The Art+Feminism Edit-a-thon, hosted by the Art and Museum Library and Information Student Society allowed people to add or improve Wikipedia articles on women in art. Tuesday’s edit-a-thon took place in the Sloane Art Library of Hanes Art Center.
The movement began last year and this year’s Art+Feminism Edit-a-thon took place at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on March 7, the day before International Women’s Day. With over 1,500 participants in more than 17 countries, the event resulted in the creation of 400 new Wikipedia pages and the revision of 500 existing articles.
A 2011 Wikimedia survey found that less than 13 percent of its contributors are female, which has translated to a gender bias in Wikipedia articles according to Heather Gendron, the head of the Sloane Art Library.
“You would think with this whole new tool out there to document our history, that we would have learned that women’s voices need to be heard and their history documented,” Gendron said.
The event focused on female artists, specifically from North Carolina, including UNC faculty who are also visual artists.
“I see these women as not only important to our local history, but many of them are prominent regionally, nationally, even globally,” Gendron said. “It’s important that we have documentation of their legacy.”
Kim Henze, president of the Art and Museum Library and Information Student Society, said events like this are necessary because of the growing dependency on quick, online sources.
“Wikipedia is becoming an increasingly important repository of shared knowledge,” Henze said. “Our goal is to make sure that the information they get is both good and full.”
