Artist and SOLA Founder, Ginny Ruffner, wanted to find a way to encourage and celebrate accomplished women artists whose work had not been sufficiently or widely recognized. She was also extremely familiar with the inequities in the art world and, having written and spoken about gender disparities for years, Support of Old Lady Artists (SOLA) was founded in 2016. 

Despite over 50 years of a bold feminist art movement addressing the inequities and bias in society, women continue to be underfunded, underseen, undercollected and underrecognized. Additionally, as per the World Health Organization in 2016, “Ageism is the most socially ‘normalized’ of any prejudice and is not widely challenged.” 

SOLA’s mission is “to award cash grants to female visual artists over 60 who are currently living in Washington State and have created a body of work spanning at least 25 years.” We recognize further systemic inequities exist as additional barriers for Black, Indigenous, Latina, Asian, and other women artists of color, as well as LGBTQAI, and those that are differently-abled. SOLA will continue to create equal access to funding and are dedicated to create future programs and resources through an equity lens. We were founded on the very spirit of change and triumph over adversity and will continue our work to dismantle barriers.