Winners Announced – Free. Period. Initiative Art Contest

3 talented youth artists have each won a $500 cash prize!












Maya Schaal, Alice Nam, and Jasmine Andersen, submitted their artwork online on a whim this spring along with 76 other contestants. The contest was coordinated by the Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC), a program of Youth Central, a committee of youth (ages 12-18) who met with Calgary’s mayor to provide insight and amplify youth voices on local issues. The Free. Period. Initiative was piloted at select Calgary Public Library and City of Calgary locations in 2022, and in 2023 the MYC volunteers wanted to increase the visibility of this important new program. They felt that the free period products would be even more inclusive and accessible if they were also inviting.











What better way to make something youth friendly, than to have youth design artwork for the dispensers? In came the Free. Period. Initiative Art contest!











Contestants submitted their artwork under the guidelines of representing equity and the ideals of the Free. Period. Initiative, as well as being youth ages 12-18 or still in high school. The MYC volunteers were shocked at how many impressive submissions they received. They had worked hard to promote this contest but now they had the daunting task of choosing just 3 winners, along with the rest of the judging panel, including Mayor Gondek, a member of the City of Calgary’s Public Art and Calgary Neighbourhoods departments and the Calgary Public Library.











We think they did a great job! Scroll to see the winning artwork, and a note from each of the recipients explaining their take on equity.







Jasmine Andersen – “I wanted to capture the diversity of women and really show how women from all walks of life experience a period despite how different an individual may be.”

Maya Schaal – “All of the characters are connected by holding each others hands to represent that everyone should be able to get the support they need, whether it’s access to menstrual products, or emotional support from the people around us.”

Alice Nam – “I wanted to mainly encourage women and young girls through my design that periods are nothing to be ashamed of and that we, women, as a collective are so capable.”

Today was a great day for period equity in Calgary. The Free. Period. initiative will expand into all 21 Calgary Public Library locations thanks to the generous support of the Shoppers Foundation for Women’s Health who today announced $100,000 in funds to supply free period products at all of these locations. You can read more about the Free. Period. Initiative here. 

Arushi Sharma, has been supporting this initiative as an MYC volunteer for the past two years. “It is great to see something finally come together that so many people put so much effort into. Period equity is a really important issue to youth in Calgary and I am grateful to have been a part of this project. It was really hard to choose the winners, there were so many impressive entries.” 

To learn more about how volunteering with Youth Central can help you make a bigger impact in your community, or if you want to apply to join the Mayor’s Youth Council program check out www.youthcentral.com