This weekend, local girls and women will have the chance to experience (or re-experience) GirlZone, an influential nonprofit dedicated to creating opportunities for girls and women. GirlZone officially ended in 2003, but it impacted a generation of C-U girls by offering a space for them to experiment, make mistakes, and learn new skills through workshops on topics ranging from knitting to construction to zine-making. GirlZone offered these workshops — which were designed to enable and engage girls — for roughly a decade.
Beginning on July 31st, former GirlZone participants and volunteers will reconvene in C-U to discuss how the organization affected their lives. And on August 1-2, GirlZone will be revived for one weekend only. Events take at the Independent Media Center, where former participants, their girl guests, and other members of the community can experience workshops, panels, and an all-ages concert featuring T.R.U.T.H, Wicked Walls, and other guests. Workshop topics include soldering, zines, and dancing. The full schedule of events is available here.
I spoke with former adult volunteer Rebecca Crist about the history of GirlZone, what it contributed to the community, and what people can expect from its reunion weekend.
Smile Politely: What was GirlZone? And how did it get started?
Rebecca Crist: GirlZone was a local nonprofit in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was started by Aimee Rickman; when I joined the organization in 1999, GirlZone was already well underway. Its mission was to provide opportunities for women and girls between roughly ages 7 and 16 to try things they may not have thought of themselves as being drawn to. GirlZone gave them a chance to explore things like auto repair, skateboarding, rock music, and insects. For three years, we also put on a weekend-long festival of workshops, panels, and music shows called GrrrlFest.
SP: What was your role within GirlZone?
Crist: I was a core facilitator, so I did a little big of everything. I facilitated zine-making workshops. I assisted with a number of other workshops to make sure the girls were engaged and on target. I also did a lot of administrative and organizational tasks. Many volunteers had a hand in everything: from printing flyers to booking vans to working with girls to make sure they were willing to try something to fundraising. It was a very intensive experience in finding out how nonprofits are run.
SP: Why did GirlZone end?
Crist: It was Aimee’s decision to end it. We discussed the decision quite a bit. In 2003, we realized that as long we did our work without funding and with volunteers, that need in our community was being filled by people who would do the work for free. Other organizations didn’t have the incentive to take on programming for girls and women.
We were unable to secure funding without operating out of our own pockets, and other organizations had the potential to dedicate programs to girls but weren’t. We viewed the last Grrrlzone festival as a springboard to the other opportunities there were and could be.
We view the reunion as an exploration of where are we now. I’m actually not sure what opportunities there are now — what has sprung up or what hasn’t. That’s one of the things we want to talk about this weekend.
SP: Who benefited from GirlZone when it was active in the community? How many girls participated in GirlZone events?
Crist: I don’t know the specifics, but we hosted scores of workshops. We had a core group that was very heavily involved, but hundreds of girls were involved in one way or another. And the Grrrlfest weekends brought together thousands of people over the years.
Many of the girls involved back in the day are now young women living all over the country. It was a very diverse group of girls who now do all kinds of different things. There are carpenters, librarians, public relations officers, and mothers. Another thing we will try to find out this weekend is where GirlZone alumni are now and what they are doing with their lives.
We’ve heard from past participants that GirlZone was important for them to understand that they are capable of trying new things. It’s very hard to be a beginner and feel like you’re bad at something when you first give it a try. GirlZone gave girls the opportunity to try things in a safe space, without necessarily being observed or evaluated. Girls could try different things and learn that they are capable.
I had the same experience as an adult volunteer. GirlZone made me think about opportunities I wished I had when I was younger. As an adult volunteer, it was really stimulating to see just how capable girls and children in general are. I think we don’t give children enough credit. If you put the tools in their hands, they are capable of doing such impressive things.
SP: What events will take place during the reunion weekend?
Crist: We’re doing five workshops (zine-making, construction, free dancing, soldering, and movement/dance party), two panels (one called “Girl’s Got Issues” and one on the topic of wisdom), and an all-ages concert. We expect a number of the participants will be people who were associated in some way with GirlZone, but events are also open to the public. We also expect that some participants will be from out of town and out of state.
C-U is a really wonderful community and we have a lot of opportunities for everyone. But I would love to see something like what GirlZone used to be emerge for the girls live here now. I don’t see a lot of programs dedicated specifically to girls in the community now. So, this weekend, we would love to welcome girls who didn’t participate in GirlZone when it existed to take part in our events.
SP: Why are you hosting the first GirlZone reunion this year?
Crist: There were a number of factors. One was it has been 15 years since the first Grrrlfest. Another was that we recently chatted with one of our former participants, who is now running a construction company. We talked with her about old times and about getting more information about other former participants.
After that conversation, Aimee suggested to Anni Poppen, another former GirlZone adult volunteer, and me that we think about doing a reunion. We decided that instead of just getting together and doing a potluck, we would follow GirlZone’s goal of embracing the possibilities of what you can do. We decided to give the girls who participated back in the day the chance to be on the other side of the table and share GirlZone with the girls who are in their lives now.
The GirlZone reunion takes place August 1-2 at the Independent Media Center. Workshops are offered for a $5-15 (sliding scale) fee. TODAY (July 29th) is the last day to register for workshops. For more information, email girlzonereunion@gmail.