Creating Safe Spaces at I Am Why Workshops

by | Jun 17, 2022 | Art and Activism, I Am Why Workshops

It had been years since I had been in the Artistic Noise space. This would be my first time participating in an I Am Why workshop and I was excited at this new opportunity. As I entered this space I could feel the art in the room coming alive—it appeared to be its own little world once inside as I was greeted by new faces. Such a welcoming space with women from different backgrounds, but each holding their own individual space as we all introduced ourselves, representing different parts of art and how we had come to this very part that connected us. As the facilitator allowed us to be our authentic selves, it provided us with a safe space to be just us.

As we took part in each activity, we seemed to realize how much in common we all had—some of us were in different stages of our lives but yet still so alike, and creating this art piece would display how powerful we are. We had each been given a blown-up image of ourselves from a photo shoot a few weeks before. The art and writing activities we completed led us to create a powerful collage using ourselves as the center of the masterpiece we set out to achieve. Excited to see the finished product, time had managed to escape us. Upon completion we were given an opportunity to apply to become an I Am Why consultant. I am excited to say that six months later I am now a part of the team, and I am forever grateful to share space with such amazing women.

Farah, I Am Why consultant

Join Our Movement

13 + 2 =

Order Our Book: I Am Why Reclaiming The Lens

Support our activism with a book or a donation.

Recent Posts

The State of Blackness and Our Relation to Change

The State of Blackness and Our Relation to Change

For many people, February 2023 was a time to learn about Black history by uplifting important figures of the past and present-day times. At I Am Why our Justice Initiatives team decided to give reverence to Black culture by taking time to acknowledge the past while...

Mentorship + Emergent Strategies = Emergent Leaders

Mentorship + Emergent Strategies = Emergent Leaders

In I Am Why’s book circle, we focus on more than reading. We also grow our community through team building, which is part of I Am Why’s model of mentorship. The book circle reached a milestone in the month of January: We completed Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree...

Blog for Us

Become a Guest Blogger by filling out the form below.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

I Am Why is a fiscally sponsored project of the Peace Development Fund.