In November, twenty-five Courage Ablaze paintings—highlighting the Democratic Republic of Congo’s genocide and massive-scale rape—were donated to various West Michigan refugee non-profits. I would like to thank Marvin Veltkamp for making the donations possible. Marvin, and his wife, Joy, serve the African refugees here in America and in Africa—where they have started a sustainable farm…
Story told in Sabrina’s own words In Eastern Congo, we heard shootings of rifles and some great detonations. Then the quiet was felt, and we saw emerging soldiers armed entering our house and coming into the living room where we were, my husband and I. Our five daughters were in their rooms. There was a…
Before retiring my Courage Ablaze Collection—a collection of twenty-five paintings highlighting the Democratic Republic of Congo’s genocide and massive-scale rape—I would like to introduce you to a dear Congolese friend whom I’ll call Jetta. Jetta and her children fled into Uganda as gunfire broke out near their home. Trying to save the lives of her…
Mental illness is rarely discussed. Yet a couple of different Let Go submissions dealt with this seemingly taboo topic. Art invites honesty. Within the context of art, we can say things that may not be as acceptable in another arena. I’m so thankful for the honesty of the participants at the Let Go installation. They…
Thank you to the thousands of visitors for successfully helping us to complete our ninth year of ArtPrize. It has been an amazing journey! Over 70,000 Let Go notes were added to our interactive healing installation—an artist/visitor collaboration. I would like to thank the one hundred twenty-six courageous individuals and third graders from Lone Pine…
It is surprising, in a way, how I could have written almost all of the one hundred twenty-six Let Go letters or sentences that were submitted. Though the details of our stories may differ, our struggles are often very similar. And these common experiences of pain and loss connect us like a dot-to-dot drawing. Throughout…