Last week girls, mentors and SOHO staff all headed out on the first-ever SOHO field trip together! The trip was slightly impromptu but there were too many wonderful things happening at once to miss it. It was also a fun activity to follow up last weeks somewhat serious talks.
The Hair Craft Project is based on the premise that hairdressing is the primordial textile art form—hairdressing is the earliest manipulation of fiber toward an aesthetic and functional purpose. Artists from VCU’s Craft and Material Studies program will prepare canvases each hand stitched with threads to simulate hair growth. Local hairstylists will each be given a stitched canvas and the opportunity to braid them as skillfully as possible. Photographs of stylists' hairdos created for the project will be shown in conjunction with the canvases. The project aims to break down barriers by crossing boundaries between hair salons and art galleries as sites of aesthetics, craft, skill, improvisation, and commerce.
Sonya Cark explained the process to the girls, how she had her hair done by many different artists, took a
photograph of the artists and their creation, and also had them create a piece
of artwork on canvas. The show really resonated with the girls. Sonya first
asked if anyone knew any of the artists and a few people raised their hand!
She
talked about a hair dressers role as an artist, and each particular work of
art. Then we all got to vote on our favorite pieces - there's an award for people's
choice! Everyone was very engaged and Sonya was an amazing speaker and so kind
to come early before an event that night at the gallery to talk to our group about her project.
After 1708, we went to Quirk Gallery right next door. There were so many wonderful connections to SOHO there! Mary Fleming is the Gallery Director there and is a former SOHO mentor; she was Maikaisha's big sister last year. The group also saw Sarah Hand's
show who taught the girls portraits. And they also saw Aimee Joyaux's show in the Vault at the back of the gallery. Remember Aimee from our first week? She and Jordan worked with us on learning about letterpress and printing our journal covers. Since it was the
opening night, both artists were able to speak with us.
If you haven't been to Quirk, they have a great shop so naturally all of the girls did some browsing and shopping which was really fun. Everyone loved trying
on sunglasses and taking selfies!
After our gallery-hopping, the whole group walked just a few more blocks down to Tarrants where we all got to have dinner! Tarrants is a beautiful restaurant with a really nice atmosphere inside: fancy but still friendly. The servers and managers were really kind and the groups server was actually a friend of Tesni's. Thank you to Tarrants for serving all 27 of us with only a few days notice!
It was nice to be able to all eat and talk together. It was a nice change of pace from SOHO nights where we are usually - and wonderfully- busy. Girls and mentors were able to be together in a more casual and friendly environment. many mentors said
this was a really nice time to be able to relax and talk. We even played a hilarious round of telephone and received a toast from Markayla!
Though the night was mainly all about fun and taking a much-needed "SOHO Spring Break", it was also a great way to show the girls where to see art in the community. And it was extra-cool since the girls were connected with so many of the people we saw that night. We may have a new tradition on our hands!
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