Update: Better organized list, with links and everything, is now live: A List of Women Speakers for Your Conference. Please post additions, errors and omissions in the comments over there.
Tokion Magazine's upcoming Creativity Now conference claims to be bringing together the "top figures" across a variety of creative disciplines. Oddly none of the 20-some-odd figures are women. They said they tried but couldn't find any. We say: try harder.
Brooklyn Vegan made a good point, which is that I have as yet not offered any solutions, just raised an issue . So, I just sat for a couple of minutes and put together a list of women who'd be potentially great speakers at the Creativity Now conference. I will track back and add links and/or affiliations later. In the near term, I wanted to get some suggestions out there.
I am personally not strong on music and screenwriting/film recommendations. If you have names you'd like to add, please comment below or email me: person AT personism DOT com
My list, so far (Apologies in advance for spelling errors, omissions and it's general lack of orderliness):
Ellen Lupton
Jessica Helfland
Tina Roth Eisenberg (SwissMiss)
Julia Leach
Kate Spade
Alice Roy
Lisa Yuskavage
Mirabelle Marden (Rivington Arms)
Melissa Bent (Rivington Arms)
Alessandra Sanguinetti
Louise Fili
Xeni Jardin
Meg Hourihan
Caterina Fake
Heather Champ
Paddy Johnson
Jessica Coen
Youngna Park
Lauren Cerand
Emilia Fanjul
Dannielle Romano
Pavia Rosati
Janice Erlbaum
Jessica Vitkus
Susan + Katherine Hable (Hable Construction)
Mara Hoffman
danah boyd
Mena Trott
Zoe Strauss
Erika Hall (mule design)
Maya Hayuk
Eileen Gittins (ceo:blurb)
Jill Greenberg (photographer)
Portia Wells (designer)
Julie Taraska (editor)
Jane Pratt
Caroline Waxler (The Glasshouse)
Shoshanna Berger (ReadyMade)
Kate Bingaman (Obsessive Consumption)
Kathy Ryan
Jody Quan
Sara Schiller (Wooster Collective)
Patricia Field
Gina Trapiani
Janice Fraser
Farai Chideya
Lily Burana
Mikki Halpin
Kristen Williams
Elizabeth Spiers
Karen Sandler
Paige West
Jennifer Chung
Rachel Sklar
Maud Newton
Molly Steenson
Grace Bonney (design*sponge)
Eva Hagberg
Maira Kalman
Paula Scher
Paola Antonelli
Jayne Mayle
Tracy Reese
more women
i have to say - me... and now more
mary ellen mark
susan goodman (art collector)
soffia coppola
amy arbus
karen mcgrane
lisa poseley (photographer)
sarah mangoit
dana buchman
Natsuo Kirino (author)
joyce carol oates
heather mchugh
Posted by: Alison Grippo | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Nancy Savoca and Allison Anders. Would be interesting to hear them talk about if they perceived gender as an issue in getting projects underway, since they both seem to have had a hard time over the past decade, even though their early work was widely praised.
Posted by: 99 | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Some other women that came to mind:
Lisa Kereszi (photographer)
Katy Grannan (photographer)
Jennifer Dalton (artist, currently showing at Winkleman/Plus Ultra)
Gallerists Janine Foeller and Jane Hait (Wallspace in Chelsea)
Zaha Hadid
Elizabeth Diller
Allison Arieff
Artist Shannon Ebner
Lia Halloran (painter, opening Fr. 10/13 at DCKT)
Leanne Shapton
Jen DeNike
Nanette Lepore
Cynthia Rowley
And, of course, any of the immensely talented women who've shown at jb - check my artist page or the index of previous winners of Hey, Hot Shot!.
Posted by: Jen Bekman | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Stacy McKee - writer of gray's anatomy
Marisha Pessel -actor and writer of special topics in calamity physics (on ny times bestseller list)
Lisa Strausfeld - Partner pentagram
Diane Keaton
Laura Innes
Miranda July
Callie Khouri
more ideas here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_directors
Posted by: jg | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Autumn De Wilde (photographer)
Marisa Olson (curator/new media artist)
Lauren Cornell (executive director of Rhizome)
Caitlin Jones (new media scholar)
Mary Flanagan (new media artist/critic)
Brainstormers (feminist activist artists)
Bubblyfish (musician)
Dana Schutz (painter)
Monica de la Torre (poet)
Abha Dawesar (novelist)
Posted by: Paddy Johnson | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
There are plenty more but these femmes come to mind...
