Help support special needs kids. Attend the Tri County Little League auction at the JW Marriott.

Tri County plans to build a baseball field to accommodate children with special needs. This is one of the only fields for kids with special needs in the area.

Watercolor by Pamela will be donating an original painting and note cards for the event. I hope to see you there.

DATE:
Friday, November 18, 2011 • 6:00pm - 10:00 pm

ADDRESS:
235 Louis Street NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
(616) 242-1500

Visit the Tri County Little League Auction page for more information.

Did you wish that ArtPrize 2011 lasted longer? Stop by Frames Unlimited to see Braving the Wind and the artwork of 20 other artists on display through November 6.

Frames Unlimited
Ridgemoor Center
2935 28th St. SE
Kentwood, MI 49512
Phone: 616-942-0091
Hours: Mon - Sat: 10 am to 9 pm, Sundays: 12 am to 5 pm

As I set up for ArtPrize, only a limited number of Hope Cards hung on the Healing Tree from an ArtPrize preview. Before ArtPrize even officially opened, the 300 cards I had set out were already on the tree. At the conclusion after 19 days, nearly 20,000 Hope Cards had been hung on the Healing Tree. Amazingly, the Braving the Wind exhibit helped touched a tender place in over 1000 hearts per day!

More than 14,000 Hope Cards have been added to the Healing Tree. People keep coming back with their friends. One friend described the exhibit as “touching tender places in people’s hearts.”

Braving the Wind and the Healing Tree have been featured in the Grand Rapids Press. See the article on mlive.com.

Through the first seven days of ArtPrize, more than 7,000 Hope Cards have been hung on the Healing Tree in response to my Braving the Wind exhibit. Visitors are invited to view Braving the Wind—portraying a young woman’s battle with cancer—inside the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and to respond by adding the names of their loved ones who have battled cancer to the Healing Tree. The outpouring of support has been so overwhelming that I had to place new orders twice already to keep up with the viewers.

The first 300 Hope Cards that I put out on Wednesday morning were already hanging on the Healing Tree before ArtPrize even started. Within two days, viewers added an additional 1,200 cards to the tree. So I had another 3,000 special-ordered cards shipped overnight to get through the first weekend. Meanwhile, my mother bought another 3,700 cards locally to be prepared for the following week. But by Monday afternoon the cards were dwindling.

I thought my ArtPrize work was done by the time I had my exhibit installed. My two teenaged sons had been cutting twelve-inch strands of string since mid-August. But I have had to cut additional strands of string during ArtPrize to keep ahead of the public demand, and my mother is buying up all the string at various Home Depots. Even my husband is involved. He drove downtown to deliver the supplies.

The messages on the cards are touching as well. One says, “Love Heals.” Another says, “I wish I could have met you, Grandma. I heard you’re great.” Aaron wrote, “Tinker Potts My Cat,” for his Russian cat that died of cancer.

I also have the privelege to witness some precious family interaction. A couple of days ago, I noticed an attractive woman at the Healing Tree with her young daughter. The little girl signed a Hope Card and showed it to her mother. Her mother smiled warmly. Then the girl hung the card on the tree. After they left, I peaked at the card. It read: “My mommy.”

Since its inception, I had no idea that Braving the Wind would touch so many hearts; the public response has been overwhelming. Some shed a few tears; others quietly reflect. Still others want to tell me their personal cancer stories.

One little boy looked at all the Hope Cards on the Healing Tree and said, “Are these all votes?” In a way, they are. Regardless of the outcome of votes, I realize that Braving the Wind has a powerful message and the exhibit is eliciting a strong emotional response—and healing. Yet all this effort is worthwhile when I hear many viewers say: “This ArtPrize exhibit is so meaningful. Thank you.”

One little boy said, “Can I hang a card on the tree?”

I said, “Do you know anyone who has cancer? Maybe someone at your school? The purpose of the tree is to add the names of someone who has had cancer.”

The boy responded, “My mailman died of cancer. Can I write his name?”

While a young teen was hanging a Hope Card to express her love for a friend battling cancer, her mom came up and whispered, “Sweetheart, Debi died.”

The young girl burst into tears and ran into her dad’s arms.

“Thank you,” her mom told me, “for providing an opportunity to tell our daughter what happened to her friend. We didn’t know how to tell her.”

The family quietly embraced until the teen’s tears had diminished. When the initial wave of grief had passed, both parents turned and waved a solemn “Thank you.”

A strongly built man held up his bracelet that said, “Cure 4 Carriers.” Then he told me, “My buddies and I rented a bus and took our friend with stage 4 cancer on a guy’s day trip.” Restraining deep emotions, he relayed his last words to his friend as they were getting off the bus, “Same time, same place next year.”

“My hands are shaking so much,” an elderly woman confessed. “I can hardly hang this card on the tree.”

I asked, “Whose name did you write on the card?”

“My son’s.”

One of the magical moments at the Braving the Wind exhibit was when a woman with one leg read the quote on the back of my gallery card. It read: “The miracle isn’t that I finished; the miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

There was a long pause as she looked down. Then her penetrating eyes met mine. She spoke without saying any words. She understood. Our silent conversation made my hard work worth it.

As Grand Rapids anticipates ArtPrize 2011 opening day—Wednesday, September 21—local businesses welcome Braving the Wind. Giclée reproductions of Braving the Wind are being showcased at the following West Michigan businesses:

• Macy’s of Rivertown (above left)
• Barnes & Noble of Rivertown (above center)
• D&W Fresh Market stores (above right)