Grants:Project/Rapid/Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon at the Missoula Art Museum/Report
Goals
editDid you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?
Yes! We hosted our first Wikipedia Art+Feminism editathon. Due to COVID-19, our in-person attendance was low. However, we had folks participate remotely through our event dashboard. We had trouble finding an experienced editor, so our event host, user: 86jknight trained with Art+Feminism materials before the event. The Missoula Art Museum editation took place in the museum library, with collection records on various artists made available by the museum registrar. For the event, we had two childcare providers who were situated in the museum classroom, and provided free childcare for participants. Children and participants were provided snacks and beverages. During the editathon, participants signed up to become editors, watched training videos from Art+Feminism, and made edits on Wikipedia. Since our participants were all first time Wikipedia editors, we focused on revising, editing and generating new material for existing articles.
Outcome
editPlease report on your original project targets.
| Target outcome | Achieved outcome | Explanation |
| 1 event | 1 event | |
| 20 participants | 10 participants | Due to concerns of COVID-19 in early March, 2020, attendance was lower than expected. Some participants worked remotely, with phone and FaceTime access to the Missoula Art Museum event. Other participants came in person during the edition. |
| 5 new editors | 10 new editors | Guests visiting the museum decided to sign up and train to be editors. Some museum staff also became editors and trained with Art+Feminism materials. A few participants called the conference phone line in the museum library and signed up and participated with the editathon remotely. |
| 10 articles created or improved | 6 articles improved | All participants were first time editors. We decided to focus on training and editing existing articles. 6 total articles were improved with 15 edits made total. 8 references were also made to existing articles. |
Learning
editProjects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:
- What worked well?
- What did not work so well?
- What would you do differently next time?
Hosting our Art+Feminism editaton worked well in the museum library. Participants were able to use library books as reference material when researching artists and making edits on already existing Wikipedia articles. The library is also projector friendly and we were able to project training materials onto a screen for new editors. However, it was clear that training also required one on one support. We spent too much time reviewing materials rather than practicing edits. Because we had no experienced editor; in person or online, training took up a majority of time. The bulk of the editathon was geared towards training and participants were excited and happy to learn how to edit on Wikipedia.
Childcare was free for participants during the editathon. We had one family take advantage of the free childcare, and they appreciated the Missoula Art Museum providing it. Because museum and editathon attendance was low, our childcare providers spent most of the day waiting to provide childcare. However, it was necessary and good to provide space and childcare despite low attendance. For our next editathon, we will continue to promote free childcare with our marketing team.
Organizing a themed event on on bipoc, women and non-binary artists of the inter-mountain American west helped focus our editathon with museum collection resources. Many participants were interested in regionality, and in the future want to keep generating edits, resources and articles of artists in the inter-mountain west. This was a great opportunity for our community to engage with the museum collection while also participating and understanding how Wikipedia works. To generate more interest, we would like to bring in a guest speaker or artist during the next editathon. We would also like to give more space to participants individual interests moving forward, rather than keeping them focused on the material's provided by the event host and museum.
The Missoula Art Museum Art+Feminism editathon was exciting! We received positive feedback from both participants and museum staff! We want to host more events and shift towards editatons occurring bi-annually.
Finances
editGrant funds spent
editPlease describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.
Because our rapid grant was retroactively approved, monies spent on the editathon was far less than projected. As such, some food and drink were donated by local vendors. No money was spent on marketing.
1. Childcare = 5hrs x $15/hr x 2 childcare providers x 1 event = $150.00 ($75.00 per child care provider)
2. Food and Drink = $32.29
3. Marketing = $0.00
Total spent: $182.29
Remaining funds
editDo you have any remaining grant funds?
$417.71
We will use the remaining grant funds to help cover expenses during our next editathons. The Missoula Art Museum will start hosting further editathons where childcare, and food and drink will be provided. Grant funds will also go towards marketing to help boost interest and generate new editors, articles and references for Wikipedia. The Missoula Art Museum will purpose remaining funds for an editathon event after December 31 2020.
Proposed budget for next editathon (after December 31 2020):
Childcare: $75.00 x 2 = $150.00 (5hrs x $15.00hr x 2 childcare providers = $150.00)
Marketing: $200.00 (Social and printed media expenses)
Food: $67.71
Total: $417.71
Anything else
editAnything else you want to share about your project?
It was clear during our editathon that due to the remoteness of Montana, we need to better provide remote opportunities for participants. We had folks from Whitefish and Kalispell, Montana wishing they could drive to Missoula and participate. Moving forward, we will continue to provide remote access to distant Montanans.