5-10-100: Women Artists Forward

5-10-100 is an exhibition celebrating the groundbreaking Women Artists Forward Fund and the fifth anniversary of the Forward Art Prize. Over its first 5 years, it has recognized 10 remarkable women artists, and awarded $100,000 in unrestricted grants to support their work. Co-founded by artists Brenda Baker and Bird Ross in 2019, the Women Artists Forward Fund was created to address gender disparity issues that affect women artists, providing them with financial resources to strengthen their work as well as recognition and community support. This exhibition celebrates the 2019-2024 Forward Art Prize recipients: Jennifer Angus, Adriana Barrios, Mary Bero, Yeonhee Cheong, Angelica Contreras, Lilada Gee, Dakota Mace, Katherine Steichen Rosing, Alice Traore, and Babette Wainwright.

The Forward Art Prize offers two annual, unrestricted $10,000 awards for women-identified artists living in Dane County who show exceptional creativity and compelling prospects for the future. It recognizes visual artists who are deeply engaged in practices that inspire new ways of thinking, new behaviors, or new ways of engaging communities, and is designed to provide the flexibility to pursue their work without specific obligations.

Guest curators Brenda Baker and Bird Ross are Madison-based socially engaged artists working in multiple media, including painting, sculpture, installation and textiles. The creation of the Women Artists Forward Fund and the Forward Art Prize is one of the largest of their many collaborations over the past two decades.