Focus Talks: Celebrating Working-Class Women Artists from the North East.

Pink-collar Gallery Presents - Focus Talks.

Join us for a weekend of inspiration and community as we wrap up our incredible Focus Exhibition series! We've spent the last six months showcasing the talents of Karen Sikora, Mia Jones, Sally Anderson, and Emma Cutting, and now it's time to dive deeper into their stories and practice.

Come for engaging discussions, audience Q&A, and the chance to build a stronger community of working-class creatives. Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to connect, learn, and celebrate these amazing artists.

With refreshments included in the ticket.

About Focus Exhibitions.

A 2018 study, Panic! Social Class, Taste and Inequalities in the Creative Industries collected almost 300 hours of interviews with creative professionals collected following a national survey. The percentage of people working in publishing with working-class origins was 12.6%. In film, TV and radio it was 12.4%, and in music, performing and visual arts, 18.2%. As of 2023, the Analysis of Office for National Statistics data found that only 7.9% are from a working-class background.

Combined with gendered inequalities in paid work and unpaid care work of women working in the arts, this global challenge seriously impacts the lives, health and opportunities of individuals, families and communities worldwide every day. Women everywhere fare worse than men in terms of earnings and professional status. Much of this inequality in paid work is intricately linked to women’s unequal unpaid care responsibilities, which remain under-recognised and undervalued, even after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pink-collar Gallery presented this series of exhibitions in a pop-up space at Otto Cafe. We are highlighting the issues of working-class women working in the arts through online conversations and a celebration of their work, showcasing their talents and passion as an artist.

Host or Publisher Michaela Wetherell (curator of Pink-Collar Gallery)