Girl Scout (Bullseye), a 20x200 Vintage Edition
10"x8" ($40) | 14"x11" ($85) | 20"x16" ($275) | 24"x20" ($675) | 30"x24" ($1,100)
Athena may be the Greek goddess of war and wisdom, but it is Artemis to whom we associate the bow and arrow. Artemis, goddess of the hunt, but also of nature, healing, care of children, and notably chastity. Aphrodite had no power over this huntress.
Girl Scout (Bullseye), our newest Vintage Edition, depicts a similar combination of independence and joy. An unknown photographer captured the moment our young Girl Scout plucked her arrow from a bullseye, smiling and triumphant. You can practically feel the fresh air and vitality emanate from the photo.
In this context, the bow and arrow loses its association with violence and becomes a tool of accuracy, athleticism and survival. Being at one with nature. A gentle independence that is still connected to an established order of things. All descriptions which will be recognizable to anyone who has been a Girl Scout (or Girl Guide, for those of us who grew up outside America) and can be summed up in the Girl Scout motto: “Be prepared.”
Dated between 1920 and 1921, this vignette is just what Juliette Gordon Low might have envisioned for her mentees when she started the organization (only nine years before this photograph was taken): an engaged young woman mastering a new skill, and a physical one at that. It’s easy to imagine her running through the grass up to her mark, all lady-like graces cast aside.
At the time the photo was taken, however, this lighthearted enjoyment of the woods was not guaranteed for all girls. The Girl Scouts remained a lawfully-segregated organization for many decades—until the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe school desegregation verdicts from the Supreme Court—and remained for all intents and purposes segregated at-will until the Civil Rights movement of the 60s. The archer in our 1943 Gordon Parks photograph attended an unusual institution for the time: an integrated summer camp where kids from all backgrounds could bond over shared activities.
As we head into an election that has set the scene for another raging battle over how women can and should exist in the world, this photo embodies both the necessity and the joy of teaching girls self-reliance.
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