Mary Yaeger’s female merit badges helped me find the new direction I wanted to go in with my work. I am interested in how Yeager reframed the traditional boy scout merit badges through a feminist lens. Her merit badges depict female “rites of passage” and the manipulations females undergo in an effort to achieve an idealized beauty. Her work led me to create my own spin off of the national park patches and to create patches that show the negative effects of overcrowding of ou

As part of my current series Paradise Lost, I create merit and demerit badges that reframe and modernize the traditional "Leave No Trace" ideals. Seeing a smoke-filled sky today made me think of my meticulously hand-embroidered patch I Do Not Cause Wildfires. Please visit https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/minimize-campfire-impacts/ to learn how and when you can safely enjoy a campfire. What other socially responsible actions do you take to avoid accidentally starting a wildfir