On Nov. 7, you published an article by Staff Writer Bob Keyes headlined “Public art is popping up everywhere in effort to bring people together.”

This article failed to mention even one woman artist who is making public art in Maine. As a woman artist myself, I can share that it is hard enough to get grants and public art projects in this state. We have countless stories of unfair treatment. Having half of the population entirely erased from this article is harmful to women and to the arts.

The national gender pay gap is already a hurdle, but in the art world the gap is even greater, with women estimated to make $20,000 less than men every year. And, as the pandemic continues to force women out of the workforce, women artists are struggling.

And yet, I know of women artists who have made public art this year. It’s not hard to find us. However, by erasing us from articles, this continues to affect our income, because often who is seen the most gets the most work.

As a community we need to ask, “Where are the women artists?” Curators should set a yearly quota to ensure that 50 percent of their projects are done by women and they are paid fairly. In addition, they should participate in implicit-bias training to ensure equal opportunities across gender, race and ability.

It’s 2021. There’s no reason articles should go to print that don’t include women.

Abigail Gray Swartz
Freeport