3 women of varying ages and ethnicities sit at a round table facing another woman who is speaking
Art Table members leading a discussion at the ArtTable New York Career Roundtable Program.

Impact Initiatives

Since 1980, ArtTable has been working to advance the leadership of women and nonbinary professionals in the visual arts. Through various programs, we educate and inform members and the public about significant developments and issues in the visual arts, support dialogue, and promote the evolving leadership role of women and nonbinary arts leaders. Our initiatives provide ongoing educational and public programming, mentorship, and professional development opportunities central to our nonprofit organization’s mission. For a full description of ArtTable’s Impact Initiatives, click here.

In 2022, ArtTable established the Impact Initiatives Fund in Honor of Meg Perlman. This fund directly impacts our National Fellowship, Pay Equity Project, and Career Roundtable Initiatives, provides funding to our diversity, equity, inclusivity, and accessibility programming, and provides opportunities for early-career women and nonbinary professionals in our Affiliate Membership Program by providing education and mentoring opportunities. Please help us to make a difference by contributing to this fund.

Please see ArtTable’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Action Plan approved by ArtTable’s Board of Directors in May of 2021 and ArtTables Strategic Plan 2024-2027 here.


Pay Equity

ArtTable conducted a survey to collect new data about the changing contours of the artistic labor market in order to understand trends better and advocate for arts professionals, artists, and arts workers of all types. As such, we are analyzing the results of a 2023 survey instrument to capture information about arts professionals’ working conditions, career histories, and understandings of their work—now and in the past. Thank you to all who participated!

Data about arts professionals is woefully inaccessible and incomplete; we seek to remedy some of these problems and contribute valuable knowledge to our community. Through this data collection, ArtTable was able to present its findings through virtual workshops. The first of which took place in November of 2023 and focused on the Cost of Working in the Arts, and the second in February of 2024 focused on the Intersectionality of Race and Gender in the Artistic Labor Market. ArtTable will hold its third such workshop on May 1, 2024, “Parenting in the Artistic Labor Market: Results from ArtTable’s Pay Equity Survey.” The workshops provide a mechanism to distribute results through conversation and collaboration advancing solutions and working toward gender parity. All sessions are free, open to the public, and supported through donations to  ArtTable’s Impact Initiatives Fund. All feedback will be incorporated into the final report issued in September 2024. ArtTable members can access the results through the member portal. Individuals can access the results by donating to the Impact Initiatives Fund and contacting Jessica L. Porter, Lila Harnett Executive Director of ArtTable. 

A crowd of people appear to be protesting something. A sign is high in the air that says "The future is female"

ArtTable Fellowship

Since 2000, the ArtTable National Fellowship has addressed the marked lack of diversity in arts employment. This impactful program provides quality real work experiences and mentorship to women and nonbinary emerging professionals from backgrounds generally underrepresented in the visual arts field. During the paid, five-to-eight-week summer program, the fellows will work closely with established leaders in the field to gain exposure to various professional activities at leading museums and art organizations. Fellows also receive one-on-one mentoring from leading professionals who are ArtTable members and are specialized in their areas of interest.

Through the generous support of individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies, ArtTable has supported 167 women and nonbinary fellows, partnered with a total of 90 leading art organizations nationwide so far, and dispersed over $600,000 since the Fellowship’s inception.

The program is open to emerging art professionals who self-identify as women or nonbinary. Applicants must be members of an underrepresented group, including but not limited to cultural, racial, ethnic, and/or socio-economic backgrounds historically underrepresented in the field. Applicants may be enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, or pre/post-doc programs or have recently graduated. Individuals returning to the field, especially after a period of absence due to circumstances such as elder care, early parenting, or military service, are encouraged to apply.

Candidates should have lived experience, work experience, or academic experience in the fields required for each Host Organization’s project to which they wish to apply. Applicants of diverse backgrounds with demonstrated skills relevant to the field may apply regardless of their professional or academic history.

2024 ArtTable Fellowship Program

2024 Host Organizations

  • ASU Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
  • Black Cube Nomadic Art Museum, Denver, CO
  • The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY
  • Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
  • Carolee Schneeman Foundation
  • Center for the Study of Political Graphics, Los Angeles, CA
  • The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center, Inc. New York, NY
  • Durón Gallery at SPARC (Social and Public Art Resource Center), Venice, CA 
  • The Easton Foundation, New York, NY
  • Georgetown University Art Galleries, Washington, DC
  • Locust Projects, Miami, FL
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
  • New Art Dealers Alliance, New York, NY
  • New York Studio School, New York, NY
  • The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
  • Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA), Reston, VA

2024 Fellowship Supporters

The ArtTable Fellowship program is made possible thanks to the invaluable help of the following supporters:

  • Julie Armistead
  • The Easton Foundation
  • Lila Harnett, Founder of ArtTable in 1980
  • Helen Frankenthaler Foundation
  • Lenore G. Tawney Foundation
  • Leon Polk Smith Foundation
  • Elizabeth Sackler Museum Educational Trust
  • The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation

Read more about ArtTable’s previous fellows and the projects they worked on below.

Click here for a list of past ArtTable Fellows

Press Releases

February 21, 2024ArtTable launches 2024 National Fellowship Program

February 8, 2024ArtTable Survey Sheds Light on Hardships Faced by Arts Workers of Color

November 7, 2023The Hidden Costs of Working in the Art World

Photo credit: Christine Butler.
ArtTable News

News From Our Fellows

Read updates from our recent ArtTable fellows

Career Development Roundtable

ArtTable members Whitney Donhauser and Pauline Willis speaking to students at ArtTable’s 2017 Career Roundtable. Photo Courtesy of Fashion Institute of Technology.

In 2009 ArtTable launched the Career Development Roundtable, one of our longest-standing and most impactful career mentoring programs,  influencing the career paths of more than 2,000 students and emerging professionals.

The program, currently hosted virtually over the course of two days, is designed to give emerging leaders in arts administration, art business, museum studies, art history, curatorial studies, and arts internships an experience to meet with professionals in the visual arts to discuss career opportunities.

Every year participants have the opportunity to gather around selected tables for open and engaged conversations with leading women and nonbinary professionals, to learn about their diverse career paths and experiences, to gain insights and advice for their own career development, and to network and build future relationships with peers and mentors. This is also an opportunity for ArtTable members and the community to participate in a mentoring role.

“I made so many new connections, and received invaluable advice from seasoned professionals.”

Help us to expand this program


ArtTable Supporters

ArtTable is grateful for our institutional and cultural partners who support our programs and initiatives year round. 

Corporate and Foundation Supporters


Cultural Partners & Supporters

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