Festival, art exhibit shine light on cancer

 

Photos by Barbara Benoit / The Relay For Life of Greater Attleboro

Photo 1 (above): Artist Mary Wojciechowski designed these luminaries during the "Creating Awareness" exhibit at the Attleboro Arts Museum held during the Winter Night Festival.
Photos 2 and 3: (left and below left): Artist Greg Anderson used calligraphy to create these luminaries. 

 

The Relay For Life of Greater Attleboro, which will be celebrating its 25^th anniversary at this June’s fundraising event for the American Cancer Society, received a tremendous boost during the recent Winter Night Festival in Attleboro, thanks to an art exhibit held at that time.
The “Creating Awareness” live art-making event featured about a dozen artists decorating luminary bags in various art forms, and it attracted hundreds of spectators throughout the four-hour exhibit.
With the relay on June 16-17 at Norton High School still months away, this was a positive start to what’s always an inspiring event.
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Here’s the link to the column as it appears on The Sun Chronicle website: https://www.thesunchronicle.com/opinion/columns/larry-kessler-let-life-shine-again/article_05839bee-a2bc-56ee-ad58-c925bd11de9c.html
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 With the lingering after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the nerve-wracking rise in all forms of hatred and violence in society, the return of Attleboro’s Winter Night Festival was the perfect way to be transported to a simpler time. At least that’s what it felt like for the more than 3,000 people who jammed downtown Attleboro on the evening of Feb. 18 for the first festival since February 2020, about three weeks before the pandemic locked down our lives.
The family-oriented festival --- with its huge bonfire next to the Attleboro Arts Museum and across from City Hall, hay rides, train rides, Alpaca petting area, food court, face-painting, snow princess majestically walking around on stilts, ice sculptures and many other features --- was the perfect antidote to what ails our society. It sent the revelers back to a calmer era when people were civil and treated each other with respect.
I say that after observing a good deal of the crowd, as they patiently walked through the arts museum to view two exhibits:
* “Influencer,” which presented historic works from the museum alongside contemporary impressions from the museum’s art school students.
* “Creating Awareness,” which involved more than a dozen museum-affiliated artists putting their own spin on the luminaries that will be on display during this year’s Relay For Life of Greater Attleboro, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, which will be held June 16-17 at Norton High School.
As a member of the relay’s organizing committee, I had the chance to chat with the artists, and I was impressed by their dedication to their craft. In addition, many of the people who walked through the museum gallery were motivated by the artists to create their own luminaries. It was especially gratifying to see dozens of kids decorating luminaries, which are lit during the relay to pay tribute to cancer survivors and victims. Many of them were sprawled out on the museum floor as they created their masterpieces.
I was especially inspired by the artists, many of whom have been touched by cancer.
One artist, Mary Wojciechowski said she decided to participate in the live art-making exhibit after losing her husband to cancer. Another, David Volkin, took time to explain that one of his colorful luminaries, done in his abstract art style, represented many things, including the stress that cancer causes on both patients and caregivers, as well as the many types of cancer that make people ill.
A third artist, Greg Anderson, used calligraphy to express many sentiments, including this poignant one: “Cancer opens many doors. One of the most important is the Heart.”
After planning the exhibit for several weeks with Museum Executive Director and Chief Curator Mim Fawcett, the end result exceeded the relay committee’s expectations, and the story isn’t over yet.
Many of the artists’ luminaries will be on display at the Attleboro Public Library in the weeks leading up to the relay, and they will be auctioned off to raise money for the cancer society at the June relay. In addition, the luminaries decorated by the public during the festival will be among those displayed around the track at the relay.
The relay committee is grateful to the museum for continuing its partnership with the relay, and for giving what will be our silver anniversary event in June a tremendous boost. We also congratulate the museum on celebrating its 100^th anniversary, because it remains a tremendous asset to the city.
If you doubt that, you only have to go back to the early days of the pandemic, when the museum’s closing left a gaping hole in Attleboro’s cultural offerings. In contrast, the return of the flower show last year was met by rejoicing.
The news is even better for this year’s show, which Fawcett said will be back fully when it returns in late March; gone will be the appointment-only viewing from last year. The only nod to the post-pandemic era, she said, will be a half-hour closing from Thursday to Saturday, from 12:30 to 1 p.m., to allow for the museum to be cleaned.
Everything else will be more beautiful than ever, starting with this year’s theme, “Songs of Spring --- Nature’s Music.” Except for the benefit preview from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, admission will be $3 daily, with children 9 and under free. Hours will be: Thursday, March 23-Saturday, March 25: 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1-4 p.m. Sunday, March 26, 12-4 p.m. More info: attleboroartsmuseum.org.
Plan on attending; the museum, especially in its centennial year, deserves your support more than ever.

Larry Kessler, a retired Sun Chronicle local news editor, can be reached at larrythek65@gmail.com. He blogs at larrytheklineup.blogspot.com