Call for Participation: Pulling Threads

Conversations about processes, practices, aging, and visibility by senior women artists

Photo by Tracey Bowen from Intentional Remediations Project

Looking for senior women artists (over 60) interested in talking about their art practice and contributing to a repository of women’s stories.

Submission Deadline: April 30, 2026, 11:59pm ET

You are invited to participate in a study titled Pulling Threads: Conversations about processes, practices, aging, and visibility by senior women artists conducted by Tracey Bowen, of the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Tracey is also a senior visual artist. The study is examining the ways in which women (over 60) who have identified as artists for more than twenty years, view their practice during their senior years. The primary research questions ask:

• What are the experiences (challenges, liberations, perceptions, reflections, and practices) of older women artists, particularly visual artists, who continue to engage in making work?
• How have digitally assisted processes affected their thinking (conceptualizing) and making processes and creative practices over the years? How do they impact their current practices?

The project also aims to create an archive of stories of Canadian senior women artists, analyze the perceptions of these artists, and explore a presentation of the stories and research findings as both a narrative text and a creative textile piece. Findings of the research will give voice to artists that are often unheard and invisible and contribute to the field of women’s history within the visual arts. For more information about similar projects see www.intentionalremediations.ca.

This study has been approved by the University of Toronto Ethics Review Board, protocol # 00049096

Project Requirements
Participation is completely voluntary and involves a one-on-one interview/conversation for approximately 45 minutes to 1-hour via zoom. Interviews will be scheduled starting December 2025 and January to April 2026. During the zoom interview, you will be asked to share your thoughts and opinions regarding your practice in relation to your position as a senior artist and as a woman.

In appreciation for your time, you will receive a $25 bookstore gift card, an executive summary of the project, and updates on the progress of the creative textile piece.

Eligibility
Participant criteria are women 60 years of age and over who self-identify as a visual artist with an ongoing career over several decades. Interested individuals may self-identify as an artist (i.e. a practice that is beyond a retirement hobby) using one or more of the following statements:

(A1) I consider myself an artist.
(A2) The main body of my activity is some form of art.
(A3) I have a demonstrated record of exhibition, performances, installations,
publications or other evidence of my art.
(A4) My main priority is to make art.
(A5) I spend a considerable amount my time making art.
(A6) I have been formally trained/educated as an artist.
(A7) I make a living as an artist.

Compensation
All artists who complete an interview will receive a $25.00 gift card.

How to Participate
Participation is voluntary. If you wish to participate, please contact Tracey Bowen at tracey.bowen@utoronto.ca using the subject heading Pulling Threads Project Participation. The project leader (Tracey) will contact you to set up an interview at your convenience and/or answer any questions.

Submission Deadline: Ongoing – Please contact Tracey Bowen any time before April 30, 2026, 11:59pm ET.

Tracey Bowen is Professor Emerita Teaching Stream at the Institute of
Communication, Culture, Information, and Technology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. She is also a mixed-media artist. Her research focuses on visual rhetoric, visual metaphor, and the use of drawing as a research methodology. She is co-editor of a collection of essays on drawing methodologies titled Lines of Inquiry: Multidisciplinary Methodologies in Drawing and Education. She is also project lead of Intentional Remediations, a multimodal exploration of women artists’ conversations about art making. Tracey has been a member of a women’s group of artists who have met monthly to discuss their work and art practices for the last 17 years.

For additional information or questions, please contact:
Tracey Bowen
tracey.bowen@utoronto.ca

www.intentionalremediations.ca