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[bright string music]

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- Narrator: What do you do
if you have a goal

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that's really hard to achieve?

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How do you overcome obstacles
and challenges,

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especially if there's
no clear direction?

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Today, we're going to learn
about Georgia O'Keeffe.

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She wanted to become an artist
at a time

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when there weren't many women
who became famous artists,

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so she had to chart
her own path.

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Georgia O'Keeffe was born

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just outside of Sun Prairie,
Wisconsin, in 1887.

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She was the second child
in a family of seven children.

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The O'Keeffe family
lived on a farm.

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That meant lots of chores
for everyone,

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including milking cows,
working with horses,

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and tending to the
vegetable garden.

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But there was still time
for hide-and-seek

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in the family's big barns,

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or playing on the swings
behind their house.

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In the evenings, Georgia's
mother often read history books

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and adventure stories
to the children.

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In the winter of 1898,

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11-year-old Georgia
started art lessons.

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She loved drawing and painting,

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and what was most exciting
was the process of learning

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and doing her best
to keep improving at her art.

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But doing her best work
wasn't always easy.

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One winter night,
she was painting a scene

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outside her window.

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As she was working,
she realized how hard it was

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to show trees and snow
in the moonlight.

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Georgia loved to look closely
at the world.

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She could see the colors
of the landscape,

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but figuring out which colors
of paint to use

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to capture them wasn't easy.

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What was the right shade
for the dark trees?

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Or for the sky?

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None of these challenges
stopped Georgia.

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She kept working at her drawings
and paintings.

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When a friend in eighth grade

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asked her what she wanted to be
when she grew up,

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Georgia didn't hesitate.

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"I'm going to be an artist."

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Georgia continued
her art lessons

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when she started high school.

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But on the first day of classes,
her art teacher,

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Sister Angelique,
criticized one of her drawings.

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She said it was too small
and dark.

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Georgia was crushed,
and did her best not to cry.

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But instead of giving up,
she kept working at her goal

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to get better at drawing.

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She made her drawings bigger
and lighter.

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By the end of the year,
one of them was even chosen

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to be featured
in the school catalog!

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In just a few years,

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Georgia was attending the best
art schools in the country.

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First, the Art Institute
of Chicago in 1905,

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and then the Art Students League
in New York City,

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starting in 1907.

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But she still faced obstacles to
her dream of becoming an artist.

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One day at art school
in New York,

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another student stopped her
in the stairway.

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He told her that she'd never be
a great artist

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no matter what she did, but that
<i>he</i> would be a great painter.

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Did this make Georgia give up?

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No!

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Georgia did the only thing
that mattered:

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she ignored her classmate
and turned back to her art.

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She kept painting and drawing,
and even started teaching art.

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Rather than listening to people
who said she couldn't do things,

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she focused on her friends
and family,

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the people who believed in her.

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Soon, Georgia's work was getting
attention from the art world.

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In 1917, she had her first show
at a gallery in New York City,

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a big deal for a young artist!

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More and more shows at galleries
and museums followed.

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In the 1940s, Georgia moved
to New Mexico.

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By this point, she was
recognized as a great artist.

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She was known for her paintings
of flowers, buildings,

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bones, and landscapes.

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Just like she'd done
ever since she was a child,

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Georgia looked closely
at the world

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and worked hard to express her
personal vision in her art

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throughout her life.

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Georgia's childhood in Wisconsin
had a huge impact on her.

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Farm life taught her the value
of hard work,

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and storytimes with her mother

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instilled a lifelong love of art
and education.

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There were many times

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when Georgia might have given up
on her dream,

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but she chose
to keep working at it.

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Her story is a reminder
to all of us

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to keep going even when
obstacles block our path,

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and to stop and enjoy the beauty
around us

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whenever we get the chance.

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[bright acoustic guitar music]