Virginia Spiegel: Collage Mania opens May 5

An inspirational article by my guest blogger – Virginia Spiegel

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Collage Mania

“Growth” Rhonda Baldwin		“She did it for me” Lynn Colwell

Collage Mania, a Fiberart For A Cause fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, opens May 5 with 383 fiber collages donated by 161 artists from around the world.

The artwork can be previewed previewed here.

Collage Mania opens May 5 with an $80 minimum donation for each artwork. On May 6 and 7, the minimum donation drops to $40. Of course, since this is a fundraiser, patrons are encouraged to donate a bit more if they are able. The goal of this three-day art extravaganza is to raise at least $20,000 for the American Cancer Society.

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 fundrasing efforts. We both fundraise in honor of our Dad, a colon cancer survivor. As he says, “Fifteen years and I’m still here.” We do Relay as a three-generation family effort.

   “Learning to Dance” Kara Klein

Fiberart For A Cause grew from the online Quiltart group joining me in making postcards to huge booths at three International Quilt Festivals donated by our Honorary Chairperson, Karey Bresenhan. Karey is the Director of the International Quilt Festival – Houston, Chicago and Long Beach and a cancer survivor. She has shown a personal interest in FFAC that has made it successful beyond my wildest dreams.

We have already donated over $170,000 to the ACS through the Postcard Project, the Invitational Reverse Auction, Collage Mania and many other smaller fundraisers. The generosity of artists and patrons has been steady, uplifting and amazing!

Collage Mania is the final big FFAC fundraiser as I return to my studio fulltime. Fiberart For A Cause will still raise funds in a much more low-key manner through the FFAC Store, my eBook Art, Nature, Creativity, Life, and fundraisers by Friends of FFAC.

I thank everyone who has taken this wild and crazy journey with me and thank them for their support and good wishes.

About Virginia

I create textile art for the wall exclusively from my own hand-painted fabrics as well as mixed-media collages, artist books, and sculpture.

Although I place meaning above materiality in my artwork, I am still in love fiber in all its forms. My artwork is known for its evocative use of color and focus on the beauty of everyday nature as well as the complexity of human nature. In part, I hope to inspire others to notice and take action against the current devaluation of the natural world.

The twelve trips I have taken with my sister in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has greatly influenced the subject and direction of my artwork in recent years.

My artwork and exhibition record are on my website http://www.virginiaspiegel.com and I blog about my artistic life and creativity at http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/blog/