Still That Girl Who Looks Closer: A Podcast Conversation with Katy Hessel

Reaching through our past and painting women back into the picture.

I sat down with art historian, author and our inaugural MECCA Prize for Cultural Inquiry recipient Katy Hessel, the mind behind the bestselling The Story of Art Without Men and How to Live an Artful Life.

We launched the MECCA Prize in 2025 to recognise the people and projects driving bold, lasting progress towards gender equality. Katy's work turning her lens to beauty's history, and rewriting women back into the art canon, made her an obvious choice as our first Cultural Inquiry recipient.

Our conversation ranged from the ‘male gaze’ in art history to the role of instinct and imperfection in creative work – and it became one of the sparks for this year's MECCA Archive chapter, Born Creative.

In a world that increasingly asks us to outsource our thinking, Katy argues that feeling and creativity are essential human traits – and more relevant now than ever.

Lisa Keenan, Chief Purpose Officer at MECCA

Watch the full conversation below.

Learn more about our investment in creativity through MECCA M-POWER partners The Song Room and The Flourish Journey.

Katy Hessel is an acclaimed art historian, curator, and author of The Story of Art Without Men, The Story of Art Without Men – Children’s Edition, and How To Live An Artful Life. As founder of The Great Women Artists on Instagram and the podcast of the same name, Katy brings her bold, feminist lens to the MECCA Archive; reimagining beauty culture through untold stories and shifting the spotlight toward women in history and art.