Collage Mania: Don't delay, choose your purchase!

NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO OWN A PIECE OF FINE FABRIC ART AND AT THE SAME TIME, KNOW YOUR MONEY SUPPORTS A WORTHY CAUSE.

by Guest Blogger Virginia Spiegel

One hundred and sixty-one artists have donated artwork to Collage Mania 2009 to raise funds for the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause.

The 383 fiber collages can now be previewed here.

Photos:
1. Buy Organic by Virginia Spiegel
2. Forever by Linda B. Dunn for her grandmother
3. Flames of Hope by Cindy Simms a one year survivor and counting
4. Connections by Sue Bleiweiss
5. Serenity 1 by Sharon Tootles: In memory of my family and friends who have survived, died or who are battling cancer. I love you all.

Collage Mania opens May 5 with an $80 minimum donation for each artwork.

On May 6 and 7, the minimum donation drops to $40.

The goal of this three-day art extravaganza is to raise at least $20,000 For the American Cancer Society. Fiberart For A Cause (FFAC) has already donated more than $170,000.

When I began Fiberart For A Cause five years ago, my goal was to raise $90 for the American Cancer Society using fiberart. My sister, Nancy J. Spiegel Rosman, is chair of the Forest Lake, MN Relay For Life and I wanted to support her fundraising efforts. We are both so thankful for the cancer research that made it possible for our Dad to be a colon cancer survivor.

Before I knew it, my tiny effort had been expanded through the support of the online group Quiltart. Karey Bresenhan, Director of International Quilt Festival - Houston, Chicago and Long Beach, became FFAC's Honorary Chairperson and guided the Postcard Project toward an amazing $120,000 raised for the ACS. Fiber artists have been beyond generous donating their artwork to the Postcard Project, the Invitational Reverse Auctions, and Collage Mania.

There are very few families whose lives have not been touched by cancer. That is one reason why dedications in honor of and in memory of those fighting cancer are so important in the Collage Mania pages. It's great art, but it's art with a meaning and a purpose also.

Collage Mania is the final big FFAC fundraiser as I return to my studio fulltime.

I treasure all the friendships I have made with artists and patrons during the five-year run of FFAC and salute their generosity and kindness.

Sue Bleiweiss adds: "Unfortunately I am not a stranger to having lost loved ones to cancer so for me, to decide to contribute a small piece of artwork for such a worthy cause is an easy one.

It's a fantastic feeling when your collage sells because not only have you helped raise money for the American Cancer Society but there's validation for the artwork that you've submitted.

Virginia has done an incredible thing with Collage Mania. Not only has she raised the level of awareness of the importance of coming forward and getting involved she's
created a community of goodwill, cooperation and given artists who have lost someone to cancer an outlet to create a piece of artwork to celebrate the lives of the ones they want to remember.

Knowing that the artwork will raise money for research and hang in someones home where it will be admired and cherished is really icing on the cake. I have nothing but admiration for all that Virginia has done with Collage Mania and I wish her much success with all her future endeavors."

-- Sue Bleiweiss is a mixed media fiber artist living in Massachusetts USA. This is her second year contributing to Collagemania. You can see more of her work at www.suebleiweiss.com.

Update on Valerie White

Has anyone seen the latest issue of Quilters World?

If so, you will see the article about Louisville, KY quilt artist Valerie C. White. It was a fun article to write and it is a privilege to have had the opportunity to talk with her and get acquainted. Her creations fill me with delight and always make me smile, then I have to look closer and examine the symbolism that she incorporates in each quilt.

I like the colors, the imagination, the art of course, but the purity with which she views our world. No one can create such totally fun projects and not have the heart of a kid still beating inside her somewhere. But these are not frivolous, there's a depth that keeps you returning to her images and seeing something more each time.

I'm not alone in these observations and her successes are building one atop the other. She's making waves in the quilting community. Surf's up!

In a recent email, Valerie updated what's happening with her and her art:

• The River City Fiber Artists, of which Valerie is a member, hung the Form not Function exhibit at the Carnegie Center for Art & History in New Albany IN. They chose 43 pieces to exhibit out of 300 submissions.
  
• Then onto the Shawnee Library to give a lecture about the Gee's Bends Quilts at the Speed Museum. The exhibit opened January 2, 2008.
• Quilt African American Women's History: Our Challenges Creativity and Champions will be published January, 2008. This is a traveling exhibition held in honor of the 20th anniversary of the National Afr0-American Museum and Cultural Center in historic Wilberforce University, home of the first African American institution of higher learning. The Ohio Historical Society sponsors the exhibit. The opening is January 5 and runs through May 31, 2008.
  

Valerie's piece: The Guardian, was chosen as the cover art for the Quilting African American Women's History exhibit. The Guardian is the first in a series of angels that Valerie will exhibit with famed fiber artist Penny Sisto. A date and location for that to be announced later.

Valerie's quilt based upon Bobby McFerrin will be included in the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum titled "Sisters In Cloth" The show runs from May - August.

Her work is getting out there! It is so creative, imaginative and unique -- check out her work featured on the Internet. Here's one reference from Smith Kramer: Museum Traveling Exhibitions.