Art can be a window to the world but at so many museums and galleries that window does not show the full picture because female artists are often under-represented on the walls. NBC 5’s Noelle Walker reports the Vignette Art Fair is trying to change that.
Artwork hangs on the walls and sculptures dot the floor of an exhibition hall at Dallas Market Hall, ready for the opening day of the Vignette Art Fair.
"We know throughout the history of art that women are underrepresented through the art world," conceptual artist Rehad El Sadek said. "Unfortunately all over the world, it's not just in the U.S."
That's why the Vignette Art Fair put on by the nonprofit Texas Vignette exists.
"So there's a huge gender disparity there," Texas Vignette President Jessica Ingle said. "Texas women artists, there's often a double bias for their gender and geography. A lot of times collectors in the art world tend to look towards New York and L.A., as opposed to right in their own backyard."
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In our own backyard, 35 artists will display 85 works of art from different genres and mediums. The one common denominator is all the artists in the show are women.
"There's still this stigma surrounding women in the arts, and also a stigma surrounding women and what they should or shouldn't do," interdisciplinary artist Tina Medina said. "I find it very humorous for me to be in 2024 and still feel like I'm some kind of rebel because I make art and I'm a mother...or that I work and I'm a mother. Because this is the future. It shouldn't feel like the past!"
The artists are both emerging and established. The Vignette Art Fair chooses from submissions. The artists get 100% of the sales of their art.
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"I hope that this inspired the public and collectors alike to take a look at artists that are right here, to take a look at the women artists that should be in our institutional spaces and aren't," Ingle said.
The Vignette Art Fair opens Friday, October 18, and goes through Saturday, October 19, at Dallas Market Hall. Admission is free.
On Thursday, October 17 there is a VIP Preview Benefit. Tickets are available by clicking here, or at the door. Proceeds from that night go to support the nonprofit Texas Vignette, which puts on the Vignette Art Fair.
