Two of the Project Girl practicum interns will be featured in a student Art Exhibition at Naropa University next weekend! We are officially inviting you to come celebrate more inspiring women in the arts! Feel free to spread the word and bring guests. Refreshments will be served.
Here's a video that was put together for the Project Girl exhibition...it shows our process and gives you a quick explanation of what PG is all about through the voices of the participants and mentors in Boulder, CO.
Our last day in the studio involved final plans for the art show (this Saturday!) as well as a group web activity that allowed participants to share stories, memories, feelings, and thanks & praise with their fellow group members. It was a beautiful exchange and it has been a beautiful journey. Some final words that were shared with our participants at the end of our final session... May you always know who you are. This messy, beautiful, complicated world of ours will fill your mind with all kinds of questions, choices, options, distractions and opportunities, and not all of them will speak to your soul. In moments of confusion or uncertainty, remember who you are and what you value most, and everything will become clear.
May you never forget that you are strong, brave and wise, and that the answers to all of your questions can be found within your own heart.
May you remember to stop what you're doing every now and then in order to listen to the rain, watch a snail go by and take a slow, deep breath. As you learn more about yourself and the world, you will be inspired to reach, build, expand and create; as you take these journeys towards making your dreams real, remember to savor the details of every tiny, precious step.
May you never lose sight of how fleeting "final destinations" are - that your most solid sense of joy and wholeness will come from loving yourself, living with integrity, releasing expectations and accepting what is. It will not come from an Oscar, a best-selling novel or a check with a lot of zeros.
May you never doubt how deeply loved you are. When someone breaks your heart or a friend betrays you, know this: It is not about you, and it is not a reflection of how deserving you are of the most expansive, magnificent love in the world.
May you always recognize how beautiful you are inside and out, and that this beauty will continue to evolve and expand as you make your way in the world with your arms outstretched and your heart wide open.
A special thank you to all of the amazing young women who participate in Project Girl. You are all unique, beautiful (inside and out), and wise beyond your years. We can't wait to show you off to the world this Saturday at the PG exhibition!
We have had a couple of weeks off due to spring break but this week we found our way back to the studio! We are eagerly checking items off of our art exhibition to-do list! Food will be provided by Whole Foods, a video is being edited, artist statements are forming... The girls are very excited to display all of their amazing art work and I think we're all ready to bring our passion for the subjects we discuss and the art we make to our community.
Here is one of the final touches of flair we have put together for the show. We will be dressed in the same color palette at the show and we decided it was only right to make some funky accessories to compliment our outfits. These beautiful flowers, handmade by PG participants, will be worn on headbands, necklaces, bracelets, etc. to compliment our artist selves and set us apart from the guests. The pieces all together are a great visual of our cohesion and similarities within the group and they also show that we are all unique and growing in our own way as a result of Project Girl.
Today the girls created a collaborative art piece! 4 of the participants traced each other, layering the shapes of their own bodies to represent a celebration of body diversity and both their uniqueness and roles within the large group. After the figures were traced in pencil the girls traced their own body in the color of their choice and everyone came together to decorate and embellish the area surrounding the bodies. It was a real collaborative effort and it resulted in a beautiful piece of art!
* Artwork to the positive body image promoting song "True Colors" by the cast of Glee
The goddess wisdom tree was the name of the art directive offered to Project Girl participants but the girls have decided that it will now be known as the Tree of Truth. The Tree of Truth is composed of several branches, decorated to represent each participant and mentor in the group, which will be displayed together as a collaborative art piece at our show in April.
The tree will be decorated with ornaments crafted by the members of Project Girl and guests at the show will be asked to contribute to the tree, sharing and contributing their own truth around issues of body image. The branches are a beautiful representation of the group, each one crafted to resemble the spirit and style of the artist who created it. Here is a sneak peak!
"The best part of being involved with Project Girl, is the opportunity to be a part of something that is changing how others view themselves. Never before have I felt that it was possible for me to seriously impact others and now, by sharing my art, I feel that we are all helping others see how fantastic they are." - high school student
For the final Project Girl art show we will be displaying a collaborative art piece. You're getting a sneak peak of what is to come today...ornaments! For the show we will be crafting a goddess wisdom tree and this week we created ornaments which will be hung on the tree as a representation of the wisdom we will all be taking away from this experience.
Trees are often used as a metaphor for growth and change as they are able to remain strong and resilient, with the capacity to regenerate themselves season after season. The participants of Project Girl are undergoing changes and shifts in understanding as they begin to "un-mediafy" their lives while also gaining a deeper understanding of their own female identities.
