We Can Change the World

My artwork is an acrylic painting. I decided to use acrylic because it's a bold look - and women are bold! The woman in my artwork is Rosie the Riveter. Rosie is one of the women who took the responsibility of the workforce during World War II. The widespread male enlistment left, leaving many industrial labour forces with little or no employees. Between 1940 and 1945, women in the U.S workforce increased from 27 percent to 37, and by 1945 nearly one out of four married women were out of the house doing a "man's" job.
The original image stated, "We Can Do It;" however, I altered it in my image to state "We Can Change the World," because if, "We Do It," we can change the world for the better!
We need to come together as a group and become leaders. We, as women, need to stand up for our rights and for every women that has life circumstances preventing her from succeeding, being happy, and being an independent woman. This is an issue and it needs to be seen! It needs to be fixed!

Nicola, Grade 10

The Power of a Dragon.

I chose Chinese culture for my project because millions of families resort to abortion and infanticide to make sure their child is a boy (world news msnbc.com). The traditional thinking is best described in the ancient book of songs 1000-700 b.c. 'When a son is born, Let him sleep on the bed, Clothe him with fine clothes, And give him jade to play...When a daughter is born, Let her sleep on the ground, Wrap her in common wrappings, And give broken tiles to play.' So, for my artwork, I painted a dragon with a girl holding it up. I drew this because the symbolism in my artwork is that "one girl can have the power of a dragon."

- Laura, Grade 9

The Power To Take Over

In China, 190 girls are abducted each day. These girls are getting stolen for the use of sexual servitude, for a forced marriage and many other tragic things. In my artwork, I have a young girl being protected by the sun, the sun is protecting her from all the horrifying monsters so that she has the chance to have an education, find happiness and love; instead of living in a world you could never imagine surviving in. In my artwork, I also want people to understand that art CAN change people and people CAN change the world and hopefully this makes a difference in the near future.

Rylea, Grade 9

Helping Hands

My artwork is about how one person can make a difference and escape poverty. My artwork represents a woman leading young children out of the grey, horrible life they live and into one filled with education and jobs of their choice, and many other things. In this process I learned some of the horrible things people do to women in different regions of the world. I think Art Can Change People. People Change the World is true, because some people just listen and don't do anything to help, but with art it may help people to visualize what actually goes on and get a clear perspective on these types of issues women struggle with in our everyday life. It may persuade people to do something about it. People need to know about some of the issues women struggle with.

The Unknown Pain

My picture is done in watercolour and ink. I organized my picture according to the rule of thirds. It represents a woman being empowered by her country. I chose Russia as my region because its problems don't get as much attention as third world countries. The main issue I chose to focus on was violence against women. In 1993 14,000 women in Russia were murdered by their husbands or lovers. I was inspired by the bold colours of St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square. The Cathedral symbolizes Russia's proud history, and the woman symbolizes all of the abused women in Russia that don't have the power to leave. She has the power to walk away because she is inspired by the strength of her country.  Empowering and educating women is so important because women who are educated are less likely to be abused.

Delaney, Grade 10

Walking In Style?

My painting is a representation of mother earth, the empowerment of women, and the sacrifice women face in their everyday lives. In my painting I have a young single mother holding her pregnant stomach as the world, and a stiletto shoe. The stiletto shoe I put in to make the statement "Try Walking In Her Shoes". This statement to me means a lot because there is so many people in this world who are careless or oblivious to what woman go through in lives of poverty. One of the things I want people to realize is that woman and single mothers all over the world are a leading movement, they are the driving force in the economy. Women suffer everyday trying to provide for their children, keep a household, and provide food...but still can't afford a pair of shoes. In the meantime, the more fortunate are just sacrificing there feet to pull off a pair of fancy shoes. Look at the difference, open your eyes, and make a change. Next time your looking at a pair of over expensive shoes that you cant afford, think of the single mothers all over the world who are in need. We can make a difference.

- Makayla, Grade 9

The Tunnel of Power

In my artwork, a lonely girl is staring through her "destiny", which is symbolized as a dangerous, windy path surrounded by murky water. At the end, there's the darkest point or the hardest point that leads to the light. The tunnel symbolizes the hardest part of her life, which ends in peace. The globe of yellow represents power and strength and the women surrounding it are gathering the power. The ghostly woman below is clearly holding up the whole system with one finger. I arranged it so that you look at the bright red dress, your eyes slowly move up the tunnel and up to the top were the light is. I made it so that the painting is darker and gloomier down below, but is bright and cheery higher up. The hand on the globe symbolizes power, which is also connected to the girl in the red dresses hand. I want people to understand from my painting that no matter how rough or hopeless a woman in poverty may feel, that if she carries on, there can be light at the end of the tunnel. It surprised me the most that even in the 21st century, women are still treated with so much disrespect. I also will continue to contribute to our website. I really  hope that it will make a difference because that's what art does.

