Goodbye Jasmine Valentina

Jasmine Valentina [Jasmine Herron] was a shining light in Calgary’s feminist community. She came to Calgary from Colorado to attend the Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) and while she was here she made a significant impact on our feminist community. She was an incredibly creative and inspirational woman.

In June 2009 we interviewed her about a feminist performance art project she did. She dressed like a 1950’s housewife and pulled a "mobile home" behind her through Stephen Avenue. The project, entitled "Domestic Mobility" was an attempt to re-contextualize femininity as a symbol of strength. She made many other contributions to Calgary’s feminist community, including starting a Feminist Book Club at ACAD, bringing feminist documentaries to Calgary and hosting feminist art shows. And these are just the things I am aware of... she was a real powerhouse.

Jasmine had recently graduated from ACAD and was living in New York. The NY Post reports that she was riding her bike on Saturday evening when a driver opened a car door and knocked her into the path of a bus. She was struck by the bus and died shortly after.

Jasmine only planned on staying in New York for two more weeks. On September 6th she wrote on Facebook, "Dear New York, here is my two weeks notice. Everything inside of me is telling me to leave..."

Goodbye Jasmine. We will miss you.