History of Girls Rock Denver

Girls Rock Denver is a project of the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center, and contributions to CNDC for the benefit of Girls Rock Denver are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Girls Rock Denver is an all-volunteer organization and will host Colorado's first nonprofit rock camp for girls in July 2009.

Girls Rock Denver originally formed in fall 2007 in order to organize Colorado's participation in the Girls Rock Camp Alliance's (GRCA) annual 50 shows in 50 states benefit. Given the success of the benefits, it was easy to see that Denver both needed and wanted a girls rock camp. In April 2008, Girls Rock Denver, the Denver Roller Dolls, and Neighborhood Flix teamed up to welcome filmmaker Arne Johnson and the Denver premiere of Girls Rock! The Movie. The film and another successful weekend of benefit events garnered the volunteer support Girls Rock Denver needed to start organizing the camp. Since June 2008, a dedicated group of women has been working hard to ensure that Denver has its own girls rock camp by summer 2009.

We plan to host a weeklong day camp in July 2009. At camp, 25 girls aged 8-18 will come together to receive instrument instruction, participate in a variety of workshops and activities, form bands, write an original song, and perform their music in a public showcase. No experience necessary - just a willingness to try something new, work together, make some noise, and (most importantly) be heard.

At its core, GRD's goal is to empower girls through music. One reason we are starting the camp is to provide a forum for the kind of encouragement and positive relationships with girls of our own age and older women that was lacking when we were growing up. Although girls can take private music lessons or attend a different rock camp, there is currently no local music program designed specifically for girls and run entirely by women. We believe that learning to write original music in a supportive, all-female space can be an incredibly empowering experience.

There's no other form of expression as strong as music. It allows one to speak her mind to a mass of people and have fun while doing it. While pouring your heart out in front of a room full of strangers can be frightening, music holds your hand through the process, allowing you to not feel alone. Self-expression and speaking one's mind are often frowned upon when you're a girl. Music is a safe space (and a universal one) in which girls can find and explore their voices.

Despite the egalitarian nature of rock 'n' roll and the fact that it requires no formal training or access to expensive equipment, women are too often spectators rather than players, producers, and writers when it comes to popular music. Encouraging girls to find their voices musically not only will increase positive representations of women overall, it will increase the variety of women who are represented in the music industry.

We will consider our program to be successful if girls leave the camp session with a greater sense of confidence in their abilities to try new things and knowing that music belongs to everyone. We believe that many of these girls will leave camp with the ability and desire to promote collaboration and creativity in other facets of their lives and communities.