"A Letter To My Body" Art Exhibition

A Letter To My Body is a Solo Art Exhibition By Martina Maya-Callen using art as a vehicle to promote body acceptance and healing. Maya-Callen is an eating disorder warrior and this photography series was born from her artistic journey navigating her relationship with her vessel and working to hold space for participants’ own. This series is layered in components of writing, workshop, and photography. In 2017, she wrote “A Letter To My Body” and now uses this practice of guiding individuals through their own writing to honor, celebrate, and heal – igniting connection to their bodies. Unrealistic beauty standards perpetuated in society leave little room for body celebration – a space this artwork is designed to create. The empowerment photography captured of women and nonbinary folx is versatile from boudoir to sculpture-making settings representing the multidimensionality of beauty.

Martina Maya-Callen (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist, activist, and educator. She is a Master of Fine Arts in Social Practice student at George Washington University. She utilizes the transformative power of the arts to uproot a culture of silence and to spread awareness on social issues and promote education. Maya-Callen is the Founder of Love Your Vessel International using the creative arts to uplift body acceptance and combat eating disorders. Her work was listed as one of the top 13 most inspiring body-positive moments of 2017 by Cosmopolitan. She has been internationally featured in Yahoo!, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Bustle, and Glamour, and her work has brought her to Argentina, Uruguay, Serbia, India, and England, evoking worldwide conversations. Maya-Callen has delivered a Tedx Talk and spoken to thousands of individuals around the world working to dismantle unrealistic beauty standards, spread awareness on eating disorders, and promote body acceptance. Her work regarding eating disorders and body acceptance has led her to be collaborating for the last four years with the National Eating Disorder Association.

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Love Your Vessel International LLC (LYV) is sponsoring the “A Letter To My Body” Art Exhibition. LYV’s National Eating Disorder Awareness Week art exhibition went global in 48 hours being viewed on 6 continents! Love Your Vessel International LLC is a social entrepreneurship that is currently in action combating the epidemic of eating disorders, unrealistic beauty standards, and poor self-image, through utilizing the transformative power of the arts. LYV hosts creative arts experiences such as yoga classes, art exhibitions, music events, empowerment photography sessions, workshops, and both domestic and international retreats that provoke body acceptance, self-love, empowerment, and eating disorder awareness. The key value of coming at this multifaceted issue with an interdisciplinary approach is that it builds community as it empowers, engages, and educates.

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The George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design is hosting this exhibition in their FLAGG Galleries – Staircase Gallery. This exhibition is free to the public.

Address: 500 17th St NW, Washington, DC 20006

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**The exhibition runs Sept 19th-Oct 17th. The Gallery hours are Wed-Sat 1pm-5pm.

**The Reception is Oct. 9th from 1pm-3pm.

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Love Your Vessel Information: https://www.loveyourvessel.com/ Martina Maya-Callen Information: https://www.martinamayacallen.com/ A Letter To My Body Art Exhibition Information: https://www.loveyourvessel.com/alettertomybody Eating Disorder Resources Information: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/ National Eating Disorder Association Helpline: (800) 931-2237