ArtPrize 2014: The Scarlet Cord – Lighting the Night…
…at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
The Scarlet Cord: Tethered
Tethered, Mixed media on plywood, 44 x 48 inches, 2014
(Approximately 700 nails and 600 feet of string)
In India, a teenage prostitute’s baby cries while tethered to a post by a thin scarlet cord. No one is allowed to touch or talk to the baby. Her trafficker’s goal: create the perfect sex slave—a child desperate for affection. Similarly, by using manipulation and deception, pimps enslave American children with a thin psychological tether.
FACT: Cybersex sells children as young as six weeks old for sex to customers in the US (Women At Risk International).
The Scarlet Cord Audio Collage
The Scarlet Cord: Crossing religious and social economic borders. Confronting child sex enslavement. Calling for compassionate action.
The Scarlet Cord Audio Collage: Real voices of survivors and law enforcement by Shared Hope International. “Midnight Wars” by Kelsey Rottiers.
Midnight Wars & The Scarlet Cord
Don’t miss singer Kelsey Rottiers’ live performance set against the backdrop of “The Scarlet Cord” ArtPrize installation—confronting the harsh reality of child sex trafficking and calling for compassionate action.
What: Live performances by Kelsey Rottiers
Where: The Scarlet Cord installation at the Ford Presidential Museum
When: Sunday, September 28 at 2:00 pm AND Sunday, October 5 at 2:00 pm
The Scarlet Cord: Do 1 Thing Challenge
Wear a red string bracelet to symbolize your commitment to protect children. Get involved in their lives. Listen to them. Reach beyond your sphere and build circles of protection around your community’s at-risk children. By confronting the harsh reality of child trafficking, we activate hope and healing.
See something, Say something!
Call the Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 if you see indications of trafficking.
Seven Red Flags to Look For:
- Signs of physical abuse such as burn marks, bruises, or cuts
- Unexplained absences from class
- Sexualized behavior
- Withdrawn, depressed, distracted, or checked out
- Displays expensive clothes, accessories, or shoes
- New tattoo (name, symbol of money, or barcode may indicate trafficking)
- Older boyfriend or new friends with a different lifestyle
The Scarlet Cord: The Story
Wounded, Multi media on canvas, 58 x 96 inches, 2014
Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, and forgotten by everybody…that is a much greater hunger. Mother Theresa
A thin red cord holds Jenny captive.
The last time Jenny saw her dad she was seven.
Divorce emptied her.
Her cries—no one hears, no one answers.
An older boy tossed her an easy—“I love you.”
She unsuspectingly gets into his car.
The new boyfriend receives a finder’s fee.
Jenny’s worth: $3,200.
Her owner names her Sugar Baby and says, “I’m your daddy.”
She’s groomed by her new daddy, her innocence stolen.
Pornography fuels the business, and fantasy demands the young.
Like most, she is thirteen.
Driven to meet daily quotas, Jenny and her body surrender.
She feels filthy—outside and in.
No one looks her in the eye.
“Unwanted” tattoos her heart.
Her door swings thirty times a night.
With each click of the lock, her young mind tangles.
Fear dictates.
Abuse braids the scarlet cord and tightens Jenny’s tether.
©2014 Watercolorbypamela – All rights reserved.
(The Scarlet Cord is based on a composite of true stories that have been shared in the news or in reports, while others are original stories. A model and pseudonym have been used.)
FACT: There are nearly 2,400 human trafficking victims in West Michigan (Manasseh Project).
Pamela’s ArtPrize 2014: The Scarlet Cord
The Scarlet Cord
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
September 24 through October 12, 2014
As visitors step inside a 40-foot storage container filled with thirty doors, they enter a secret world. This dark world crosses religious and social economic borders to sell our children for sex. A twisting scarlet cord depicts the trauma bond that connects the children to their traffickers. The weathered doors represent these abused children whose youthful minds have become knotted. Pamela’s art—dedicated to these suffering children tethered within the sex industry—calls for compassionate action.
Partnering with Women At Risk International:
