About
The Art of Equal Pay is an initiative organized by Michele Pred to confront and combat the racial and gender pay gaps for visual artists. Our team includes Autumn Breon, Carmen Rios, and Hadley Dynak.
TAKE OUR SURVEY
EVENTS
Equal Pay Performance, April 9, 2022, at 12:45 pm CST.
21C Chicago Museum Hotel, 55 E Ontario St, Chicago
Michele Pred and Equal Pay Solo Exhibition
April 5 – May 1, 2022
21C Chicago Museum Hotel, 55 E Ontario St, Chicago
Contact us about our fundraiser Equal Pay Print.
The Art of Equal Pay encourages women-identifying and non-binary artists across the country to raise their prices by up to15% in order to decrease the gender and racial wage gaps in art. If you’re interested in participating in the action, sign up here!
Arts professionals, art collectors, gallerists, feminist and art-oriented organizations, and individual art lovers can also sign the pledge in support of women artists. For galleries and artists that already pay their women artists fairly we would love for you to sign to show your support for paying women artists equitably.
We understand that not every artist is in a position to raise their prices and/or fees—and that an individual solution cannot necessarily solve a systemic problem. Little data exists on the wage gaps in the visual arts, and we believe the most important work is to increase discourse and awareness about systemic pay inequity by recording more data. We’ve launched a survey to collect data from artists of all genders in order to gain more information about the wage gaps in art and how they impact artists who are marginalized based on their race, gender identity and sexual orientation. This is the first study of this kind for visual artists. Click here to take the survey.
“The NEA reports that women visual artists earn 81 cents on every dollar made by men. The gender pay gap is real, and I want to change that.”
Michele Pred is a Swedish American conceptual artist whose practice includes sculpture, assemblage, and performance. Her work uncovers the cultural and political meaning behind everyday objects, with a concentration on feminist themes such as equal pay, reproductive rights, and personal security. Pred’s projects also contain social components that drive the conversation into public spaces. Examples include her exploration of the intersection of personal space and security by using airport-confiscated items after 9/11, the cultural background of the fight for reproductive rights, using thousands of expired birth control pills, and the continuing economic and political struggle for women’s rights, represented by her modified vintage handbag editions. She is represented by the Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York. The Art of Equal Pay aims to decrease the gender pay gap for visual artists.
(Photo Credit: Bud Snow.)
The Art of Equal Pay Mask
Now available: a limited edition mask made by Michele Pred for The Art of Equal Pay. Each mask is numbered and signed and includes a certificate of authenticity. Price includes shipping within the United States. For orders outside the US, please add a $10 shipping fee.
10% of the proceeds will be donated to COVID Relief funds, the rest of the proceeds will fund Equal Pay for Artists. Masks are machine washable.
Press
December 8, 2021
ARTnews Presents ‘The Deciders,’ As Selected by Guest Editor Hank Willis Thomas
In March 2020, the feminist activist-artist Michele Pred issued a call to female-identifying artists everywhere to permanently raise their prices by 15 percent as part of the ambitious initiative called the Art of Equal Pay.
March 15, 2021
Artist Michele Pred Challenges the Pay Gap with The Art of Equal Pay
In March of 2020, the artist Michele Pred launched The Art of Equal Pay initiative on Equal Pay Day, inviting artists affected by wage gaps to raise their prices by 15 percent for the day. Nearing its year anniversary, Pred has relaunched the campaign calling on artists, once again, to up their rates on March 24, attesting to the ongoing gender and racial pay gaps.
March 31, 2020
The Art of Equal Pay: The Campaign to Close the Wage Gap in the Visual Arts—With a Coronavirus Relief Spin
In the midst of the novel COVID-19 virus, many people are showing their support for those who have been impacted by the virus—including artist Michele Pred, who has created art revolving around equal pay for the last five years.
February 13, 2020
This Artist-Activist Is Asking Women Artists to Raise Their Prices by 15% to Fight the Art World’s Gender Pay Gap
Michele Pred is taking to Frieze LA to promote her initiative. Look for her in the dress made of pink dollar bills.
February 13, 2020
Dressing for Success, an Artist Helps Women Demand their Due
Michele Pred is asking artists, their dealers and potential collectors to commit to a price hike for works of art by women.
February 28. 2020
Meet the Women Whose Art Fairs are Making Art Fair
Frieze Los Angeles 2020 proved, both in scale and representation, that the fine art world’s patriarchal old guard is losing ground.
May 12, 2020
Meet the Women Who Are Transforming their Studios into Mask Making Workshops.
Whether made to give to those in need or as a fundraiser, artist designed masks are an artifact of the time.
July 17, 2020
Art Can Save Us: Six of the Best Masks You Can Buy Right Now
From photo faces to protest pieces, designers and artists have responded to a new demand for PPE.