BETHEL – The Tapestry Project is a new program designed to help girls in seventh and eighth grades maintain their own voices in the face of media, their peers, and cultural expectations of girls.
The program was designed by Kate Goldberg, mother of three girls, and Sarah Shepley, who has two daughters.
After working for Outward Bound, Goldberg founded the Western Maine Girls Association.
The association’s first endeavor, last year, was Girls on the Run. The program prepared girls ages 8 to 11 for a 3.1-mile run/walk.
In the process, it challenged the popular image of emaciated women as being “chic,” and encouraged girls in activities that fight obesity.
Having completed the Girls on the Run project, Goldberg wanted to offer something to older girls.
She began to design the Tapestry Project, and contacted artist Sarah Shepley, who had been thinking of a similar project herself.
With funding from a Maine Women’s Fund grant and a Maine Community Foundation grant, the two created a program that combines physical activity with art and discussion to help girls “stay connected to their authentic selves,” Goldberg said.
The 10-month project will meet on the third Saturday of every month, beginning Sept. 17. A group of up to 12 girls will take part in a physical activity in the morning, ranging from rock climbing to dog-sledding, and have lunch together before moving on to art and discussion in the afternoon.
Area women will lead the activities, acting as role models to the girls. Karen Montaro will teach mime one month.
Another month, Wendy Youmans will lead the girls in yoga.
Goldberg said she wanted to give girls an opportunity to sample activities that they may want to pursue as they grow, as well as a chance to meet women who participate in them.
The art projects are designed to give girls a medium for expressing what they are learning about themselves through activity and discussion.
Girls will make journals and masks to explore their private selves.
A multigenerational project will invite girls to bring in photos and stories from a trusted female relative, helping them to make connections with an “influential female ally,” Shepley said.
Finally, a pocket doll will encourage girls to trust their intuition.
Shepley hopes to end the program with a show of the girls’ art.
The girls’ last project, in May 2006, will be an overnight canoe trip in which the trust that the girls have developed in themselves and for their peers will be essential.
The program is open to any girl, and all activities will be held in Bethel.
A $150 fee includes lunches and all materials.
For more information about the Tapestry Project, or to sign up, people may call Kate Goldberg at 824-3459, or send e-mail to [email protected].
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