Great Womxn Who Work in the Arts: Finding Power in our Collective Voice
by Anna Turzynski
Who are we?
We’re Anna and Lily. We’re artists and makers living in Leeds. We’re close pals and share a passion for getting shit done. Our day jobs focus on making art with communities and widening access to culture. We’re also freelance, which means we get to meet a lot of amazing people across the city. Because of that, we’ve been informally making connections and offering support within our sector for years.
About eleven months ago we attempted the impossible and invited a mishmash group of friends and colleagues to the pub. Our intention was to introduce some of the great women we worked with to one another and welcome some new faces to the city. So, after choosing a winning acronym, our fantastic friend Polly made us a logo, and we were away.
The night before our innocent pint, the country went into a national lockdown.
Almost a year on, we find ourselves in a growing network of over 80 people.
What is GWWWA?
GWWWA is a female-led, peer support group for people in Leeds (and the surrounding area) who identify as women and work in the arts. We plan to meet regularly to widen our networks, discuss our experiences and find a collective voice. We’re open to new members and suggestions for ways to better hold the space. We encourage members to share their experience, ask for help and pass on opportunities.
Our hope is that the group will meet once every two months, for as long as it feels relevant. You can simply ask to be a member or you can try out a meeting by coming along with a friend. There’s no fee to join, and no pressure to come to every event - just the promise of a warm welcome.
It dawned on us that there were very few social spaces to meet other people in our industry - and how nice it would be to have one. We wanted to create a space where you could have stimulating conversations that feel safe, generous and productive; where members can learn from one another and feel part of something.
Currently, like everyone else, we’re gathering virtually. But when it’s safe to do so we want to meet in a pub, café, or any place that feels like an even-ground for everyone. Our aim is to make the group as accessible as possible, which is why we really see value in having multiple points of entry (e.g. physical meet-ups as well as social media forums) and for someone to always be on the other end of the phone.
Why was there a need for this?
Leeds has an amazing cultural sector and is full of incredibly hard working women who deserve something nice. It’s often described as a place with a rich DIY scene or a city of festivals - which roughly translates to “everyone is hustling hard for their art”. This can mean that your work life is extremely isolating and even the simplest task can feel like a mountain to climb. We kept hearing about the same struggle from different local people and decided that coming together may provide a solution or, at the very least, a soundboard for people working creatively in the city.
We believe that the best things are run by the people who use them, so we’ve designed a network that we would have wanted to join ourselves. It feels really empowering to create something that so many instantly wanted to be a part of, and like we’re filling a void in the city. With that in mind, we’re keen to ensure that GWWWA isn’t just about blowing off steam, but that it's also a catalyst for positive change in the city.
What do we hope it achieves?
In the first instance we want GWWWA to highlight what can be achieved when independent artists and arts workers have a collective power behind them. It’s genuinely exciting to think about what we can achieve together. Our aim is to create a space where people feel comfortable to share their experiences and create new relationships - and that ultimately makes their work life easier.
In the long run, we’d love it if collectives in other cities took on the good GWWWA name and it became a model for artists and makers to come together all over the country. Our vision is to create an informal network of women who are cheerleading for one another and finding a collective voice.
Our arms are open wide for new women to join GWWWA. If you’re interested or just want to chat then please reach out to greatwomxn@gmail.com.
GWWWA aims to be an inclusive space for all people who experience misogyny or marginalisation on the basis of their gender, which is why we choose to use the spelling ‘womxn’.
Title image by Polly Cuthbert.
