By Hailey Gies, Contributing Writer
The Women in Animation organization at Daemen University could provide a safe space for
women and LGBTQ+ art students who are underrepresented in the animation industry as a whole.
The Women in Animation organization was originally founded in 1993 by a group of women led
by the now president of the national organization and head of animation at Skybound Entertainment,
Margaret Dean.
The organization has made great progress to increase the number of professionals of
underrepresented gender identities in the animation industry within the past 30 years. In 2013 despite over 60% of animation school graduates being female, only 20% of women held
creative positions in the industry. Then in 2022, this percentage increased to 34% of women holding
creative positions.
The national organization, now at Daemen University as of Oct. 14, 2023, opens its doors to
welcome anyone seeking a safe space to express their artistic ideas.
“It’s important to give everyone that safe space,” said Grace Gominiak, third-year animation major
and president of Women in Animation, “and if there is any hate in the club, I won’t tolerate it.”
Despite the name of the organization, Women in Animation is not just for women. It is for all those
considered underrepresented, such as queer and LGBTQ+ students.
The overall goal of the Women in Animation organization is to bring the animation community
together to advocate for people of underrepresented gender identities and eventually provide career
opportunities, scholarship opportunities, and connections.
“The goal is to foster a community of women and other underrepresented individuals in the
animation industry,” Riley Monnin, third-year animation major and vice president of Women in Animation,
said. “We serve the community as well as support one another.”
Women in Animation does community work not only for Daemen, but also outside of campus for
the general Buffalo community. Within Daemen, Women in Animation is doing small art projects with the club, such as meet-the-artist drawings that will be posted on their social media pages to show off their members’ art. Outside of Daemen, Women in Animation is doing volunteer work for Big Big Table, a community cafe in Buffalo, putting fun designs on paper to-go bags and designing a mural that is to be painted on its walls.
“I like painting; I like drawing. So why not brighten the community,” Gominiak said.
In the future, the organization hopes to do more activities around campus, such as painting the
sidewalks around Daemen and holding an art fair where art students on campus can sell their work.
“We’re still in the early stages of our club but we are aiming to do more community events and
campus-wide activities,” Monnin said.
Women in Animation at Daemen was started when Professor Mike Jones, animation program
director, approached Gominiak and asked if she wanted to run Daemen’s branch of the organization. Gominiak was approached near the end of the 2022-2023 academic year, but the organization itself was not approved until late 2023, when she would become president.
Women in Animation aims to be a step in the right direction getting more women and people of
underrepresented gender identities into more leadership and creative roles in the animation industry.