Each year since 1987, the month of March has been devoted by Presidential decree to a commemoration of women in our society.

An outgrowth of the International Women’s Day, which sprouted from the U.S. labor movement in the early 20th century, Women’s History Month centers on a different theme each year, as set by the National Women’s History Project. For 2014, it’s “Celebrating Women of Character, Courage and Commitment.” According to the project’s website, it’s intended to celebrate “the extraordinary and often unrecognized determination and tenacity of women.”

This description is well suited to women devoted to creating fine art. Although this is a challenging, courageous path to follow regardless of gender, women artists throughout history have persevered while stuck in the shadow of their male counterparts. The situation has changed for the better over time; now there is room in the canon of great American artists for the likes of Louise Bourgeois, Barbara Kruger and Ann Hamilton. Yet to this day, works by men far outnumber contributions by women in the country’s museums, and male artists garner much higher prices at auction.

Columbus benefits from a community and an infrastructure that creates room for women to play as important a role as men in shaping the city’s cultural profile. Women hold high-ranking positions in all of the city’s major visual art institutions, and a snapshot of the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s most recent grants cycle reveals that individual woman artists are receiving funding support on par with men in virtually all categories.

Credit for the prominence of women artists in the local scene is due in part to the efforts of some of them to band together in groups and develop strength in numbers, whether through organizing exhibitions or simply sharing feelings of empathy and camaraderie. Three all-female groups are currently active in Columbus, and in the coming days, local art lovers will be able to see the results of their work in several of the city’s galleries.

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