The Path to Success

My picture shows a girl that has been given the chance to walk down the path of education. It shows that education can open doors for young girls to have a chance at a happy life. Two thirds of all uneducated people are women. Girls who are uneducated are likely to  be discriminated against and continue to live in poverty. "For every year a girl spends in school, she raises her family income by up to 20%" (care.ca). My picture does not represent a certain country because I believe all girls need to be educated. Education opens doors to all sorts of other opportunities. Having an education empowers a woman to do things that she might have never even dreamt of before. I think that we have been presented with a chance to help people, and we are doing our best to show all that with our art.

- Jenny, Grade 10

I Have A Voice

For my project I decided to focus on the oppression of women, not by physical violence, but when they are oppressed by being denied the right to speak up. On the face of the girl in my painting is the phrase 'I have a voice' in forty different languages because I wanted to try to incorporate as many different nationalities into my art work as possible. I chose to represent Rwanda in particular though by using typical racial markers for Rwandan people as guide lines for painting the girl. Rwanda is one of the countries that has come the farthest in terms of feminism in the past decade or so with 56% of the MP's on their parliment being women. That is a higher percentage than any other country (yes even in the West) ever! In that time, issues of domestic violence, equal pay rights, and human trafficking have been brought to attention. Rape has also been made a serious crime that is punishable by life sentence in jail. This just shows that when women are given a voice in their communities they can make a positive change in our world.

Maia, Grade 9

Proper Education

134 million children between the ages of 7-18 have never been to school.  Girls are more likely to go without schooling than boys. In the Middle East and North Africa, girls are much more likely than boys to be denied access.  My artwork represents girls who deserve a chance at education. I painted an open book with women holding hands in the background. Listed on the book is some of the countries in poverty. I believe if girls were given more of a chance to go to school they could help change the world and inspire more girls to get a good education.

- Dakota, Grade 9

Sharbat Gula

Many people may recognize this iconic girl portrayed in my artwork; “The Afghan Girl”. This portrait was photographed by Steve McCurry in 1984 and was seen across the globe as readers of the National Geographic magazine were mesmerised by the haunted look in her eyes. Sharbat Gula was a refugee of the Soviet invasion (1979 to 1989), whose bombing murdered her parents. With nothing but war in Afganistan, she fled to Pakistan. Later in the decade, during a lull in the in the attack, Sharbat was able to return to her village. But in 1989 alone there were 200,000 refugees fleeing the country. Currently there are 3 million Afghan refugees throughout the world who need support. Sharbat's story is as powerful as  her eyes, which exude the perseverance and determination to survive. She is a fighter, she is strong and she is an inspiration to all. 

- Helena, grade 10

Girls Help Hold Up The World

My artwork focuses on girls in India that are unable to go to school. I chose India because there are a lot of unprivileged girls there. More than 50 per cent of girls fail to enrol in school because they have to stay home and work and also because of gender discrimination and poverty. Those that do go to school, are likely to drop out by the age of 12 (america.cry.org). My art shows how girls help to hold up the world. I believe if more girls had the chance to go to school it would be a better world because they would have new ideas that they could contribute to making the world a better place.  I hope my artwork inspires everyone to stand up and make a difference in the world!

- Anisha, Grade 9

Brighter Life

My artwork represents how educated women can help lead other women out of poverty into brighter futures. In many countries, women are often oppressed, uneducated, or sold into prostitution, but if even a few women are empowered, they can change these conditions for others. The region which I was trying to represent is Nepal. I did this by incorporating the mountainous landscape. From this project, I learnt that in a survey of Nepalese women ages twenty to forty-nine, sixty percent were married as children. These early marriages are a contributing factor to the lack of education for girls in Nepal. However, education could break the cycle of poverty, early marriages, and lack of education. The colours represent the difference education can make in women's lives, and how important their education really is.

- Megan, Grade 10

Escaping Poverty

My artwork is about having a hand in helping woman around the world out of poverty. I painted three hands  of different skin colours holding a key that unlocks the door of poverty. The handle of the door is a world. Women only own 1% of the world's land! The women's hands that I painted are from Africa, Asia, and South America. In Africa, girls carry buckets of water on their heads all day for their family, instead of going to school. In Asia, baby girls are aborted before birth because they aren't boys! And in South America, a girl's parents can sell her off for money.
From this process I've learnt that in Canada, woman/girls are very fortunate. I've learnt that anyone, of any age, can lend a hand in helping out woman in the world out of poverty. Also, I believe that this issue is more important than most things we see in the media and people should know about the problems women face each day.

- Taylor, Grade 9