‘I’m a leader’

By Elizabeth Floyd Read ’09

Standing tall with her head held high and both hands on her hips, 8th grade student Zarai Armstrong was not unnerved by the over 700 sets of eyes turned to look at her in the Frances Bond Davis Theatre. Instead, she took a deep breath and at the top of her lungs declared, “I’M A LEADER.”

The 700 voices in the audience responded with a resounding, “WE SUPPORT YOU.” Again. “I’M A LEADER.”

“WE SUPPORT YOU.”

With cheers and applause echoing around the theatre, Zarai sat back down in her seat, grinning and high fiving her neighbors. The energy in the air was palpable, as if every student in the audience was reaching out to empower her.

This exercise was a demonstration of the power of community support among women, a topic about which the Ann and Monroe Carell visiting artist, Eva DeVirgilis, is extremely passionate.

The Ann and Monroe Carell Visiting Writer and Artist Series was established by Ann and Monroe Carell and their daughters, Julie Carell Stadler ’77, Edie Carell Johnson ’80, and Kathryn Carell Brown. It supports a writer or an artist for a week’s residency of workshops, lectures, and classroom teaching. Since 1997, there have been over 50 visiting writers and artists. This year marked the 25th anniversary of the program.

As an actor, writer, and makeup artist, Ms. DeVirgilis has spent hundreds of hours in front of a chair prepping her clients for events, award shows, photoshoots, and more. What she discovered was a troubling pattern. Within the first three seconds of sitting in her chair, women would apologize for the way they look. After years of hearing apologies from women for being who they are, Ms. DeVirgilis was frustrated. Why did women feel the need to apologize for everything from their hair to their clothes to their opinions? Why did women feel the need to criticize perceived flaws before someone else can, therefore making themselves their own harshest critics?

In response, she created a “no apology zone” around her makeup chair, establishing it as a place where women were safe to be who they were and look how they look, without judgment.

In 2014, Ms. DeVirgilis shared her message concerning women’s relationships to a cultural sense of beauty and self-identity in a viral TEDx Talk that ignited a “No Apologies Revolution” across the globe. Since then, she has made it her mission to connect and inspire women and to put an end to the inherent need to apologize for misconceived appearance flaws. Over the course of 44 days, she took her makeup chair to eight countries around the world to share her message of the power of female leadership, empowering women to take on leadership roles in their communities.

In October, Ms. DeVirgilis brought her one-woman show, “In My Chair,” to the students of Harpeth Hall. In alignment with Harpeth Hall’s mission to educate young women to lead confidently, Ms. DeVirgilis’s message of “radical self-acceptance” was meant to inspire students to feel confident in who they are.

In addition to her talk with students during an all-school assembly, Ms. DeVirgilis spent a week in residency at Harpeth Hall, working with students in the classroom on public speaking, performance, and leadership skills.

In the days that followed, girls could be heard in the halls, Souby Lawn, and the dining hall shouting “I’M A LEADER,” while their friends and peers echoed with a strong “WE SUPPORT YOU.”

At Harpeth Hall, students have a built-in community of women who support each other and uplift them. Ms. DeVirgilis’s message served to strengthen this support and empower our girls to accept themselves for who they are and what they bring to the world.

Artists In Residence

1998 Bonnie Koloc • vocal and theatre

1999 Carol Ponder • music

2000 Pam Atha • dance

2001 Renee LaRose • art

2002 Kye Brackett • theatre, dance, and music

2003 Amy Jarman • music

2004 David Alford • theatre

2005 Maria Broom • theatre/dance

2006 Billy Renkl • art

2007 David Childs and Carolyn Huebl • vocal and violin

2008 Marcie Sturiale • theatre/dance

2009 George Patterson • dance/tap

2010 Kelly Williams • art

2011 Dr. Jane Warren • choir

2012 Jen-Jen Lin • Chinese artist/dancer

2013 Bruce Miller • theatre

2014 Brian Hull • puppeteer

2015 Elisabeth Small and Billy Contreras • violinists

2016 Bryce McCloud • letterpress art

2017 Lesley Patterson Marx • visual arts

2018 Mary Biddlecombe • conductor

2019 Dion Graham • actor

2020 Tess Erlenborn Davies • mural artist

2021 No artist (Covid)

2022 Eva DeVirgilis • motivational performer

Writers In Residence

1997 Judith Baumel • writer

1998 Kate Daniels • poet

1999 Elizabeth Cox • novelist

2000 Richard Tillinghast • poet

2001 E. Ethelbert Miller • writer

2003 Mark Jarman • poet

2003 Suzanne Staples • writer

2003 Laurie Halse Anderson • writer

2003 Judith Ortiz Cofer • poet/novelist/essayist

2004 Steven Womack • mystery writer

2004 Donna Jo Napoli • author

2005 Rebecca Bain • radio host/journalist

2005 Cynthia Huntington • poet

2005 Diane Stanley • author

2006 Ann Bausum • history author

2007 Tracy Barrett • writer

2008 Ji-Li Jiang • author

2011 Robert J. Blake • author

2012 Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye • spoken word poetry

2015 Katie Ford • writer

2016 Benjamin Smith • poetry and performance

2017 Lorraine Lopez • writer

2018 Margaret Renkl • author

2020 No artist (Covid)

2021 Tiana Clark • poet

2022 Kathryn Williams • writer