Since 2024, the nonprofit organization Artists & Mothers has been addressing a critical gap in the art world by offering grants for nine months of childcare to New York-based artists with children under three. The organization was founded by Julia Trotta and Maria De Victoria, with board members including Camille Henrot, Bridget Donahue, Maia Ruth Lee, Sarah Goulet, and Elizabeth Karp-Evans. In a Q&A format, the group discusses their motivations, influences, and hopes for a more equitable art world, highlighting works such as Lea Lublin's 1968 performance "Mon fils" and anticipating Ei Arakawa-Nash's Japanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
This initiative matters because it directly confronts one of the art world's most persistent blind spots: the lack of structural support for working mothers. By providing tangible childcare funding and bringing the conversation into mainstream discourse, Artists & Mothers challenges gatekeeping and precarity, advocating for an art world rooted in care and equity. The organization's work underscores how systemic barriers affect artists' careers and creative output, making it a vital model for institutional change.