 |
| WWW's Let's Stick 2gether Sticky Note Art Campaign Girls World Expo, Riverside Auditorium April 28, 2013 |
RIVERSIDE - When the doors opened on Sunday to Girls World Expo, the historic Riverside Auditorium became an uplifting, music pumping, empowering day of self-expression for the young women in attendance. We erected our ten-by-ten panels filled with our artwork including paintings, story boards on human trafficking and abuse, and a three-by-eight sticky note art wall to further our Let's Stick 2gether™ Campaign. Sticky notes were arranged to spell the words DREAM BIG. No two words seemed more fitting for the day.
Founded by Varinda Missett and Annmarie Gabaldon who have daughters of their own, Girls World Expo encourages young women to dream, believe and achieve. Following suit, we asked everyone in attendance to help fill up the wall with a sea of yellow sticky notes. "Write something you dream, believe or wish to achieve," directed Alison Peacock, a recent California Baptist University Graduate and WWW Volunteer Instructor. By 1:00 p.m., the wall was filled with messages of encouragement, hope and achievement. It had become everyone’s "wishing wall." Messages ranging from wanting to marry Justin Bieber to becoming the first Latina U.S. President filled the wall.
By 2:00, the Hip Hop Congress took center stage and a team of talented young UCR male dancers unleashed powerful messages through rapping and dancing. They were followed by Yaya and Ali, WWW students who read their personal poems of resilience. On the patio, Debra Postil, WWW Co-Founder and Executive Director, Riverside Prosecutor and Author of The Mamacita Murders presented Making the Right Choices: Living Above the Influences workshop. She asked her audience to write their goals on one side of a notecard and their roadblocks on the opposite side. Then she invited them to stand from their seats if they were facing obstacles like peer pressure, substance abuse, procrastination, unhealthy relationships, poor body image, low self-esteem or bullying, which helped everyone recognize they were not alone. "Living above the influences is a daily choice and sometimes even an hourly one," Ms. Postil stated at her conclusion.
A fashion show sponsored by Macy's ended the day where young women strutted their stuff in summer outfits and dresses. Many forms of self-expression helped make the day a success - dance, poetry, writing, music, art, and fashion. By 4:00, Riverside Auditorium settled back into its historic and quiet self. Girls World Expo and Women Wonder Writers had left the building and left many young women with a message to DREAM BIG.
