" A R T   A T T R A C T S   U S
O N L Y   B Y   W H A T   I T
R E V E A L S   O F   O U R
M O S T   S E C R E T
S E L F. "
Jean-Luc Godard

" F A I T H   T H A T   T H E
T H I N G   C A N
B E   D O N E
I S   E S S E N T I A L
T O   A N Y   G R E A T
A C H I E V E M E N T. "
Thomas N. Carruthers

" E N J O Y   Y O U R
A C H E I V E M E N T S
A S   W E L L   A S
Y O U R   P L A N S. "
Max Ehrmann

It is time now to savour our accomplishments. The Inside the Dress exhibition is now closed. All the work has been returned to the artists. It is time to pause and reflect on this extraordinary journey.

One of the things that I have noticed is that I am faced with a challenge of owning my accomplishments. I have contributed to creating a most pleasurable experience for myself as well as for others who were involved in this large-scale art project and for the hundreds of people who attended the exhibition.

I could easily overlook, diminish or discount my accomplishments because to acknowledge them by saying, "I successfully spearheaded an extraordinary artistic venture" at first seems boastful and prideful. It disputes my humble "good girl" image.

So I am going to challenge myself and in the process, challenge others to own their accomplishments. I have done something remarkable, an achievement that speaks to who I am. I cannot overlook, diminish or discount it. It is an inescapable fact of my life. It is neither boastful nor prideful to recognize and savour my accomplishments.

For the past two years I have worked on an art project called Inside the Dress. The endeavor was conceived by a group of artist friends. I became the project coordinator. My role included securing gallery space, obtaining grants, producing an exhibition catalogue, and serving as curator for the exhibition. I also was one of the exhibiting artists. After a year of planning the project officially began in January 2004. The show was officially opened on May 12, 2005 to a large crowd in the McMullen Gallery at the University of Alberta Hospital.

Inside the Dress documents the experiences of nine women artists engaged in a yearlong reflective process. The project was designed to guide each artist through a meaningful personal exploration leading to a final three-dimensional project that expressed some aspect of what she perceived to be her essence. The title is intended to be a strong statement that the experience of women cannot be confined or defined by traditional wearing apparel.

A series of prescribed exercises were created and used by each of the artists in the examination of the topic. The exercises were a variety of experiential learning activities with suggested art projects to accompany each activity. A selection of work that arose from the exercises was included in the exhibition.

Each artist kept a sketchbook/journal. They are as diverse as the artists themselves. Each reveals important information about its creator. The journals are works of art. They provide important documentation about the experience of the artists. They became a significant part of the exhibition.

In February 2005 the artists gathered at my home to review the year and present their work. The final projects were a diverse collection of work illustrating the complexity and variety of the human experience for these women artists. The retreat was a time of personal sharing about the process and an opportunity for the individual artists to come together as a community of women. Photographs and an essay in the exhibition catalogue documented the weekend retreat.

I can now take time to reflect and savour this accomplishment after months of intense focus on my own work and on all the details that were necessary to bring this project to a successful completion. I am proud of the work I have done.

I know that I am a person who is good at organization, getting things done, seeing things through, supporting and mentoring, and recognizing the contributions of everyone in this co-creative project. I possess the intention, focus and will, as well as the courage along with the fear, to continually bring my own work to a deeper level. It is who I am. Yet it is not all that I am. I continue to be interested in learning more about myself as a woman of accomplishment but not perfection.

As I turn my attention to new projects I will carry with me all of my experiences with Inside the Dress. I am changed by my work on this project. I have gained a new level of confidence. I am brimming with new ideas for future work. I will savour this experience and I will move on without sentimentality to the next project and the next.