CRAFT/DESIGN
Jenny Hart
Diana Rupp (Make studio)
Debbie Stoller (also for Bust mag)
Tsia Carson
Lauri Faggioni
MUSIC
Kim Gordon
PJ Harvey
Bjork
Debbie Harry
Joanna Newsom
Liz Phair
Sleater-Kinney
Lucinda Williams
Chan Marshall
FILM
Christine Vachon
Jane Campion
Nicole Holofcener
TELEVISION
Lauren Lazin
Lauren Zalaznick
Ellen DeGeneres
Laura Keitlinger
Kathy Griffin
Posted by: j vitkus | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Li Edelkoort
Posted by: Fontanel | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Anna Politkovskaya. RIP Oct 7th 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Politkovskaya
Posted by: Hanna | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
A STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS LIST MADE OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD IN LITERALLY FOUR MINUTES:
rei kawakubo
ann demeulemeester
sophia kokosalaki
veronique branquinho
christian joy
karen o
jasmin shokrian (http://www.luxlotus.com/lux_lotus/2005/03/let_me_count_th_1.html)
vanessa seward (azzaro)
vanessa bruno
agnes b
diane pernet of ashadedviewonfashion.com
candy pratts price of style.com
Beth Buccini and Sarah Easley of kirna zabete
jen bekman
lisa yuskavage
uscha pohl of up co/very
nancy hwang http://bluebutton.info
jes cannon
portia wells
miss van http://www.triggermagazine.com/archives/2005/09/miss_van.html
camille rose garcia http://www.triggermagazine.com/archives/2006/04/the_dystopia_of_decadence.html
regine debatty of we make money not art
jean aw of notcot.com
theresa duncan
souris hong porretta
maud newton
miranda july
leith clark of lula magazine
lexi alexander (director of green street hooligans)
rebecca miller
selma blair
courtney love
jenny lewis
eleanor friedburger of the fiery furnaces
keren ann
regina spektor
geeta dayal of theoriginalsoundtrack.com
patience hodgson of the grates
the like
au revoir simone
Posted by: Lauren Cerand | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Swoon (street art)
Posted by: Kitty | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
For the record Ken from Tokion did respond to my original post original post with a list of women they invited who had replied no. Here's his list:
yoko ono
cindy sherman
sofia coppola
sam taylor wood
nikki s lee
cecilia dean
nicole phelps
hope atherton
miranda july
dana schutz
valerie faris
amy larocca
elizabeth peyton
vivienne westwood
luella bartley
stella mccartney
lance still
sally mann
cecily brown
swoon
Posted by: Jen Bekman | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Laura Ballance (musician/business woman, Merge Records)
Dorothy Gambrell (artist/cartoonist/musician)
Kimya Dawson (musician/artist)
Posted by: L-tree | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Audrey Kawasaki
Posted by: Dax Anderson | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Ok, first of all, i just want to say that hearing about this SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME.
forgive me if any of these are repeats (and i see a TON on these lists that i was going to suggest) but here's a few off the top 'the head.
VISUAL ARTISTS:
Cheryl Dunn (photographer)
Built By Wendy
Deanna Templeton (photo)
Angela Boatwright (photo)
Claire Rojas aka Peggy Honneywell (artist/ musician)
Zen Sekizawa (photo)
Chrissy Piper (photo)
Meagan Whitmarsh
Elizabeth Huey
Jo Jackson
Kelly Ording
Alicia McCarthy
Melissa Brown
Simone Shubuck
Lori D (animator, artist, skater)
Kelly Ording
Tauba Auerbach
Tracy Nakamura
MUSICIANS:
Kathleen Hanna
M.I.A.
Joanna Newsom
Tara Jane O'Neil (musician: Rodan, Retsin)
Patti Smith
Neko Case
WRITERS, COMEDIENNES, ETC:
Margaret Atwood
Tina Fey!
Sarah Silverman
Amy Sedaris
Janeane Garofalo
Terry Gross
Trinnie Dalton (writer, artist)
Andrea Juno (publisher)
Marsea Goldberg (Gallerist, New Image Art LA)
SKATE/SURF/SNOW:
tina basich
cara beth burnside
Posted by: maya hayuk | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
oh!
Kathy Grayson (curator, Deitch Gallery, Writer)
Isabel Samaras (artist)
Posted by: maya hayuk | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Hi Jen,
Well, it's cool to see everyone assembling these lists of great female speakers. I do feel the need to point out that many of the names suggested WERE in fact invited. And many more of the women suggested here have been supported editorially by the magazine over the years.
At the outset of planning the conference, we made a list of people to invite. The list was quite gender balanced. I feel very comfortable standing behind that statement. What happens then is that the invitation process takes months... and you generally don't know what you're going to get until the end of it. We were as shocked as anyone to see the speakers list of the conference turn out the way it did, in part because we knew how many female speakers we'd invited.