The art directive this week: Create an ornament for the goddess wisdom tree which celebrates what is RIGHT with female bodies...what is right with your body? What deserves to be celebrated and honored for its wisdom? The pieces are still in progress, sculpted and stamped in sculpey clay which will be baked and then decorated and hung from ribbon.
* Artwork to the positive body image promoting song "Healing" by India Arie
"I vow to love and respect myself, to forgive myself, and to take care of myself. When I am feeling down, I will find gratitude and thank the Goddess, and then I will realize that she is me. This will remind me of the best gift I could give to myself: self love and respect.
Within myself is the first place that I will always be able to find love."
Today in the studio Project Girl participants did a photography project, celebrating who we are beyond what the media tells us we should be. Our imperfections, our unique features, our passions, our dreams, our identities...it was a very cool project and we had a lot of fun doing it! We took some time to journal and brainstorm as a group to identify what makes us unique, what deserves to be celebrated and what our bodies want to say. Then, we painted our messages and photographed each other in the studio...here is the result:
* Artwork to the positive body image promoting song "A More Beautiful You" by Johnny Diaz
Twitter is a fantastic website for social networking and has been on the rise as a way to connect artists to one another. All of the Project Girl folks love what we are doing and want to spread the word so Twitter, Facebook and a blog have served as a great way to promote our work and connect with others that are interested in what we do.
I (Chelsea, a practicum intern with the Boulder Youth Body Alliance) put our latest post up on Twitter and within 2 minutes there was a response from artist Kelly Rae Roberts! She "re-tweeted" us, which means our site was sent out to everyone that follows her on Twitter (all 1,486 of them)! It truly is a small world and the magical internet universe is allowing artists & other like minded people to connect in ways we never thought possible! So awesome! Thank you @kellyraeroberts !
Project Girl originally began as a curriculum based art education program. Here in Boulder, the layout is being altered a bit to fit within an Open Studio Model (OSM) approach to art therapy. The OSM process includes creating an intention at each session, art making, and witness-writing.
Witness writing is a way of recording the thought and emotional processes in art making, responses to the art being created by others within a community, and a way to tap into the messages that our art may be attempting to send us. For this purpose, PG participants have started crafting 'Whisper Journals'.
The idea of crafting Whisper Journals for witness writing came from an art activity paired with this beautiful quote (from artist Kelly Rae Roberts' book Taking Flight) which was read before the art process began...
“Whispers. We all have them. They’re the little voices in our conscious minds that tug at our hearts and want our attention. These whispers, these seeds of dreams, encourage us, even when we’re not entirely willing to listen, to simply begin. They’re like little bitty wings, needing the nurturing of our spirits to give them flight into a real and true existence…Whispers tend to reveal themselves someplace where they know they’ll be safe - like a journal, for instance…Peek inside and you’ll find pages and pages filled with raw words, pure emotions, your heart spilled out onto paper.” ~ Artist Kelly Rae Robertsfrom her book Taking Flight: Inspiration and Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings
Although we are not taking the exact art directive offered in Taking Flight, we were very much inspired by the prompts and concept of recording whispers. Whisper Journals are a way for the participants of Project Girl to keep the whispers that may arise throughout their experience at the Naropa Community Art Studio in a safe space, while viewing the art of others and reflecting on their own art making process.
This week we worked on creating covers and in our next session we will bind the books and begin the writing process. To make your own art journal I would highly recommend checking out Kelly Rae or other artists like Traci Bautista and Diana Trout who have also published books and projects on their blogs.
To learn more about Kelly Rae Roberts please visit her website:
By her own admission, Heidi Montag is 'beyond obsessed' with plastic surgery. The Hills star revealed to People magazine she underwent 10 plastic surgery procedures in one day in November in her quest for 'perfection'. The reality star, who is hoping to launch a pop career, this week unveiled the startling results after going under the scalpel in November.
Here are some direct quotes from the original article:
"I'm competing against the Britney Spearses of the world - and when she was in her prime, it was her sex appeal that sold. Obviously, looks matter; it's a superficial industry."
"I'm already planning my next surgery- I'm determined to get bigger breasts! I know it sounds crazy [she is now a DDD]."
"No one is ever perfect. But I am obsessed with plastic surgery and maintaining my looks."
"The first day [after the surgery] was really hard...I looked like I had been hit by a bus. I was purple, swollen mush - I didn't look human! It was so scary. I could hardly move. Couldn't even walk. And my back was black and blue and purple. It was more traumatizing just seeing it than even feeling it really...I just felt so fragile."
