About

What is AWP and how is it run?

The Art Working Parents Alliance is a nation-wide network open to all parents working in the art world, mothers, fathers and others. We currently have over 400 members hailing from sectors including academia, commercial galleries, public organisations, museum education, communications and the media, alongside artists.

The Alliance was founded by Jo Harrison and Hettie Judah in October 2022, and we are currently both responsible for all administration of AWP including organising and hosting events, managing the growing membership and sending out regular newsletters.

AWP is free to join. We are currently unfunded and everything that we offer is based on in-kind support and contributions from unpaid volunteers.

AWP is an alliance, so its mission and activities are shaped by its members. Please contact us with suggestions of events you’d like to see programmed, and issues and needs you’d like to see addressed. 

AWP can be used in many ways – as a social network for those with young children; as a matching service for mentoring; as a hive mind to be turned to for advice and expertise; and as a campaigning group working to make the art world a better place for parents to work.

Events

Please see our Events page for forthcoming in-person or online events. Typically for our in-person events, we meet at an art organisation with an exhibition relevant to the interests of AWP members. Our online events tend to be more issue-led and have included discussions on subjects of interest to our network such as job shares and employment policy.

Since we begain in 2022, we’ve hosted events at Tate Britain, Somerset House, The Whitechapel Gallery, The ICA, Drawing Room, The Women’s Art Library, Mosaic Rooms, The Wellcome Collection (all in London) as well as Spike Island in Bristol.

We’ve also had fantastic offers to host events, albeit as yet unrealised, from spaces across the country including the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea, Eastside Projects / Grand Union in Birmingham, Kingshill House in Dursley, East Street Arts in Leeds, A Space in Southampton, National Museum of Wales in Cardiff and spaces in other parts of London (among them Mother House Studios in Catford.)

Besides opportunities for networking and visiting exhibitions, we offer events which focus on practical support for parents in the arts world. However, due to lack of resources, there are still many topics we have yet to cover, examples include: hearing from industry experts to speak on equality and diversity; how to support pregnancy loss in the workplace; how freelance workers can be better protected; the role of auxiliary carers and ‘art-working families’; issues that relate to LGBTQ+ parenting; and intersectional approaches to access – to name just a few!

If any members want to arrange an AWP event, no matter how big or small, please write to us with your suggestions so that we can help organise it and share the information with our mailing list.

WhatsApp and Regional Groups

There are currently about 400 members of AWP spread around the country. We have established regional and sector hubs, each of which has its own database and WhatsApp group. Each of these hubs is led by a local administrator feeding back suggestions to Hettie and Jo with topics that might be addressed in the symposium. 

The activities of all WhatsApp groups will be determined by the needs and wishes of those involved – they can range from playdates and gallery visits to something more like an informal resource to share experience and advice.

All this is opt-in and new members can be added to each group as we move forward. If you would like to join any of these groups, please email us and we’ll happily connect you – all are welcome.