Hi, I’m Harrison, and I am a working writer and director here in Hollywood. I started Girl Trip because I believe there’s no ceiling nor limit where girls’ lives are concerned. I’m deeply passionate about young women's journeys — what it takes for girls to become world contributors. It’s a major undertaking to empower yourself as an artist, especially a female artist. Young women are still sent the message that it’s okay to just “be creative.” There’s not yet the global expectation that we must bring our creative ideas into form, into contributions. In some parts of the world, we are even punished for doing so. There is so much power in the creative voices of young women. Today, girls run tech companies, chair science labs, transform the world with works of art — but we need even more young women doing so! I created Girl Trip as an uplifting, inspiring platform to show that power.
The idea for Girl Trip came to me when I was at the American Film Institute as a Directing Fellow. I was washing the dishes, and thinking about Middle School. I was thinking about Stephanie Hunter, and Peggy Ruth, and me, and this gaggle of girls with all this raw talent — like ore — but we didn’t get along. One was the cheerleader, one was the weird girl (me), and you get the idea. We got our worth by looking cute and sexy, by being compelling enough to hold the attention of boys. Not by our creative work. I realized, wow. I’m more concerned with chasing this one boy around in my film school class than I am with my own films. What is this? How did I get this way? When I was nine I was making things… And I realized that when I was a teenager there was no Girl Trip. There was no place to go where girls could come together, and collaborate, and share talent and relationships, and rise up as a whole. There was no place to go where girls could be badasses. Where there was a responsibility to be a badass. So I decided then, in the smoggy twilit canyon, to somehow create this place. For myself, and for girls everywhere.
Kathryn Bigelow and Tavi are my heroes. When my filmmaker friends and I speak of Kathryn, we talk almost in hushed tones. I can’t even believe how good she is. It slays me. I literally can’t even move for three days after watching her work. I heard Tavi speak at Skylight Books of late. She was amazing. Confident and raw and vulnerable, and with a very high aesthetic. Tavi holds her work to a very high standard. And this translates! My hope and dream for Girl Trip is that girls from all over the globe will come here to be inspired by each other, and inspired to excellence. I want girls visiting the site to gain confidence and energy. Relationships. Collaborative opportunities with other young women. I want to showcase these works. Every day I wake up and I say to myself, okay, you don’t exactly know the outcome of Girl Trip, but create something smart and beautiful. No compromise. My sister Maggie taught me that. She is a winemaker. So Girl Trip is a place for girls to make and share works that are smart and beautiful. To join forces. To create a world where we are 50% of the population, and so 50% of the global contributors! I love working on this site, and hope you will dive in and be a part of it!
Kenton Parker lives and works in Los Angeles as a contemporary artist. His works conceptual in nature, are inspired by an honest response to humanity, perversion, attitude, and the intellect commonly associated with rebellion. During Art Basel Miami this past January, Primary Projects, an ambitious platform for contemporary artists and curators, presented Parker's Contender. Contender is a solo show dedicated to self-portraiture through sculpture, painting, installation and photography.