Trust, Inspiration and Letterpress!

Last Thursday, SOHO started its first official program night with art projects, photography and girl talk.

The evening started out with explaining how each Thursday will work. Girls and mentors are split into two groups for the first hour each week. One group heads off to the darkroom to work with Liana on photography projects and one group works with Tesni for Girl Talk. Then the next week they switch! Girl Talk is new this year and focuses on important life and leadership skills for the girls.

This week's girl talk was all about getting to know one another and about building trust. Girls and mentors sat in a circle together. In the center were a huge pile of postcards with cool photos and images on them.  Each big and little sister choice their favorite postcard - specifically one they thought best represented them as a person and talked to each other about why. Then each person introduced themselves to the group and told everyone about themselves and their big or little sister.

Then the group came up with "group norms" together on a big sheet of paper.  "Group norms" are all of the things that big and little sisters thought were important in order to create a comfortable atmosphere of trust and learning for the rest of their nights in Girl Talk. Each girl talked about how it was their responsibility to keep this a safe space.

Not judging

Kindness

Listening

Not interrupting

Laughing at appropriate times

Girl Talk also included some fun get-to-know-you games like: "untangle", where girls and mentors got in a group and grabbed hands and then untangled themselves; coming up with as many similarities with their big and little sister within just a few minutes (one group had 17!), answering questions as a group and talking about hopes and hesitations.  The big and little sisters also came up with secret handshakes while waiting to go to snack.

Meanwhile, Liana worked with another group of girls in the darkroom. They talked about some of the basics of photography, how the darkroom studio worked, and how to be safe in the space.  Then they worked on creating "life-size" photogram portraits! We'll talk more about these next week...

 After everyone got back together and had snack as a group, everyone headed into VisArts' letterpress studio.  Jordan and Aimee Joyaux (VisArts Director of Education), talked to the girls about letterpress: its history, how it works and what they would be printing today. Each girl got to print a book cover for her soon-to-be-created journal.  Girls will learn how to make their own hand-made journals that they will work in for the rest of the program.

While each girl and mentor printed, everyone was working in the next room on creating inspiration boards.  The group first read a story called "Sanctuary" that talked about safe spaces in life. Big and little sisters talked about their own safe spaces and what made them feel that way. Then they filled out a worksheet with their mentors about themselves, what they want their new room to look like and how they want to work towards that goal. The inspiration boards were filled with favorite colors, plans, inspirations cut from magazines and all kinds of beautiful things.

Finally it was time for closing circle. Each girl said something they were thankful for and everybody said good night!

"I'm thankful for my family and friends"

"I'm thankful for my big sister"

"I'm thankful for SOHO"

"I'm thankful for getting to do cool things like letterpress" 

Check out this awesome video of the girls watching the first impression get printed in letterpress:

 

Opening Ceremony!

 
Last Thursday our SOHO mentors and girls met for the first time at our Opening Ceremony.  Our mentors had spent time together and our girls all knew eachother from school but the was the first time the two groups got to be in the same room! All of them come in knowing they'll meet their "big sister" or "little sister" that night - but nobody knows who this person will be until the end of the night.

From the moment the girls entered the room we had a wonderful, positive energy for each activity.  We started off the night with a potluck -style snack brought in by our lovely mentors.  Girls and mentors ate together and started to get to know each other.

The group was introduced to our Lead Artist Instructor Tesni Stephen, Photography Instructor, Liana Elguero, and the program's coordinator Jordan Roeder.  Everyone was split up into small groups and given a tour of the entire VisArts building so they could learn about what happens here. This was also a time to talk about respect and the many forms that it can take: respecting others in the group by listening, respecting students in the building by being quiet in the halls, and respecting everyone by showing a positive attitude and a smile!

Then it was time for our scavenger hunt were girls and mentors worked together to solve clues that led them to the matching ceremony.  Teams came up with their own name and practiced respect by being quiet in the building as they searched. Eventually all the girls made it to our fiber studio which was specially set up for matching ceremony.


Within this new "magical room", Tesni talked about what it means to be grateful and what it means to say thanks.  Specifically, she talked about how you can show gratitude and thanks through much more then the words "thank you".  Girls talked about how they could show gratitude for their mentors, their families and friends by being sweet, kind and helpful.

Each chair in the room had a small gift bag with the girls name name on it which the holds a clue to who their sister is. Each bag held a word that described their big or little sister and started with the first letter of the first name.  Big sisters and little sisters scrambled to find each other - we saw lots of screams, hugs, jumping up and down, and even a few tears once they found one another!

The new pairs went upstairs for their final activity of the night.  Each girl (with the help of her new big sister) filled out a letter to themselves talking about their hopes, dreams and thoughts about this new program.  These letters are stashed away with Tesni until the closing ceremony where they are opened by each pair.

