About

Curated and organized by Shay Roy-Lewis, Her Art is the focal point of Shay's Girl Scout Gold Award project. The Gold Award is the highest-level award in the Girl Scouts organization. 

 

Shay, a junior at Middleton High School, has been a Girl Scout for over 10 years. She is an avid artist who has long been interested in issues relating to the mental health and well-being of teenage girls.

 

Art provides people with an outlet for self-expression in any form or capacity. This gives art the power to demonstrate intense feelings and emotions.

 

Her Art focuses on empowering self-expression through artwork that depicts the idea of a positive self-image without focusing on the physical appearance.

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The mental health crisis among teenage girls has been ongoing and worsening for some time. 57% of high-school girls experience persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, which is almost twice as high as teenage boys. 30% of teenage girls reported seriously considering suicide in 2021 (CDC). It’s been proven that focusing too much on one's body image heavily relates to increased depression and anxiety. Much of this is due to social media, peer pressure, and societal body standards.

 

By embracing positivity and self-confidence, Her Art will shift that focus and empower teenage girls to celebrate themselves, not for what they look like, but for who they are.