Titled From Women's Hands, this weekend's art show was really born in the heart.
The three-day show this weekend at the Hagerty Center showcased women using their creativity to help other women battling cancer. More than 200 artists turned artistic passion into compassion, including just over 100 display artists as well as writers, musicians, filmmakers and culinary artists.
Artists donated 20 percent of sales to the Women's Cancer Fund, which covers non-medical related expenses for women as they are treated for cancer. A silent auction and raffle featured pieces donated by participating artists. In addition, 14 unique beaded bras, created and donated by members of the Bay Area Bead Guild, were auctioned during the event.
One hundred percent of proceeds from the raffle and auction benefited the fund. Organizers estimate that the fourth annual juried show raised between $20,000-25,000 for the Women's Cancer Fund.
"It was just such a beautiful year in terms of people: they came, they enjoyed and they had lots of space and opportunity for interaction with each other," said Jennifer Hutchinson, chair of the event.
The show opened Friday evening with a VIP reception followed by a four-hour opening session that drew 1,600 attendees. Saturday and Sunday hours also featured author readings, musicians, a film and an original oratorio about breast cancer entitled "Where I Live," sung by the Trillium Singers.
"This is my first time and I love it," enthused Kelly Barz of Beulah, who came to support a friend who had art in the show. "I think having all women is fantastic."
Colored pencil artist Carolyn Hudson of Glen Arbor participated in the show for the second year, bringing five framed pieces, 15-20 prints and note cards. As an artist, the show fostered that magical quality of exposure: bringing her work to a wide audience and even landing a gallery after last year's event.
As a woman, the three-day show was both nurturing and validating, a way to help other women in need.
"It's a wonderful cause and I feel good about doing it every year," Hudson said.
Hudson also relished the visual vibrancy of the show, with the creativity of participants jumping out at attendees.
"The colors are what really amazes me about the women artists, because if you go into galleries, a lot of times the colors are not as vibrant," said Hudson, who has been working in colored pencils for 20 years. "But for some reason these women use a lot of color, they don't hold back at all."
Members of the Bead Guild unleashed their creativity on the bras, with each underwire garment (for display only) making a unique statement. Everyone started with the same size and style of bra and the rules required that 80 percent of the result had to be beads.
Joanne McIntyre created "Take Charge" out of a two-inch high stack of credit cards she accumulated in her life and also after her in-laws died. Snipping and rounding edges and sorting for months, she plastered her work with fragments of modern values.
"I think it's been cathartic because I'm handling all the estate," she reflected.
The bra project was the guild's spring bead challenge — of last year, as the work stretched over the seasons to this spring. As with all the guild's regular challenges, the same idea yielded 14 unique creations, each with their own personality and concept.
"It was a perfect fit," McIntyre said of the From Women's Hands show. "There are a couple of us crazy enough to think about doing it again next year."
Participating artists are often touched by cancer, either having been diagnosed themselves or knowing someone who has or died from the disease. This lends a poignancy to many of the works displayed at From Women's Hands.
"One women made it while her sister in law was in the hospital dying of cancer," said McIntyre. "And I have a good friend who's in Hospice right now, and she's my age."