May 5, 1999
Artists unite to aid colleague's cancer battle
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Without warning late last November, Kathy Rowe went from healthy to sick.
From employed to disabled.
From wife and mother to patient in a distant hospital.
For the past five months, she and her family have struggled to cope with her life-threatening illness, lengthy absences and loss of income. At first they faced the uncertainty of a severe illness without a known cause. Then after months of tests and numerous false diagnoses, doctors discovered in early February that she had a rare form of thyroid cancer.
Multiple surgeries and radiation treatments followed. Her prognosis is unknown.
"At first when we realized the seriousness, there was a significant amount of shock," said Kirk Rowe, who has been married to Kathy for 22 years. "Then you get to the point where you realize that instead of two or three more decades together you might have two or three years. I told my 17-year-old son to grow up fast, you never know how long anyone has."
An outpouring of community support has helped the Rowe family endure these trying times. Last Sunday afternoon, a dozen area artists came together for a fund-raiser at the City Opera House to raise money for the Rowe family. The Rowes brought 15 pieces of their fiber art to sell and other artists displaying their work donated a portion of their proceeds.
The several thousand dollars from that and an earlier fund-raiser at the Friendship Community Center in Suttons Bay will help offset Kathy's medical expenses not covered by health insurance. In addition, it will help the Rowe family cover travel expenses, living expenses and the cost of the apartment Kathy uses in Detroit while undergoing her radiation treatments.
"Kathy is not eligible for Social Security because she spent so many years as a volunteer in the community," said Kirk, who himself drives part-time for the Bay Area Transportation Authority. "To have people be so helpful is great. Friends have loaned us cars for months at a time."
The local arts community drew together around the Rowes because both Kathy and Kirk are self-employed fiber artists. They have worked for decades together out of their Solon Township home and spent many years traveling the art fair circuit to sell their fiber creations. Both have been active in the local arts community and Kathy has often demonstrated her fiber art and weaving to area schools and arts groups.
Like many self-employed people, the Rowes always have struggled to find affordable health insurance for their family. Fortunately, just weeks before her illness, they purchased health insurance at a group rate with the Suttons Bay School District, where Kathy was teaching part time.
Still, expenses began piling up. When word spread of Kathy's health problems and growing financial difficulties, other artists stepped forward to help.
"You might as well help out because someday it might be you," said Bill Perkins, owner of Sleeping Bear Twig Furniture in Cedar, who displayed furniture at the fund-raiser. "Both our families are art fair gypsies, which means you bump into them all over the country and see them more often than aunts, uncles or cousins. You get to be good friends sitting next to each other at a booth all weekend."
Stan Silverman, owner of the Michigan Artist Gallery in Suttons Bay and co-president of the Traverse Area Arts Council, volunteered to help organize the fund-raisers. Artists from both the council and the Northwestern Michigan Artists and Craftsmen came together for the first time ever to display in this show. Silverman also decided to base the fund-raiser at the City Opera House because it is the arts center of the community.
"This is community helping community," said Silverman, who sells pieces by the Rowes in his gallery. "This is no different from policemen helping other policemen or firemen helping other firemen."