Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon Aims to Boost Female Participation

The Art + Feminism's Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon is aimed at increased female participation in the free online encyclopedia.

Wikipedia

DFW female artists and art lovers are invited to the first Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon, to be held Friday at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows Museum. 

The Cedars Union, the Meadows Museum, and the Dallas Public Library have partnered to bring the event to Dallas in the hopes that it will increase participation by North Texas women on the website Wikipedia — a free online encyclopedia whose content is generated collaboratively by its users.

Consuelo Gutierrez, director of membership and programs at The Cedars Union, said she hopes that the event will bring the community together to support an initiative that will have a lasting impact. 

“We intend to focus on Wikipedia pages for the artists, art educators, and patrons of the Meadows Museum in particular.”
Consuelo Gutierrez

Attendees of the event will “learn how to edit Wikipedia for the first time and participate in something so worthwhile that will have a lasting effect for generations,” Gutierrez said. 

Less than 10 percent of Wikipedia contributors are women, according to The Wikimedia Foundation. The result of the low female participation could be bias and the lack of the feminine perspective in content.

With increased female participation in Wikipedia, The Cedars Union, Art + Feminism and the Meadows Museum can improve the gender gap that exists within the world of art, organizers said. The hope is for female artists to start or edit their own Wikipedia pages to gain a larger following. 

“We intend to focus on Wikipedia pages for the artists, art educators, and patrons of the Meadows Museum in particular,” Gutierrez said. 

The event is free and open to anyone, and will be held at the Meadows Museum Constantin Foundation Seminar Room from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. To register, visit the event website


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