Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Why mention breast cancer in a blog about art?

Because at least half of the artists in the South Coast area are women, (Probably more but for the sake of argument we’ll say half.), and making an impact for our fellow artists against a terrible disease which strikes women is important and as artists we have the tools to make the biggest splash.

This disease kills and disfigures women and most of the campaigns suffer from juvenile slogans, Save the Tatas or Save Second Base or worse, they have a campaign which has no slogan and the message gets lost in all of the other cries for help.

Yeah, yeah right, so talk about art.

Okay, I will and how we as artists can join the fight and maybe bring some skills that the silly sloganeers and the serious zealots just don’t have.

Art, visual art has the power to create am immediate and dramatic impact. The old saw about a picture being worth a thousand words is usually said by the guys holding the camera, but in this case it is absolutely correct. Can’t a creative person design an image which brings the devastation of cancer home to everyone? Can’t the creative person make an instantly recognizable symbol which is not silly and juvenile and yet instantly understandable?

Why haven’t the artists of the South Coast done a fund raiser for breast cancer, we donate art to the museum to raise money, we donate art to the schools to raise money, but when it comes to something as dangerous and traumatizing as cancer where are all the clever organizers?

And while I’m asking questions, why isn’t there a spearhead campaign directed specifically at artists, we have the skills and the power to make a huge impact and yet the NFL manages to wear pink cleats, the Run for the Cure folks have pink everywhere and there’s even a Pet’s for the Cure fashion show, but no artists.

I know you’re time is valuable and it has to be spent working on your craft, but surely there’s enough energy in the artistic community to get art working for a cure to this terrible menace.

Let’s create am Artists Abreast of Cancer campaign and make it happen so that by this time next year when breast awareness month rolls around we won’t still be sitting on the sidelines.