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.
