Book club: How Not to Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents)

We are starting a monthly book club, focused on books on mothers in arts, crafts and design. Our first reading will be Hettie Judah’s How Not to Exclude Artist Mothers (and other parents), published in 2022. See description below.

This will be a hybrid event, but we are still ironing the details. The link and address will be shared soon.

During the event, we’ll share our favorite quotes, before discussing how the book reflects our practices and experiences (or not). Do join even if you haven’t had the time to read.

The book is available through SFPublic Library and Hayward Library. Order it to your local bookstore through [Indiebound/bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-not-to-exclude-artist-mothers-and-other-parents-hettie-judah/18695873?ean=9781848226128).

If you have book suggestions for the following months, let us know in comments or at the event!

Description:

For too long, artists have been told that they can't have both motherhood and a successful career. In this polemical volume, critic and campaigner Hettie Judah argues that a paradigm shift is needed within the art world to take account of the needs of artist mothers (and other parents: artist fathers, parents who don't identify with the term 'mother', and parents in other sectors of the art world).

Drawing on interviews with artists internationally, the book highlights some of the success stories that offer models for the future, from alternative support networks and residency models, to studio complexes with onsite childcare, and galleries with family-friendly policies.

Some artists have described motherhood as providing them with renewed focus, a new direction in their work, and even inspiration for a complete change of career. Other artists choose to keep their domestic and creative lives compartmentalised. All are placed at a disadvantage by the art world as it is currently structured. This book argues that by making changes and becoming more sensitive to the needs of artist parents, the art world has much to gain.