Cheryl-Ann Webster, of Gananoque, Ont., said she believes women have no real role model when it comes to physical appearance.

After she heard from her daughter that a friend at school was saving her money for breast implants at the age of 13, she knew she had to do something.

Webster started the Beautiful Women Project, an exhibition of real women's torsos sculpted out of clay. The exhibition is coming to St. Catharines later this month.

"I tried to do as many sculptures as I could in clay," said Webster. "I wanted to give people a real role model."

Webster casted women between the ages of 19 and 91 from all over Canada, the United States and England, where she is originally from.

The sculptures challenge the media images of beauty by demonstrating that beautiful bodies come in all shapes and sizes.

"Everyone has a tummy, no matter how fit they are," said Webster.

When people heard about Webster's project, she was overwhelmed by the number of women who wanted to volunteer. She said the women approached her who wanted to volunteer to represent different groups of women. One woman wanted to be a part of the project to represent women with disabilities.

"I never expected it to be so powerful," said Webster.

In total, Webster sculpted 120 torsos. She said the first volunteer took her about an hour and a half but after that it would only take her between 20 and 30 minutes to sculpt the torsos.

Webster had to first create a cast of each women's torso by applying wet plaster bandages from the neck to the hip line. When the cast dried, it was filled with clay to produce an exact replica of the woman's body.

Webster said she had some ground rules when casting volunteers. Each woman had to be over the age of 18, they could not be pregnant and they could not have had cosmetic surgery.

"They could be all shapes and sizes, with scars," said Webster.

She said to make the sculpting less uncomfortable, because "you're going to be naked and I'm not," she would ask the women why they had wanted to volunteer.

"Each woman had a story as to why she wanted to volunteer," said Webster. "People would open up about battles with anorexia or problems they had with their image. Even seniors."

Months after Webster had created the clay sculptures, she decorated them. She said most of them are painted and mapped with symbolism. She said she decorated them based on memory.

The Beautiful Women Project began in 2004 and was finished in 2006.

Webster's Beautiful Women Project will be on exhibit in St. Catharines from Saturday until Nov. 15 at the Folk Arts Annex. She will also be selling a copy of her book which follows the journey of the project with a picture of each sculpture and the accompanying story.

Webster will be on hand to conduct presentations from Oct. 15 to Oct. 24. She said that she will train members of YWCA staff, the exhibition is hosted by YWCA Niagara Region with the support of United Way St. Catharines and district and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, to conduct presentations when she is not there.

All presentations, workshops and exhibits are open to the public, schools and community groups free of charge.

Hours of the exhibit are Tuesday and Wednesday 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

An "artist talk" will be held on Oct. 19 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. This will be an interactive opportunity to learn more about the Beautiful Women Project and Webster's journey.

The YWCA is also offering the opportunity to "Un-crate a Beautiful Woman" to support the project and to ensure workshops will continue even after the exhibit has left the city with a $100 tax deductible donation. Sculptures may be sponsored in your own name or in the name of a loved one or anyone who would benefit from the message conveyed by the project.

For more information contact Nicola Inch at 905-988-3528 ext. 237.