AN exhibition to showcase the work of 19 young women who attended a Wiltshire Mighty Girls workshop has opened at Bradford on Avon Library.

The month-long Wiltshire Mighty Girls Art & Photography Exhibition runs from May 3 to June 2 during library opening hours.

It showcases the photography and artwork of 19 young women from the local community who attended the Wiltshire Mighty Girls Embrace You workshop in February.

Wiltshire Mighty Girls provides after-school clubs and holiday workshops for girls age 8-18, with an aim to inspire and empower girls and young women in the local community.

Marsha Mars, of Wiltshire Mighty Girls, said: “The premise as to move away from these horrible selfies and produce some lovely creative artwork and photography.

“Inspired by their research into how women are often misrepresented, and their efforts to turn this around, the exhibition uncovers beautifully authentic and honest photography portraits and mono prints.

“The Wiltshire Mighty Girls team were excited to collaborate with Emily Middleton’s Art & Photography and Sarah Askew, aka The Pocket Poet, to deliver a two-day workshop.

“Using the medium of creative writing, Sarah worked with the girls to explore self-love and compassion and to identify the false ideals portrayed in the media.

“In Emily’s photography and art sessions, the girls looked at how the media creates unachievable ideas about female body image, and worked on authentic self-portraits using empowering language and imagery to create powerful, beautiful images and art.”

One of the young women who took part, Clodagh Dowson, 17, of Woolley Street, Bradford-on-Avon, said: “I enjoyed being able to think creatively in a supportive environment at the workshop.

“I learned how to view myself with a positive mindset and exhibiting the work we created felt really good because it's a way of publicising our support for anyone who's ever struggled with body image.”

The workshop and the exhibition have been made possible with the proceeds from a screening of Embrace: The Documentary film about body image and body dissatisfaction at St Margaret’s Hall in January.

Wiltshire Mighty Girls is also receiving funding from Bradford on Avon Town Council and the local Colonel William Llewellen Palmer Educational Trust charity.

More than half of the places at the February workshop were fully or partially funded.

The next set of workshops, Career Options - Do What You Love, will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 29 and 30 from 10am at the Friends Meeting House in Bradford on Avon.