Exhibit recognizes ‘Inspiring Girls’
Inspiring girls and women are being celebrated this month in a virtual art show hosted by North Star Quest Camp in honor of International Women’s Day.
“Inspiring Girls” is an open, community-based exhibit and can be viewed on the Ink People Center for the Arts website, inkpeople.org.
North Star Quest Camp — an Ink People DreamMaker project — is a fiveday summer camp in the Mattole River Valley for girls going into sixth through eighth grades.
“There’s fun and interesting workshops, swimming, art, campfires, new friends and big dreams. It’s time just for you to think about the woman you want to be,” said Laura “Laroo” Keenados, North Star Quest Camp core staff member and curator of the “Inspiring Girls” exhibit.
“Our all-female staff puts together activities focused on empowering adolescent girls with the tools they need to navigate their turbulent teens and land on the shores of womanhood safe and strong,” Keenados said. “We never turn a camper away because they can’t pay.”
She said the “Inspiring Girls” show was started in 2014 as a way to engage campers, staff, family, friends and community in the off-season by combining the exhibition with International Women’s Day, observed on March 8. This show features works of all ages, regardless of sex or gender, she said.
“As a community show, we invited all to consider the women and girls who inspire us, and to create artwork based on that theme, which we still use today,” Keenados said.
She added: “It was decided to honor ‘inspiring girls and women’ because, as we have seen from examples like Greta Thunberg and especially older transitional age folks like Amanda Gorman, young women can be very inspirational, having passionate, educated opinions that can absolutely contribute to modern discourse and have an impact on society. It felt erroneous to leave young women out due to age. It serves as a reminder that the younger generations are our future, and we have a responsibility to acknowledge and celebrate that.”
For more information about the Ink People, call blue.laroo@gmail.com or call the Ink People at 707442-8413 or go to inkpeople.org. For more information about North Star Quest Camp, visit northstarquest.org.