When asked if this is the end of surgery she responded, "I'm just starting."
Whether you agree with Heidi's decision or not, there is plenty of discussion to be had on both the media's affect on Heidi's body image and how her own decision to undergo such invasive procedures may impact young girls that look up to her.
What the PG participants are saying:
-She must not have been okay with any of her body beforehand.
-The picture of them drawing on Heidi makes her look so objectified.
-When you have the money you are more willing to change something about your body. It is a privilege in the sense that you then have the choice, which plants the seed of doubt in your mind.
-This kind of money could be going to someplace useful, like Haiti!
-Her face doesn’t look right, it looks unnatural. The very features of a woman that are beautiful are no longer there.
-Our imperfections are what sets us apart and makes us beautiful. For that matter, why do they even have to be considered imperfections?
-You won’t ever really be happy with the final product because it is really not about the body at all.
-It teaches girls that they don’t have to be happy with who they are...everything can be "fixed"
-It arouses anxiety in all of us!
-Plastic surgeons seem to treat women like pieces of clay to be manipulated. They appear to be in it for the money alone.
-Why isn’t there mandatory counseling/assessment for plastic surgery (as there are for gender reassignment surgeries)?
-It is so sad that she felt that she had to do this.
-She was prettier before. She looked more natural, it just seemed pointless for her do the surgeries.
-She is way too young to have so many surgeries.
- It makes me sad for her. I wish she had someone to reassure her and help her feel more secure. This is why Project Girl is so important!
For more information, visit the People Magazine website. The original cover article appears in the January 25, 2010 issue currently on news stands.
"PROJECT GIRL is a ground-breaking girl-led, arts-based initiative created to enable girls to become better informed critical consumers of mass media advertising and entertainment. In other words, to become more media literate.
The purpose of PROJECT GIRL is to enable girls to look at all media forms with smart eyes so that they control the interpretation of what they see and hear rather than letting the interpretation control them. Adolescent girl advisors, leading scholars, educators, media activists, health experts and artists all helped create the PROJECT GIRL media literacy curriculum, and traveling Art Exhibition."
Kelly Parks Snider and Jane Bartell of Madison, WI developed the ProjectGirl.org curriculum to help educators and group leaders learn how to talk to girls about the media. The co-founders took action and created their organization after realizing that media was everywhere and children, particularly girls, were being affected very deeply by what they were seeing. The art activities within the curriculum of Project Girl offer an opportunity to take an active stance in regards to the messages sent by popular media by transforming images and making connections through art with other adolescent girls.
The Boulder Youth Body Alliance and a small group of graduate students in the art therapy program at Naropa University have teamed up to implement a unique program based in the Project Girl curriculum in the Boulder community. Students have adapted the educational curriculum to fit within an open studio model, offering the program through a therapeutic perspective.
You can learn about the co-founders journey in creating Project Girl by clicking here.
Please check back in for posts, videos and images of art making throughout the course of the semester!
Project Girl (PG) is an after-school program that combines art and media literacy into a unique educational program aimed at encouraging adolescent girls to become more critical consumers of contemporary media advertising and entertainment. The purpose of PG is to help girls become literate in all media forms—TV, internet, movies, magazines, newspapers, billboards, books, product labels, and music—so that they control the interpretation of what they see or hear rather than letting the interpretation control them.
About BYBA
Boulder Youth Body Alliance (BYBA) empowers youth to reclaim a positive body image. Through a variety of grassroots projects and activities, teens take action, reclaim their voices, and make a positive difference in their communities. BYBA peer educators and activists learn how to stop trying to change their bodies and work to change the world instead.
Naropa Community Art Studio
The guiding vision behind this long-term project has been to provide a safe place for various members of the Boulder community to gather and create art together. Naropa University art therapy faculty and students manage the studio, organizing and running the many ways in which this space can be used.
The goddess wisdom tree was the name of the art directive offered to Project Girl participants but the girls have decided that it will now be known as the Tree of Truth. The Tree of Truth is composed of several branches, decorated to represent each participant and mentor in the group, which will be displayed together as a collaborative art piece at our show in April. 
To learn more about Kelly Rae Roberts please visit her website: 
Whether you agree with Heidi's decision or not, there is plenty of discussion to be had on both the media's affect on Heidi's body image and how her own decision to undergo such invasive procedures may impact young girls that look up to her. 
