West Michigan Girls Can! Collaborative Set for September KIA Art Hop

Area girls ages 8-18 and their families are invited to a Girls Can! Collaborative open house as part of September's Art Hop at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.

Hosted by the Merze Tate Explorers and the KIA, the evening will feature information and art-making activities from area organizations serving girls 8-18. On hand will be the Merze Tate Travel Club, YWCA's TechGyrls, Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative's Writing with Fire, Black Arts and Cultural Center, Kalamazoo Junior Girls, Girls on the Run, the Girl Scouts, The Links Academy, The Douglass Center, and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts ArtGirls.

Each group will host an art-based activity and share information about their program, after a community celebration in the KIA auditorium at 6 pm, featuring and the Merze Tate Explorers 3rd Annual Girls Can! Magazine unveiling. Cookies and punch will be served.

"We will celebrate the successes, showcase the achievements, and shine a spotlight on organizations working to enhance the possibilities for girls in our community," said Hollins, whose Explorers organization is an extension of the Merze Tate Travel Club she founded in 2008. "We want everyone to know we are here to motivate girls to love themselves and the world around them. We have their best interests at heart and we all have something to bring to their lives."

"We are using the arts as a bonding experience between girls who are affiliated with an organization and those who are not yet connected to one of the area groups that work so hard to nurture the social, emotional, and cultural well-being of girls," said KIA Executive Director Belinda Tate.