As the month of March came to an end, the Love Notes Project also wrapped up its latest component. The final phase of the project included an informational virtual meeting the community was invited to. The thousands of love notes that people wrote in support of local LGBTQIA+ youth are now collaged into mosaics on display throughout the Aspen and Roaring Fork School Districts.
There were two main components to the virtual event. The first was an educational presentation shared by Lillian Rivera, who is dedicated to creating a safer world for LGBTQIA+ youth as a collaborator with Gender Spectrum, an international nonprofit aimed at inclusivity. Her slide show provided knowledge on everything from gender and sexuality to vocabulary and how to support young people in the process of discovering themselves.
There were various community members who participated in this meeting, including Steven Moreno and Sheri Smith, who work in schools throughout the Valley; Janet Gordon and Mari Mo, who do work within and outside the Valley to improve mental health support and specifically for LGBTQIA+ youth; and Cas Weaver and Lucy Silcox, who serve as the president and vice president of the Gay-Straight Alliance chapter at Roaring Fork High School.
The second part of the virtual event included an opportunity for the community to ask questions of the panelists. For those who could not attend, the meeting in its entirety is available on the Garfield County Libraries YouTube page.
In addition, this final phase saw the distribution of the mosaics, made of affirming words (love notes) from people of the Valley. These wonderful collages are on display in local schools. They are exhibited alongside the Love Notes’ boxes that each school made and where many love notes were collected.
With the remainder of the love notes, the official Instagram handle, @lovenotesrfv, will post a note each day for the rest of the year. The hope is to continuously remind LGBTQIA+ youth that they are supported and recognized throughout the Roaring Fork community.
For more information on this project, visit www.lovenotesrfv.com