Tesni Stephen

M A K E   S P A C E

(Formerly SOHO: Space Of Her Own)

at The Visual Arts Center of Richmond

I am the Co-Director and Lead Artist of Make Space,  alongside Liana Elguero and Nicki Stein

Make Space’s mission is to give each participant unique, hands-on art experiences to cultivate a positive view of her future along with the motivation and ability to be strong, confident and creative leaders.

Make Space is an artful mentoring program that supports some of Richmond’s girls most in need and provides meaningful leadership development for women. Twelve women from our community and twelve sixth grade girls living in Richmond’s public housing are paired up as big and little sister for an entire school year. These pairs learn leadership and life skills together through hands-on learning, art exploration and creative mentoring. Women and girls explore new forms of expression and artistic process to make beautiful creations in almost every studio at VisArts

Make Space culminates with a bedroom makeover for each girl that incorporates all the art projects created in the program. Together, they transform bedrooms into positive, colorful, inspiring rooms that can be a space of her own for each girl. In addition to the beautiful creations and this new space, Make Space strives to positively affect the interior space of her own that will serve as a source of strength into her future.

The first Make Space program, under the name of SOHO: Space Of Her Own at VisArts began in the fall of 2008. Since that time the program has affected the lives of over 100 women and girls.  Many mentors have remained close to their “little sister” and continued supporting them through high school and even college.