National

Women are the muses of the art in our museums, but rarely the creators. 

Why it matters: Female artists' work is a fraction of what's displayed in museums, but that's not due to a lack of women in art. 

By the numbers: A recent analysis of major U.S. art museums by researchers at Williams College found that just 13% of artists featured in those collections were women. But some 55% of working artists are women, per data from the career platform Zippia.

Data: Topaz, et al., 2019, "Diversity of artists in major U.S. museums"; Chart: Nicki Camberg and Victoria Ellis/Axios

The big picture: Kelema Moses, an art history expert and professor at the University of California, San Diego, points to a centuries-old pattern of women being left out of the art world.

“Let’s think back to the renaissance,” she says. “Women were kept out of art schools and institutions, and therefore could not become artists with a capital ‘A’.”

Now, women make up the majority of art students and working artists, but they're still catching up to that long history of exclusion.

And museum directors or those in charge of curating the art are majority male, Moses notes.

“It’s sort of cliche to say that representation matters, but it really does. To see yourself, or at least a portion of your identity represented in museum spaces is critical because it can act as a vector for social change,” Moses says. 

What to watch: Change is coming — albeit gradually.

Data: Topaz, et al., 2019, "Diversity of artists in major U.S. museums"; Note: Artist birth year rounded to the nearest multiple of 10 to determine decade, using 6,136 unique artists born after 1596 with a known gender from the original sample; Chart: Nicki Camberg and Victoria Ellis/Axios

Details: The Williams College analysis found that the overall split between male and female artists in America's museums is close to 87% and 13%, largely due to the overwhelming dominance of male artists from the 19th century and earlier.

When considering just artists born in 1946 or later, the male-female split is closer to 74-26.

The staggering lack of female artists in America's museums

Men run the museums, and the museums display male artists.

Illustration of paintings of the Mona Lisa making pottery, the Girl with the Pearl Earring painting, and Madonna Granduca chiseling stone.

Science

TikTok's monthly minting of new trends is fueling a rise of new aesthetics, including e-girl, clean girl, Y2K, fairy-core, alt, mall goth, cottage-core, coconut girl, dark academia and coastal grandmother in just the last year.

Why it matters: The fast fashion industry thrives on such rapid shifts, creating more and more cheap, lower-quality clothes that will end up in landfills as new trends wipe out old ones.

According to a Marketing Charts survey of Gen Zers, 39% were directly influenced to buy a product after seeing it on TikTok.  

And garment production continues to grow annually by 2.7%, while 25% of garments remain unsold and less than 1% are recycled into new garments, per the 2021 State of Fashion report.

Nil Sani, a 19-year-old lifestyle and fashion YouTuber, told Axios she feels pressure to keep up with fashion trends. Apps like TikTok and Pinterest promote consumerism and fast fashion, she says.

"Influencers make their audiences believe they need to purchase specific items in order to achieve their look," says Sani. "If you don't have this shirt, these socks, this mirror, this room decor, then you won't embody this aesthetic." 

Zoom in: "Coastal grandmother" is the latest trending aesthetic. The term was coined by TikTok user Lex Nicoleta in March 2022.

With a white linen button-down, a cashmere sweater tied around your neck, khaki capris and pearls, you too can live the coastal grandmother life of your dreams. 

Coastal grandmothers exude sophistication — think Diane Keaton in "Something’s Gotta Give" — while they enjoy leisurely beach walks or morning yoga in neutral tones and timeless jewelry. 

This particular trend does have some perks.

Sustainability: "[Coastal grandmother] focuses on easily layered, time-honored pieces that can be found in thrift stores or even in the closet of a mom, aunt or grandma," says Chelsea Davignon, a senior strategist at trend forecasting agency Fashion Snoops.

Inclusion: Jennifer Ebelhar — personal stylist, TikTok user and grandmother — told Axios that this trend is noteworthy because it celebrates women over 50. “It’s fun because when do you ever see older women, especially grandmothers, as aspirational?”

What to watch: Many young people are resisting the siren song of fast fashion by embracing secondhand options.

Sani says she shops at thrift stores or on secondhand apps like Depop and Vinted. 

"Try to shop sustainably as much as you can," she says. “Every time a new trend comes out, you don’t have to buy a whole new wardrobe but instead just build on what you already have." 

How TikTok drives fast fashion

One style is in and the other out in a matter of months.

Illustration of a pattern of white shirts with sweaters around them, bordered with light blue and red to resemble the TikTok logo.

TikTok

Retail

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After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Our house plants don't just look nice. They make us happier and healthier.

Why it matters: Many of our jobs keep us indoors — away from nature — and the pandemic magnified that problem. But it turns out being around nature is essential to health.

Interacting with plants can increase life satisfaction, reduce anxiety and stress, spark creativity, boost productivity and even mitigate symptoms of PTSD and dementia, studies have shown.

And certain plants are natural air purifiers for your house.

"When we have plants in our home or take a hike, we see decreases in anxiety and stress," says Melinda Knuth, a horticulture professor at North Carolina State. "Just being around a plant can decrease the cortisol levels in our saliva."

Humans get a subconscious positive jolt from the smell of flowers, the chirping of birds and the sound of rushing water, she says.

What's happening: Plants sales soared during the pandemic as Americans coped with being stuck inside by bringing nature into their homes.

Plant nurseries in the U.S. saw sales jump 10%-15% in 2020, per a Garden Center survey. Many of these sellers were small, mom-and-pop shops that are now thriving due to our revived interest in plants.

And a whopping 89% of consumers owned at least two houseplants in 2021, according to a Floral Marketing Fund report.

Zoom in: Watering and tending to plants and then watching them bloom is great for our minds.

A key sign of poor mental health is losing interest and pleasure in activities. Plants can curb that by bringing passion and routine into our lives, says Justin Puder, a psychologist in Florida.

Asiyah Muhsin, a wellness coach and retired nurse, started buying plants to cope with her own mental health after a suicide attempt. "They made me feel safe, heard and seen," she says. Now she uses plant-caregiving to help clients.

The Horticultural Society of New York — the Hort — understands the value of people-plant relationships. They offer Rikers GreenHouse — a two-acre plot of land on Rikers Island where experts guide incarcerated individuals through therapeutic horticulture, says Hilda Krus, a director at the Hort.

The bottom line: Consider buying a plant from a local nursery to brighten up your home — or add to your collection if you're already an avid plant owner — and reap the benefits.

How plants make us happier and healthier

Plants can reduce anxiety and stress, boost productivity and even mitigate symptoms of PTSD.

Illustration of a smiley face sprouting from a potted plant

Plants

Our house plants don&#x27;t just look nice. They make us happier and healthier.Why it matters: Many of our jobs keep us indoors — away from nature — and the pandemic magnified that problem. But it turns out being around nature is essential to health.

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.

Anna Braz

Stories

The staggering lack of female artists in America's museums

How plants make us happier and healthier

How TikTok drives fast fashion