Arts Thread

In response to academic and popular literature around the topic, as well as our own lived experience, we created space at the Royal College of Art for critical dialogue around the impact of being a parent on artistic careers, and the implications of educational structures on the lived experience of parent-artist-students. The topic is important because it sits within the broader public discussion of underrepresentation in the arts. Specifically, even though there are more women than men at art schools, men are disproportionately successful in their artist careers, as judged by gallery representation and other parameters. Motherhood is one factor in the lack of representation of women. Our project had three parts: • Workshops exploring motherhood as an element of artist identity and its impact on careers and student experience • A symposium Parent? Mother? Artist? with invited speakers Dr Charlotte Bonham-Carter, Hettie Judah, Izzie Kpobie-Mensah, Tessa Peters and Freddie Robins • Intervention artwork in response to the workshops using readymade ceramic mugs and quotes from the workshops We acknowledge that the gender-traditional term “mother” has its limitations, and remain open and welcome to all mothering identities.