Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/133552
play in your free time Artist's Corner: Kelly Parks Snider Artfully empowering young women By Karin Wolf Free-thinking, empowerment and perspective—that's the toolkit Kelly Parks Snider hopes to impart through her work. An artist, illustrator and author, Parks Snider makes multi-media commentaries on social issues. Her recent work includes "Project Girl," a nationally exhibited media literacy initiative she co-founded that encourages girls to be informed consumers and to question the countless disempowering messages the media sells them. Parks Snider has also authored, illustrated and published the book "Zilly: A Modern Day Fable," which celebrates independent thinking. Her "Rural Women: Voice and Spirit," a collection of paintings and writings, highlights a too-often ignored perspective. A true entrepreneurial Jill-of-all-trades, Parks Snider paints, welds, collages, knits, lectures, teaches and, with her husband, raises their four children on a farm outside of Madison. How do you think your art can help create positive change? I connect people to issues and ideas that concern us all. Art offers us brief stillness, allowing us to tend to the thoughts and feelings we have in the chaos of our lives, unlocking our perspectives and opening our eyes and minds to new ways of interpreting this world. The creative process gives me clarity, opens my eyes to the truth and helps me focus so I can examine my own cultural observations and ask questions. My hope is that it can do the same for my viewers. What do you make when you just want to make art for art's sake? Painting more open-endedly—trusting that something will happen that is far beyond my own imagining. This is an enormously different process than creating art with a message. I also love doing commission work for others. One of my favorites is at Sardine restaurant in Madison. ••• View Parks Sniders' work and previous exhibitions at kellyparkssnider.com and at River Arts on Water Gallery in Prairie du Sac; riverartsonwater.org. Karin Wolf is the arts program administrator for the Madison Arts Commission. Find her at cityofmadison.com/mac/index.cfm. Book Club: Handy fix-it books for repair newbies or seasoned do-it-yourselfers The Home Owner's Manual Home-Ec 101 70 June 2013 By Dan Ramsey and The Fix-It Club Find quick, colorful explanations to fix any "Oh no!" your house can throw at you, from leaky faucets to cracks in drywall, electrical troubles and more. Published by Quirk Books, $16. BRAVA Magazine By Heather Solos You don't have to be a vintagestyle housewife to appreciate the usefulness of home ec. skills and this resource will have you mastering them all—including sewing, basic cooking and small fix-it projects. Published by Better Way Home Books, $20. Dare to Repair By Julie Sussman and Stephanie Glakas-Tenet Feel confident when facing life with a wrench in your hand with this easyto-follow guide to home repairs. Yes, you can swap doorknobs, fix broken windows and even repair a fuse! Published by HarperCollins, $17. Photo by Jessie Eisner-Kleyle What moved you to focus so much of your attention to the effects of media on young girls? Advertisers today spend $15 billion a year marketing to kids. Project Girl helps young people have a greater awareness of the effects media messages have on how they define themselves. It is also meant to give young people the tools to define themselves … freed from the pressures and influences of … media myths and ideals.