Skip to content

Kelowna artist wants to celebrate women, unite community through exhibit

Ana Luyben’s exhibit will launch on Friday, Mar. 6
20772228_web1_200304-KCN-empowered-art-project-POSTER_1

What empowers you and how do you empower others?

Those are the two main questions at the centre of Kelowna artist Ana Luyben’s The Empowered Project, which launches on Friday (Mar. 6) at the Rotary Centre for the Arts.

The project includes art from Luyben, and performances by the Westbank First Nation’s first female chief Roxanne Lindley, musician Leila Neverland, and poet Erin Scott. There will also be a discussion on women’s empowerment with Mandy Glinsbockel, a documentary photographer and women’s advocate who launched the Speak Out campaign to support sexual assault survivors with the Central Okanagan Elizabeth Fry Society (COEFS).

Event attendees will be able to participate in the exhibit by drawing a self-portrait or drawing someone who empowers them. The drawings will then be put together into a collage for Kelowna residents to enjoy.

Luyben said the goal of the project is to celebrate empowerment and how times have changed, especially in the context of being a woman.

The project is expected to continue in the next few months in partnership with the City of Kelowna.

For more information on tickets, visit the event’s website.

All proceeds from ticket sales will go towards supporting trauma counselling at COEFS.

READ MORE: Kelowna RCMP to further investigate 12 sexual assault cases, create sexual assault unit

READ MORE: Kelowna panel discusses ways to improve support for sexual assault survivors


Twila Amato
Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan
Follow me on Twitter


Twila Amato

About the Author: Twila Amato

Twila was a radio reporter based in northern Vancouver Island. She won the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award while at BCIT and received a degree in ancient and modern Greek history from McGill University.
Read more