Finally, everyone gathered for closing circle and talked about what they were grateful for. Almost everyone present mentioned how they were thankful for SOHO: for their new big or little sister, for their new friends, for the "awesome food"...

"I am grateful for my new big sister."

"I am thankful for my new SOHO family."

We are looking forward to yet another amazing year of SOHO!

Thank you to Landon Slane and Schwarzchild's Jewelers!

The Visual Arts Center is very please to announce that we will be receiving a portion of sales from the upcoming Landon Slane trunk show at Schwarzchild's Jewelers!  

Landon Slane, who attended school in Richmond, has a history of supporting arts-education programs for at-risk youth in New York City through her work with DreamYard.  For this upcoming trunk show, she has chosen to support our program!

Her trunk show will be held at the Swartzchild's Jewelers store in Cary Court this Thursday. You can also meet Landon in person from 11am - 2pm!

You can learn more about Landon Slane on her website HERE.
You can also read more about her work with DreamYard HERE.
If you have any questions about the upcoming trunk show, feel free to call the Cary Court store at  804-355-2136.

Thank you Landon Slane!

Our Mentors Rock!

The 2013-14 SOHO program has officially started! The program kicks off every year with two Leadership Development training days for our mentors before they  meet their "little sisters".   During these two days, they have the opportunity to get to know eachother and themselves through activities and discussion led by our program partner, the Bounce Collective.

We have yet another amazing group of mentors this year from all over Richmond. Our group this year is made up of women from all walks of life. From entrepreneur to roller derby skater, from small business owner to urban planner, from molecular genetics lab technician to musician.

Their journey through SOHO has begun and we are so excited to see what happens next!

Our opening ceremony kicks off on October 24th! Stay tuned for updates.....

Meet Our Lead Artist

Hello! My name is Tesni and I am an artist and teacher at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond specializing in fun-making and learning for all ages! I have the most amazing job of being the Lead Artist of the SOHO: Space Of Her Own program. 

 

For two years I have been able to work with inspiring young women from Gilpin and Creighton court, and at the same time become friends with equally inspiring women from all corners of our Richmond community. Each Thursday night of the school year, it is a privilege to be able to lead these big and little sister pairs into relationships of mutual learning, respect, discovery, fun, and laughter through art.

When not at SOHO, I'm teaching sewing and pattern making classes to all ages, various paper mache and art classes to cute and creative kiddies from William Byrd Community House and beyond, or exciting projects to the inspiring and vivacious residents at the Virginia Home.

I'm inspired by being in the Virginian outdoors, challenging myself to new experiences, learning from my talented and kind friends, and traveling and collecting beautiful objects and textiles from around the world. I'm so grateful for the amazing things I'm able to do!

In the summer of 2013, Tesni received the Master Teacher Award here at the Visual Arts Center of RIchmond. Her kindness, passion and creativity are felt by all whom she has taught over her many years with VisArts.

 To see classes taught by Tesni, click HERE.

SOHO: Space of Her Own: The Interviews

 This video was made by Briget Ganske who was a SOHO mentor last year.  It takes only a few short minutes and gives great insight into this fantastic program -- take a look. 

To see more of Briget's videos go here.

We Need Mentors for the 2013-14 SOHO Program!

SOHO: Space of Her Own at VisArts will be starting up in late October! We are so excited to continue to offer this unique, amazing program here at the Visual Arts Center.

We are still accepting applications for new mentors!  Check out the "Become A Mentor" page to learn how.  Here's what some of our past mentors have had to say about the program:

"I could write a book about the rewards of SOHO, but I’ll just say the biggest rewards of SOHO was feeling comfortable, safe and loved.  To feel these things and trust those feelings is hard to explain and definitely nothing I could have expected."

"I just want to say that I am so thankful, grateful, humbled, appreciative, excited, so happy (the list of amazing feelings go on) to have had SOHO in my life.  It was an amazing experience that will be with me for a lifetime. It was truly magic that all these women came together and did what we did."  

[When asked What did you learn, or what breakthroughs did you experience, that might benefit future SOHO mentors?] "Elements of trust and patience and being true to yourself.  All of these were things SOHO helped me develop and that translated to all other areas of my life – starting my own business, getting engaged, finding a greater sense of peace and belonging."

"I am very thankful for SOHO in providing such a great gift of human understanding."

As a mentor, you not only get the experience of sharing your creativity with a girl in our community.  You will also receive leadership development training from our program partner, The Bounce Collective. Plus you will become part of an amazing group of women within Richmond's art and business communities who will be mentoring right alongside you.  

So get involved! Become a part of this wonderful program or refer a woman in your life to become a mentor.