For Women’s History Month, Bard Graduate Center will host an Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon, facilitated by AfroCROWD’s Sherry Antoine, to address the lack of entries on Wikipedia about contributions by women to the fields of decorative arts, architecture, graphic design, textile design, material culture studies, and anthropology. The event includes tutorials for the beginner Wikipedian, reference materials, and refreshments. No prior Wikipedia experience required but we do encourage attendees to bring a laptop if possible.
In a 2011 survey, the Wikimedia Foundation found that less than 10% of its contributors identify as women. This lack of inclusive participation has led to an alarming gap of content in the world’s most popular online research tool. Art+Feminism’s Edit-a-thons and other initiatives make an impact on the gender gap through crucial improvements to gender, feminism and art related subjects on Wikipedia. From coffee shops and community centers to the largest museums and universities in the world, Art+Feminism is a do-it-yourself and do-it-with-others campaign teaching people of all gender identities and expressions to edit Wikipedia. Since 2014, Art+Feminism Edit-a-thons have taken place across the world, creating and improving over 11,000 articles.
Sherry Antoine is a New York-based outreach consultant and speaker committed to addressing gender and diversity gaps. She is the executive director of AfroCROWD, an outreach initiative and Wikimedia user group which seeks to increase awareness of the Wikimedia and free knowledge, culture and software movements among people of African descent. She is also the lead organizer of the Wikimedians of the Caribbean Wikimedia User Group, which focused on improving and adding content about the Caribbean and it’s Diaspora to Wikipedia, Wikidata and their fellow projects. Finally, Sherry is a director on the board of the Internet Society of New York, whose mission is to assure the beneficial, and open evolution of the global Internet. She In her roles within the Wikimedia community, Sherry has spoken both locally and internationally on the benefits and importance of knowledge access and inclusive participation in Wikimedia culture. She has also represented AfroCROWD at the United Nations, speaking on knowledge access for rural women, and organized at the United Nations headquarters in partnership with the Swedish Mission to the United Nations, Wikimedia New York City, UN Women and others. Sherry holds a master’s degree in public administration from the American University School of Public Affairs, has researched and written about international digital trends and spent years dedicated to public outreach.
