Twenty young Hartford girls will showcase their career dreams at the Institute for Community Research Gallery in Hartford. "Career Dolls: What I Want To Be When I Grow Up," will open Saturday, February 28, with a reception from 2:30 to 4:30 pm at 2 Hartford Square West on Wyllys Street.

The exhibit features life-size cardboard dolls made by girls from the Urban Women Against Substance Abuse (UWASA) program of the Institute for Community Research. As part of their career and educational development, the Burns and Wish Elementary School girls explored careers that interested them, observed professional women on the job, and then created dolls dressed as the professionals they would like to be.

Says 10-year old artist Rachel Rosado, "I want to be a veterinarian because I don't like dog pounds or any other place that takes pets away. I love animals and I want to take care of them." Her fellow artist, Adaisa Jusino, wants to deliver babies. "I want to help them survive and live for a long time so they can be what they want and be good people," says Adaisa.

In addition to Rachel and Adaisa, the featured artists are: Mandie Andino, Carmen Bracero, Josalee Bracero, Cherise Byrd, Nikida Byrd, Jocelyn Cardona, VonMarie Luna, Heidi Perez, Beverly Rodr’guez, Carmen Rodr’guez, Michelle Rodr’guez, Yavet Rodr’guez, Yamirelis Roldan, Cynthia Santana, Leyda Santos, Shaquia Terry, Cruz Maria Velazquez, and LaShana Whitfield.

UWASA is an after-school program for girls, 9-12 years old, with a corresponding evening program for their mothers or other female caregivers. Now in its fourth year, the program runs from September to June for girls in the 4th-6th grades in Hartford. Funded by the federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, UWASA helps strengthen communication between girls and their mothers as it seeks to prevent substance abuse and risky sexual behavior in young women. UWASA participants learn about culture and gender identity, adolescent development, and alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use prevention. They develop critical thinking and inquiry skills which are used in a community-based project.

The UWASA program is part of the Institute's National Teen Action Research Center, which was developed to recognize and enhance the positive educational benefits and constructive contributions that youth make to their communities through action research projects. The Center is the result of the Institute's ten-year history of collaborating with communities in the use of research for positive change.