Courage Ablaze: Beauty and Ashes

Behind the Artwork2 Comments

In 2012, Courage Ablaze included seven-foot pillars portraying Congo’s stories of rape and images of the fierce determination of Congolese women. An eight-foot copper tree, the Flame Tree, held charred frames representing the eight million people slaughtered in Congo’s holocaust. The small pillars portrayed the courageous survivors rising up out of the ashes and rebuilding their lives.

This art, honoring Congolese rape survivors from half a world away, prompted several American visitors to confide their own rape stories. In those tender moments, the artwork helped facilitate small—but significant steps—towards healing.

What can you do to help empower the survivors in your life?

Our healing art involves you—because you matter!

Braving the Wind: Kara’s Story

Behind the Artwork

Braving the Wind at ArtPrize 2011

Kara, a young woman, had been battling cancer for several years. To portray her story for ArtPrize 2011, I combined the paintings of Kara in Braving the Wind with an interactive metal Healing Tree. Visitors were invited to write notes, honoring loved ones struggling with cancer and then hanging the notes on the tree. This was the first time I created an interactive healing installation. Now visitors had the opportunity to expand the work with their own stories.

Years later, Kara and I reconnected. We had a special opportunity to sit down and discuss our ArtPrize journey: An immersive experience with the ArtPrize audience. Art had made a bridge for us to connect and develop a special friendship while the art also had created a pathway to inspire exhibit visitors. Through Kara’s perseverance and willingness to help others—in the midst of her own reoccurring cancer battle—20,000 ArtPrize visitors ended up being inspired to participate.

How can you encourage a friend or loved one battling cancer or simply help a friend in need?

Visit healinginarts.org to learn more about our inspirational work.

Our healing art involves you—because you matter!

Woman in Red: Natalie’s Story

Behind the Artwork

In partnership with the Go Red For Women movement, my 2010 ArtPrize work, called Woman in Red, features Natalie Ruggeri. Natalie, the model portrayed in the paintings, tells her story as a congenital heart survivor. Following heart surgery, Natalie offers this advice: “Listen to your symptoms. Don’t take things for granted. Cherish what you have.”

What are some things you can do to keep your heart healthy?

Our healing art involves you—because you matter!

An ArtPrize Artist: How It All Started

Behind the Artwork

ArtPrize ushered my 2010 paintings onto a large stage—with thousands visiting my Woman in Red collection that was created in partnership with the American Heart Association and featured at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. Through ArtPrize over the following years, my work began transitioning beyond watercolor paintings to interactive healing installations that focused on soul care—that is, unlocking the hearts of the wounded through sensitive and meaningful artwork.

What do you do to help promote soul care for others? For yourself?

Our healing art involves you—because you matter!

ArtPrize Collaboration: Go Red For Women

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For my second year of ArtPrize, the American Heart Association invited me to tell the story of Natalie Ruggeri, a young heart patient survivor. The work called Woman in Red combined two-dimensional and three-dimensional elements with paintings and an elegant red gown displayed on a mannequin. This healing work continues to inspire and challenge viewers with beauty, health, and what really matters in life.

What experiences have you had that challenged you to rethink the value of life?

Our healing art involves you—because you matter!

More from an American in Paris

From the Heart

Omaha Beach in France

Of all the places to visit in France, Omaha Beach was on our Top 3 list. Seeing thousands of white crosses, a few crumbling bunkers, and the uneven terrain from World War II bombers pelting the shoreline left an indelible mark on our hearts.

Over nine thousand American military members are buried above the beach. The loss of life for the allied troops and enemy forces was enormous. Looking down at the beach from the bunkers, you could almost hear the Saving Private Ryan battle cries. Conflict is costly.

Vet writing hero message on Hometown HeroWhile on Omaha Beach, I thought of the veteran soldiers who visited my ArtPrize 2015 Hometown Hero installation. These veterans soldiers, who honored the World War II, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan fallen, made a deep impression on us—the ArtPrize visitors, my volunteers, and me, the artist. Their story of sacrifice and loss, even decades later, was profoundly visible. We all felt their grief.

Many tears fell. Both the soldiers’ tears. And the onlookers’ tears. Our tears gathered and fell as the soldiers recorded the names of their fallen heroes on the painting and, then, silently saluted their comrades. One soldier even crawled up to the painting on his abdomen in the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, Marine style, to write the name of his fallen “brother.”

Heroes written in beach sand

As a military wife, grandmother, and artist, it is my mission to seek hope and healing wherever my work leads. A work that focuses on viewers and their story. A work that offers a healing space.

Decades from now, what will be your story? Or my story? Will we be the ones who laid down our lives for freedom? Or will we be the survivors, passing on a hope-filled story to our grandchildren?

A Paint Brush That Speaks

Behind the Artwork

Courage Ablaze

My definition of being a human who cares about her world began to change in 2011, when I collided with Josephine and other Congolese refugees living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. At the time, my knowledge of Congo didn’t extend beyond a country located on the map.

For the next year, I began to research Congo’s horrific story—eight million people slaughtered in Congo’s holocaust and two million women raped. Why? Because of Congo’s vast natural resources, such as gold, coltan—used in our cell phones and laptops, and diamonds.

After learning about Josephine’s suffering and the millions of other Congolese people like her, this question burned: “Pamela, do you care enough about the women and children of Congo to do something?” I responded with my paintbrush to give viewers a glimpse into the fierce determination of these remarkable individuals by creating a healing space called Courage Ablaze. After viewing the work, several American visitors confided their own rape stories; Josephine’s pain ignited courage.

Does Josephine’s story also kindle your compassion? When others are in need, like our sisters from Congo, what can the rest of us do to help them? When one woman supports another, our lives interconnect—setting hope and healing ablaze.

Josephine’s story is a composite story that has been shared in the news or reports. Her real name and some of the details have been changed.

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