WITA (Women In the Arts) hosted an event at the Mansion of Future last weekend in order to support women with independent businesses in the art industry.
The event which took place during the Lincoln Christmas Market included stalls with art pieces as well as musical performances and craft making. WITA often runs events throughout Lincoln such as craft fairs, design shows and open evenings with the purpose of promoting the work of women.
Stall holders were not charged as a way of benefitting their own businesses, allowing them to keep all profits made over the weekend. Entry to the event was also free.
Event organiser Gemma Baker said: “This was our first Christmas fair. We are women in the arts which is an organisation based in Lincoln which support, connect and empower creative women so we really wanted to provide a platform for local artists that wouldn’t cost them anything so that any money they made went straight to them, so they didn’t have to make say £300 before they made any profit,
“The public have been absolutely lovely. They’ve supported everybody. They’ve bought lots of art and we got some great feedback for artists. I would say it’s been a success. We’re definitely running another one next year for sure. People definitely want to support local art which is great. We regularly run craft drop in sessions, we run networking events. Our main next one coming up is on International Women’s Day and that’s for our showcase event where we showcase comedians, poets, burlesque dancers and we also have an artist there at the same time and that’s at the Blue Room.”
WITA will also be hosting a procession on Saturday to honour 100 years of votes for women, in partnership with the Lincoln performing arts centre.
The group has been linked to other organisations in Lincoln which additionally aim to support women. Lincolnshire Rape Crisis held their Reclaim the Night march on 30 November to protest against sexual assault in Lincoln. The Lincoln Girl Gang Facebook group formed by University of Lincoln student Amber Marshall also set out to protect girls by offering them a safe space to chat, make friends and ask for help if needs be.
