Girls about town: women paving the way in public art

Historically men have dominated the public art domain, but contemporary female artists are shaking up the territory.
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Louise Paramor’s Panorama Station (2012) at the Southern Way Peninsular Link Freeway; Image source louiseparamor.com

In 2011, Washington Post’s Cari Shane did an audit of America’s public sculptures. ‘Of the estimated 5,193 public statues depicting historic figures on display on street corners and parks throughout United States, only 394 of these monuments are of women … [and] across the hundreds and hundreds of statues in New York City, just five depict historic women,’ reported the Smithsonian on the results.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina