Advancing Women Artists: Recovery, restoration and valorisation of all-female works of art.

The fact that there is a disparity in art between male and female artists is nothing new, as there is in other industries, but it is reassuring to think that there is someone who is committed to the recovery and enhancement of works created by female artists alone, the lesser-known names and faces of our immense artistic heritage, preserved in churches and museums in Tuscany. That someone is AWA, or Advancing Women Artists.

This non-profit association was founded in 2009 by Jane Fortune, known in Florence as Indiana Jane, because the association is based in our Tuscan capital but also in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Jane was not only its founder but also its president. A perfectly appropriate nickname for her, being an art lover from Indiana, in search of buried treasures to recover.

However, her work had begun three years before AWA was founded. Jane accidentally came across a painting by 16th century artist Plautilla Nelli in the San Marco Museum in Florence and decided to fund the restoration herself.

The association's mission is to sponsor the restoration of works of art and promote research on women artists. As of 2018, in fact, AWA has restored 70 paintings and sculptures from the 15th century to the 19th century. It is even involved in supporting the creation of educational materials and events, even books, TV documentaries, seminars and conferences.

The ultimate goal, however, is to provide women's art with an exclusive exhibition space, or as Jane put it, "a space of their own" in Florence, her adopted city, with other related spaces around the world where they can exhibit their works, and then have them permanently returned to Tuscany.

As if that were not enough, Awa supports an annual programme of awards in honour of all those people who have contributed to the culture of Florence, the city beloved by the founder, such as museum directors, restorers and contemporary artists. These awards are designed to recognise and praise the commitment of all women in the Fine Arts sector who work hard every day to enhance Florence and its artistic heritage.

Jane sadly passed away in 2018, but leaves behind the fruits of her 25 years of work as the founder and creator of this association and an all-female team that will continue to work on her project until 2020, when Advancing Women Artists has announced its closure and is ready to "pass the baton" to museum leaders around the world to continue the efforts made so far to safeguard, present to the public and promote women's art.

Before her death, however, Jane already announced in 2017 that her commitment and participation in AWA would end with the presentation of the work Last Supper by her muse, Plautilla declaring that she had done "her part for Florence" and would devote her resources and energy to Bloomington, Indiana, at the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University. Also before her death, she established the Jane Fortune Fund for Virtual Advancement of Women Artists, the mission of which is to bring together and share the research of AWA, the Eskenazi Museum of Art and Indiana University to create the world's largest database of international women artists from 1500-1800 - aptly named 'A Space of Their Own', because Indiana Jane realised that in order to provide long-term, far-reaching visibility to more women artists around the world, her vision would have to be virtual.

ILARIA PUDDU fonte: Advancing Women Artists Foundation