SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) Day is an international event that
celebrates women in the arts. Rachel Gadson and Charne Graham are the
creative curators behind the annual SWAN Day Chicago event; cohesively
working to shine light on women in the creative arts world. We started curating
SWAN Day events in Chicago in 2014 and have continued this annual event in hopes
of bringing more awareness to women in the arts.

Both stemming from creative backgrounds, we both have history with the creative arts community in the city.
Charne created Whatupwindy.com in 2013, a Chicago city guide based on food reviews and creative
professional feature interviews. Every featured creative interviewed for What Up Windy were upcoming,
independent and Chicago-based. Rachel introduced ILA in 2010, as a boutique creative design studio that
thrives off of new ideas, reinvention and expressiveness. ILA Creative Studio is slated to expand to function as
a full fledge co-working space for artists/creatives on the South Side of Chicago in 2019.

Our goal each year is to orchestrate an event that sparks consumer interest in the featured artists personal
projects, display their talents at a well-attended event and foster an environment for creative professional
networking.