Last winter Monica Magness launched the Pink Artist Doll Project, calling for contributions to a collaborative doll that would be auctioned for breast cancer research. Ultimately, 182 artists contributed to the Pink Artist Doll, dubbed “Love Squared” for her skirt made of donated 2"x 2" art quilt squares. She stands over three feet tall, with a cotton-candy coif, embroidered lace bodice and a hand-beaded crown, and she carries a box filled with butterfly wishes for those whose lives have been touched by the tragedy of cancer.
Raffle tickets for Love Squared will be available until October 15th; visit girl-gone-thread-wild.blogspot.com for the details. All donations benefit the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Foundation. You can read more about Love Squared and her creators in the Autumn 2008 issue of Art Doll Quarterly. Below, Monica tells us about her inspiration, the community that came together to support her cause, and her hopes for the future.
Q: What was your inspiration for beginning the Pink Artist Doll project?
A: My stomach is full of knots. I've never been one who sought out to be the center of attention. But, here I sit and embrace a situation I didn't really expect. Rather I admit I feel chosen, but it's not really something you wake up and want to have happen to you ... what I mean is I lost something, that is why I'm here. My loss led me to where I find myself now. I had to figure out a way to do something, to help someone from having to face this monstrosity we call cancer as my aunt and uncle have both faced it. That really is how ”the pink artist” project was born.
When I got the call that my uncle had pancreatic cancer, I felt numb. Until this time I hadn't really thought about how my mom had lumps removed from both breasts years earlier, a time in my life when I was too young to really grasp what this meant or why it had happened. I just knew she was safe, and he'd be safe too. Naive.
At the time my uncle fought his cancer, his wife (my aunt) was diagnosed with breast cancer. I thought were both invincible. I was wrong.
At the start of this project to help raise funds for Susan G. Komen, my aunt was not yet cancer free. That not knowing what would happen changed things – when you watch someone fight for life it changes your world! This project stems from their belief that one person can make a difference. They taught this lesson everyday of their lives, my aunt teaches it still.
Q: What surprised you the most about the response you received from the community who contributed to the project?
A: When making the call for art squares, I really had no idea what would arrive at my doorstep. As a doll artist I just knew that the squares would make up her skirt. I didn't plan anything else. I just scheduled a date and let each day rule the schedule. An openness in my planner filled each day with what would occur next. The day the art would arrive, that was when my life had been really opened up to change.
To my surprise, nearly every package came with a thank you note. A thank you? I felt it should be me who thanks them! What bewildered me most was that the cards held a sentiment that told of their appreciation for me starting this project, a place for them to DO SOMETHING (to heal, to act, to help). No longer was I grieving alone. I'm not sure how I could ever really prove to each pink artist that this project is OURS, never was it ever meant to be just mine.
No one knows how many man-hours makes up our project. I don't believe anyone has needed to keep count. From its start our project has grown to its size with everyone who had wanted to be included able to join in, whether it is to make up a square, the purse, or to print and pass out flyers ... it has all been predestined. I did believe that a higher power orchestrated this event. I believe it still.
Proud, I sit before you. This project has been a gift to me and to my family. I feel it has been a way for me to connect with the world in a way I never dreamed. The knots in my stomach have now gone. This project has allowed me to share my life and to help my uncle’s memory to live on. As his life is forever a part of me, so are the pink artist stories ... their loved ones names, and the squares, will forever be etched in my brain.
The Pink Artist Project is raising money for breast cancer research, however I don't believe its participants are just fighting breast cancer here. No, our members are fighting in their own lives a battle with: Breast cancer, Lung cancer, Leukemia, Cervical cancer, Skin cancer, Endometrial cancer, Colon cancer, Pancreatic cancer, Lupus, Arthritis, and Cystic Fibrosis. It is for our loved ones and ourselves that we take action. We believe in this cause. We fight with our ART to bring change. And we thank everyone who has come here to read what our project is all about.
Q: Are there more charitable community projects in your future?
A: Yes, the remaining squares are being stitched now into 10" x 10" art blocks by a group of volunteers. All packages have been mailed out and on December 1, 2008, the blocks will be collected and combined to make up an art quilt that will be mailed in to Stampington & Company’s newest publication, Art Quilting Studio. This creation will be offered in 2009 to also benefit Susan G. Komen for the cure. Somewhere down the road I want to put together a project too to bring awareness to the women of Juarez killings in Mexico, a situation most devastating to young female factory workers. As a Hispanic having lived in El Paso, Texas, near the border for several years I have learned of this ongoing situation, one that seems to have no end. This project is yet to be determined.
Thank you, Monica, for sharing your thoughts with us, and for your generosity and dedication. The Pink Artist Doll Project is a great reminder of how even the smallest contributions can make a big difference. For your chance to win “Love Squared” or one of the many other prizes donated by artists, be sure to visit Girl Gone Thread Wild.
The raffle ends October 15th, 2008
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