Marie-Helena Peeters noticed that, since middle school, her female peers haven’t been interested in math or science like she was.
For her last year at Williamsburg’s Jamestown High School, she decided to change that, with a year-long art project that took her to NASA and back.
“Women bring something different to the table than men,” Peeters said. “I wanted to do something to show young girls that there are women in STEM making opportunities for the next generation.”
STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math, is a national educational initiative to get students more involved in these fields at a young age, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
For the final portion of the honors program at Jamestown, Peeters needed a final project, which was supposed to demonstrate systematic study of an issue and enhance scholarship surrounding the subject, according to the WJCC website.
Peeters wanted to combine her love of painting and her interest in STEM programs. From her own experience, she knew there weren’t a lot of high-school girls involved in math or science, and after looking into the issue more, she realized what she wanted to focus on.
“I was astounded not only by how few women are in these fields, but the challenges many of them had to go through because they were a woman,” Peeters said.
Peeters’ older sister had previously interned with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. She suggested looking into the Women@NASA initiative, which features NASA women and their work.
After some research, Peeters decided to paint portraits of these women, using background art to feature their work and perseverance.
“I knew it was important to transmit these stories because women share similar struggles,” Peeters said. “It’s important to show that these women had failures, but they persevered.”
Peeters connected with 10 women at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton.
A shy person, Peeters struggled at first to reach out to strangers on the internet, meet and interview them in person and convey their stories through her art.
But she persevered.
Peter Pritchard, the fine-arts curriculum leader at Jamestown, worked with Peeters beginning in ninth grade, when she started painting, and mentored her on the NASA project.
“She is most definitely a student that shows a high level of maturity and drive for someone her age,” Pritchard said.
After interviewing the women, Peeters photographed them in different poses, which they believed expressed themselves. She transferred the images to black and white and sketched what she wanted each portrait to look like.
Peeters spent about 150 hours on the project over the course of a year, while balancing Advanced Placement courses, SATs and college applications. For her, though, the project wasn’t just school work. It was an opportunity to push herself in a subject that mattered to her.
Peeters’s NASA paintings will be on display at The Williamsburg Art Gallery, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 5. The show, which is open to the public, will continue through Sunday, April 8.
After the show, Peeters hopes to give the NASA women their paintings.
“I think it’s pretty admirable,” Pritchard said. “She is taking the portraits and research and putting together a pretty comprehensive show that gives credit to these women for their incredible work.”
Peeters will start at the University of Virginia in the fall. She hopes to keep working on projects that promote female empowerment.
“I want younger girls to see this and realize they can reach those opportunities that seem far-fetched,” Peeters said. “And I hope to eventually be in a position to give those opportunities to other young women.”
This story originally appeared in our sister publication, WYDaily.com.
