She's given more than $5M to women artists, and all of it anonymously — until now
'Women have been anonymous for too long and that day is over'
"This message has to become loud and clear that women have been anonymous for too long and that day is over."
That's the message from Susan Unterberg, a New York based photographic artist and philanthropist.
For 22 years, Unterberg has given away a total of $5.5 million dollars — in secret.
I wanted to keep the focus on the artist and the mission, rather than on me, the founder.- Susan Unterberg
Last Friday, in an article in The New York Times, Susan Unterberg finally outed herself as the mysterious benefactor of Anonymous was a Woman.
"I wanted to be a more vocal advocate for women, especially women artists," Unterberg told Day 6.
In 1996, when funding for the National Endowment of the Arts was cut by U.S. Congress, Unterberg decided to create a grant and named it Anonymous Was A Woman. The grant is specifically available to female artists over the age of 40.
Over the past two decades, Unterberg has helped 220 women receive the annual prize of $25,000. The unrestricted grant is awarded to artists at a "critical juncture in their career."
"Mid-career artists, women over 40, had a more difficult time in the art world. For example, today lots of young women fresh out of graduate school are getting picked up and given shows. And now some older women are getting a renaissance and getting rediscovered, but it's the middle career artists that seem to be facing a low."
Why come out as the patron, $5.5 million dollars and 22 years later?
The formerly anonymous patron has a very distinguished career.
"I wear many hats," said Unterberg
She is the chairwoman of Yaddo, a prestigious artists retreat in Saratoga Springs, New York. Her work has appeared in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Jewish Museum and more.
"I wanted to keep the focus on the artist and the mission, rather than on me, the founder," Unterberg explained, "[I] felt that being publicly known as the Anonymous was a Woman benefactor could change the way people viewed my work."
Carrie Yamaoka is the most recent recipient of Anonymous Was A Woman.
"I was really pleasantly surprised, I mean I didn't even suspect that the person behind it was an artist," said Yamaoka.
"It felt to me that being an artist, she knows intimately all of the trials and tribulations that one goes through as an artist, so that kind of deepened my appreciation for what she had done," explained Yamaoka.
"To have that kind of vision, sustain that vision over so many years, and have the commitment to support other women artists, it's really inspiring."
The name of the grant is inspired by a 1929 Virginia Woolf essay. "Indeed, I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman," Woolf wrote in "A Room of One's Own."
"She honoured the plight of women being anonymous," Unterberg said of Woolf's words. "Women artists, including writers, did not get the credit that they deserved."
"Often women artists and writers had to change their name or appear in a more masculine form for people to look at their work."
Unterberg hopes that revealing her name will help her to effect change in the art world and beyond.
"In this political moment I think it's important to emphasize the value of the arts."
To hear the full conversation with Susan Unterberg, download our podcast or click the 'Listen' button at the top of this page.