Series on Girls’ Education Now on View at Eugene Public Library

Oregon artist Margaret Godfrey’s sixteen-painting series Educate the Girls of the World is now on view at the Downtown Eugene Public Library through October 1. The free exhibition is installed in the Magazines and Newspapers Room on the second floor.

Godfrey began the series after reading about countries where girls face especially severe barriers to education. In each mixed-media work, patterns, fabrics, architecture, landscapes, and cultural symbols evoke a place or community. A girl’s hand reaches toward an infinity symbol, representing the possibilities that education can open.

“I could paint with the hope that my art might increase awareness,” Godfrey says.

The series includes works focused on Afghanistan, South Sudan, Mali, Ethiopia, rural America, and young people without stable housing in America, among other communities. Taken together, the paintings present education as a path toward knowledge, independence, confidence, and opportunity.

The collection also carries a McKenzie Valley survival story. When the Holiday Farm Fire forced Margaret and Mike Godfrey to evacuate in September 2020, Margaret chose this body of work as the art she would save. The paintings survived; their home and studio were destroyed.

The series has previously been exhibited at Olive Street Gallery in Newport, Albany City Hall, First Presbyterian Church in McMinnville, Cascade Manor in Eugene, and The Tate in Eugene.

Godfrey is now seeking a museum, university, library, educational organization, or other public-facing institution to acquire and preserve the complete collection for long-term display.

The paintings are not being offered for individual sale.

The exhibition will be on view through October 1 at tyhe Downtown Eugene Public Library, Magazines and Newspapers Room, second floor, 100 W. 10th Ave., Eugene

Admission is free and viewable during regular library hours.

For more information go to: margaretgodfreyart.com/educate-the-girls-of-the-world