Are you coming to our Edit-a-Thon?

Author: Courtney Johnston, Director

Thinking about taking part in our Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon? Here's a list of New Zealand artists who you could 'adopt' for the day.

Bronwynne Cornish, Baa Birds (Detail), 2013. Courtesy of the artist

On Saturday 7 March we're taking part in an international movement to improve the presence of women artists on Wikipedia by running an Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon here at The Dowse. So far we're the only place in the whole of Oceania to take part, so by coming along you'll be part of a pretty special thing!

We're running the day in such a way that everyone from complete newbies to experienced editors will be supported:

Newbies 10am–12pm A crash course in how to sign up, edit and upload articles to Wikipedia.

Get inspired 1pm Join curator Bridget Reweti on a tour of Nuku: Symbols of Mana, with its particular focus on mana wahine (women’s empowerment).

Edit-A-Thon 2–5pm: Come along and add to the store of information about women artists or New Zealand art more broadly in a friendly communal environment. And if art's not your thing but Wikipedia is, we'd still love to have you along.

If you want to put in a little prep for the day, here are some suggestions. You could identify an artist and start doing some research in advance.

ARTISTS WHOSE WIKIPEDIA PAGES NEED EXPANDING

Edith Collier

Rhona Haszard

Evelyn Page

Margaret Stoddart

Rita Angus

Olivia Spencer Bower

A Lois White

Doris Lusk

Louise Henderson

Marti Friedlander

Jacqueline Fahey

Gretchen Albrecht

Judy Millar

Kura te Waru Rewiri

Séraphine Pick

Anne Noble

Lisa Reihana

Rachel Rakena

Flora Scales

ARTISTS WHO DON'T CURRENTLY HAVE A WIKIPEDIA PAGE

Mina Ardnt

Margaret Butler

Adele Younghusband

Rata Lovell-Smith

Emily (Emare) Karaka

Megan Jenkinson

Ruth Watson

Julia Morison

Christine Webster

Saskia Leek

Lonnie Hutchinson

Ann Shelton

Yvonne Todd

Flora Scales

Elizabeth Thomson

Yuk King Tan

Dagmar Dyke

Janet Lilo

Tiffany Singh

Robyn Kahukiwa

GOOD INFO TO COLLECT FOR AN ARTIST PAGE

• Major life moments - date and place of birth/death, where the artist lived at different times.
• Details such as significant relationships if you believe this is important to people’s knowledge of the artist.
• Education - where and what they studied, qualifications gained
• Major exhibitions - title, location and date of major exhibitions
• Career - information about how the artist’s career and work developed: major milestones, descriptions of their work, quotes from them or authoritative figures
• Publications - books and journal articles about the artist
• Collections - public galleries and museums that hold examples of the artist’s work
• Awards and recognitions: prizes, residencies, honours.

Take a look at the pages on John Parker and Bronwynne Cornish for examples of how this information is assembled and used.

At The Dowse, we tend to draft our entries using Word or Google Docs. We start with a list of headings, and then use books and periodicals to fill them out. For each statement we make, we provide a reference. So our entry for Cornish for example starts like this:

EARLY LIFE

Born Wellington 1945 (Find NZ Artists http://findnzartists.org.nz/artist/3387/)

Parents separated at 3, moved to Napier, Taranaki, attended Hawera Technical High School (Mudlark book pages 16-18)

CAREER

Enrolled Wellington Poly to study design (Virginia Were article http://www.artnews.co.nz/autumn-2014-profile/)

WE'RE THERE TO HELP

Bridget and I will be there all day to help out. We've got plenty of ideas to help get people past the initial learning curve and quickly into making real contributions. We look forward to seeing you there!