A projector flashed the image of a girl wildly dancing, as if she couldn’t care less if someone were watching, onto a wall of the Gelb Gallery. This animation, by Rebecca Savord ’15, and the other pieces of art that surrounded it, were original works by female Andover students in celebration of Coed@40.
According to Peg Harrigan, Instructor in Art, a Girls Leadership Project (GLP) committee of 12 girls selected pieces of artwork to showcase the range of artistic talents of Andover girls.
As the animation faded, it made way for footage of several girls describing their passions. One girl, Alex Kim ’17, discussed her love for figure skating.
“Figure skating is my second home. I am always learning to trust myself, and know that no matter how many times I fall, I will always try again,” said Kim in the video. “I don’t think I will ever go to the Olympics or win that gold medal, but every time I get off the ice, I come away stronger and happier. To me, that’s what a passion should do for you, and if you ever find something like that, don’t let it slip away.”
Another artist, Rosie Poku ’17, created a short video about the self-perception of beauty and the skepticism elicited when she asked girls, “Do you consider yourself beautiful?”
“My intention of the video was to expose that so many beautiful girls here have a serious lack of confidence. These girls should be thinking more highly of themselves, but currently have the inability to do so. I hoped that my video could show that we need to do something to help raise girls’ self esteem. We need to find a way to show girls that they are, in fact, beautiful,” said Poku.
“When I saw [girls I know] in the film, it made me realize that all of the people I pass [on the path] are really beautiful, and they can’t see that,” said Indy Sobol ’17 of Poku’s film.
Complimenting the videos, photographs comparing life at Abbot Academy with modern life at Andover scattered the walls of the exhibit. Many of the images were similar, showing that in some ways, little has changed.
One photograph of former Abbot students holding hands in a winter landscape held eerie resemblance to a recent photo of current female Andover students holding hands while climbing a snowy drift.
“I found it really interesting, comparing and contrasting the photos from today and Abbot, and to some degree, it was empowering to see all of the incredible artwork by young girls,” said Haley Taylor ’17.
The exhibition will be on display until April 2.
