question the National Museum for Women in the Arts asked back in 2016, and the two have since partnered with the museum to continue to ask it. 

Paloma Barraza poses with a copy of Women’s Art Wednesday. Courtesy photo.

Linda Nochlin essentially asked the same thing in a 1971 essay she titled, “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” The essay was groundbreaking in the way it examined the institutional obstacles that prevented women from succeeding in the arts. The sad thing, both said, is the fact the essay is still relevant today: It should be a record of the challenges women faced instead of what they continue to face.

“This issue hasn’t really progressed since then,” Barraza said. “We are still using it for the same purpose instead of historical relevance.” 

The book took a year to put together, even when most of the material was already in their social media accounts. Both have jobs. Thompson works for CSU and Barraza works for the University of Northern Colorado. And more importantly, they didn’t want to write a textbook. 

They stuffed the book with real talk, not academia, and worked to expand the idea of an artist. They featured graphic novel illustrators and makeup masters, local artists, as well as 10 contemporary artists. The book isn’t as wild as it sounds, they said. There are many groundbreaking artists and legends in the book, but it’s also a rejection of a system that has previously failed women. 

“We want to step away from that method of teaching,” Barraza said. “We want this book to represent everyone.” 

Yes, they already had the popular Instagram account, but the book gives them a chance to present women artists as a part of the historical record, something that will last and right a centuries-old wrong. 

“We know social media isn’t going to exist forever,” Barraza said. “This will set it in stone, and people can keep it in their homes instead of on their phones.” 

Get a copy

The book is available on Amazon and at womensartwednesday.org. They also will host a book-signing at 5 p.m. March 30 at the CSU Alumni Center, 701 W. Pitkin St. in Fort Collins.