Columbia Home & Lifestyle - January/February 2009 - (Page 46) arts Women with Wings at Orr Street Studios takes flight over 100 women gather to share their stories By Christina George Photos by Jennifer Kettler W e did it! After a year of planning and fundraising, the Women with Wings project took flight at Orr Street Studios from Oct. 10 to Oct. 13. About 110 women, ranging in age from 14 to 88, gathered over the course of seven separate sessions to participate in this community-based arts project for women. Artist Lorri Acott-Fowler led the sessions, which kicked off with a sharing exercise: “If I could pack my past in a trunk, I would bring ” Each woman shared a memory and then shared in her own words the memories of the two women who had spoken before her. The result was a verbal tapestry of memories which was then embodied in clay. These works of art in clay are now in Fowler’s hands. She will create towers from each session and each one will be topped with its own Women with Wings. The final project will be unveiled at PS: Gallery in early April 2009. The towers will ultimately be housed in private and public venues throughout Columbia. Due to the generosity of the community, no woman who wanted to participate was turned away. We raised enough funds to provide scholarships for all low-income women who were interested in the project. One fund-raising project was a Tapas for Towers event at the Wine Cellar & Bistro, made possible through the generosity of Craig and Sarah Cyr. We also held a super-deluxe raffle. The winner of our “art package” was Jill Graham. Sheila Winter won our “ultimate night out” and Donna Smith won our “tiger-rific sports package.” Our sponsors included Columbia Home & Lifestyle, PS: Gallery, Kilgore’s Pharmacy, Orr Street Studios, Ars Graphica, and several generous individuals. The steering committee for Women with Wings is comprises Jennifer Larmie, Jennifer Perlow, Michele Spry, Sharon Ginsburg, Elaine Johnson and Christina George. Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. For more information on the project, please see www.womenwithwingsproject.org. And go online in January to the digital edition of Columbia Home & Lifestyle to see video footage of the event. 46 January/February 2009 http://www.womenwithwingsproject.org
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