Women's March Project

While in Iceland, the main project I have been working on depicts a memory from the Minnesota Women's March in January 2017.  I went to the march with my daughter, Rachel and granddaughter, Lena, who was only 20 months old. While there, I noticed a line of high school girls winding their way through the crowd. They were wearing hoodies and I remember thinking they must be cold, which is why I first noticed them.

As they walked by me, I was struck by the beauty of youth and also the beauty of the diversity of these five friends.  When the last girl passed me, I thanked them for coming to the march. I was gifted with a fierce hug that I will never forget. I think we both had tears in our eyes.

This piece is an homage to that memory. I chose images that fit my memories of them.  Each face took me about 12-16 hours of stitching and piecing. I still have lots of text to add so it is far from done.  I feel relieved to have the faces finished. It was a steep learning curve.

Here are the individual girls in the order they walked by me that day.

I chose to put them in a circle so that none were given more importance.   I have been thinking about making a piece about these girls for seven years. In my mind they have always been American Beauties, referencing the beauty of hope, strength and diversity.