We actually invited ANOTHER round of ten or so speakers and moderators, including Inka Essenhigh, Lucy McKenzie, Sophie Wong, Amy Larocca, Jessica Craig-Martin and Lisa Ruyter (who has confirmed participation at the conference), among others. But again, most were not available. (I probably don't have to remind you that Freize art fair is the same weekend as the conference.) I'd be more than happy to send the full list of speakers we invited, so that you can decide for yourself whether or not we have an anti-female agenda.
Simply put: we do not. Making lists is the easy and fun part of putting together the conference. Dealing with the schedules and availabilities of successful creatives who are very busy and going out of their way to donate their time - well, that's pretty hard.
I'd be absolutely thrilled if you put together a two day conference of female artists and creatives. We'd be more than happy to support!
Ken
Posted by: ken | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Kozy Kitchens (of Kozyndan)
Posted by: aquanetta | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Names not named yet:
Karen Kilimnik
Pipilotti Rist
Sue de Beer
Sophie Calle
Anna Gaskill
Annette Messager
Alessandra Sanguinetti
Christine Callahan
Diamanda Galas
Posted by: Kara Canal | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Ken, first off let me say that I really appreciate the fact that you're engaging in this conversation. I think it's great.
I don't think that Tokion has an anti-female agenda, in fact part of what makes the whole situation astounding to me is that I think of it as a progressive publication which has a good grasp on what's important and interesting in current pop culture.
I have to retierate: Trying is not enough, you can't claim to present an accurate picture of what's important without including women on your schedule, and it might be time consuming, but you really need to keep asking until you get to yes enough times to have a substantive representation of women.
I don't plan on merely making lists, I am already in process of planning a conference. It most certainly will NOT only be women, that's separate but equal, plain and simple. Very (very) last century.
Again, thanks for your participation.
Posted by: Jen Bekman | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Tiffany Bozic - http://www.tiffanybozic.net
Fafi - http://www.fafi.net/
Caroline - http://www.temporaryresidence.com/
Posted by: Alex | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Dig this? Digg it!
Posted by: Jen Bekman | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
I'm continuing this list idea on my site as well (designsponge.blogspot.com). I don't think that Tokion is anti-woman or anything like that, but I do think that just because the magazine has always supported women (is that really something to be tauted this day and age?) that it does seem rather odd not to have a single woman. I just find it hard to believe that not one single woman had time too come. I sincerely doubt everyone was at the Freize Art Fair. It just doesn't seem plausible. I wonder if the women were told that there were NO other women speaking. I know if I declined but was told "Unfortunately we have no women signed up yet.." I would reconsider my answer...
Either way, with these lists I hope that Tokion is able to find some women to attend next year. I just think that it's quite sad that they couldn't find ONE and I find it hard to believe that they couldn't have tried just a tiny bit harder to get ONE to speak.
Grace
Posted by: Grace | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
More ever more, from the comments thread over on design*sponge. There are some repeats, but I am going to work on organizing the list and adding links and affiliations. Stay tuned for that! Here are the latest additions:
Angela Adams
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Cihat
Rima Suqi of New York Magazine
Patricia Urquiola
Alice Roy
Paola Antonelli
Debbie Stoller from Bust and Stitch n Bitch fame
Amy Schroeder from Venus
Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching and the Austin Craft Mafia
Amy Arbus
Lauren Greenfield
Mary Ellen Mark
Sarah Vowell
A.M. Homes
Zadie Smith
Julie Snyder (This American Life)
Cat Power
Jenny Lewis
Joanna Newsome
Neisha Crosland
Mary Gehlhar (Fashion Director of Gen Art)
Bobbi Brown
Hella Jongerius
Regina Spektor
Orla Kiely
Katrina Markoff (Vosges Haut-Chocolat)
Natalie Chanin (Project Alabama)
Jenny Holzer
Posted by: Jen Bekman | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
Some other names I've thought of:
Dana Faconti (editor of
Holly Hughes (PDN)
Lauren Graham (actor, Gilmore Girls)
Gwen Stefani
Jeanine Lobel (founder of Stila)
Amy Sherman-Palladino
Andrea Fraser (artist)
Wendy Goodman (NY mag)
Elizabeth Kairys (designer)
Posted by: Jen Bekman | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM
What about enough gay people? What about enough black people? Shall I go on? This is the problem with so many feminists - they seem to only care about the inclusion of other white educated women. Tokion needs to look further period.
Posted by: Ralph | 10/07/2006 at 08:00 PM