International Women’s Day 2019 Mural Workshop
Wow we had suuuuch an amazing International Womens Day down in the Canberra Center, ACT 2019.
We started the project at the YWCA (Youth and Community Center) with four young female from Langyon High.
With the chosen theme, “TOGETHER WE CAN…”, we workshopped EXPRESSIVE TYPE and how to make words like “support” “empower” and “rock on!” radiate their meaning visually (lots of BEAMS!). The girls nailed it!! The last step of the mural was to ask all the participants to finish the sentence “Together, we can...” onto the final mural wall, and the responses were absolutely sensational!
Massive thank you’s to Sanchos Dirty Laundry for their sponsorship on spray cans and paint pens, we had an absolute blast with them! And thanks to the Canberra Graffiti Coordinator Lisa Petheram and to the Youth Center mega dream team for facilitating this incredibly important conversation. Fantastic support and facilitation from the YWCA youth center, painting assistance and workshopping with a wonderful bunch of young female leaders from Langyon High.
For more information about this project, head over to YWCA Canberra for a write up about the project. Below is an excerpt from the article:
"The International Women’s Day Mural Street Art Project, ‘Together, We Can’, was an opportunity for young high school students, who identify as female, to create connections, build rapport, brainstorm ideas, use different resources and learn new art skills, such as mural creation, stencilling, typography and painting. Throughout discussion points, we created a safe space to explore feminism, acknowledge the women that have come before us, applaud the inspirational women of today and talk about the challenges we face, while fostering the need to continue to build momentum towards a future based in equality for all women and girls.
Due to the high calibre of applications to be involved in the project, two outstanding artists were chosen to lead individual workshops. The first mural concept created by accomplished typographer and sign writer, Bohie, asked participants to look positively to the future by leading the Lanyon High students to finish the sentence ‘Together, we can…’. Some examples of what the young people came up with were ‘say yes’, ‘say no’, ‘breakdown stereotypes’, ‘have equal opportunities’, ‘validate each other’, ‘respect ourselves’, ‘have boundaries’ and ‘be respected’. The artwork showcased several raised fists signifying strength and resilience. The students then answered the question with their own unique artistic expression which they stencilled onto the mural.”