Community Challenge Project: Hearts for Baby Carriage
www.rainacowanarttherapist.comHeArts for Baby Carriage: Heartache/Heartbreak
Thank you for your interest in the HeArts for Baby Carriage project. The intention is to fill my antique baby carriage with hundreds of small sewn stuffed hearts. The hearts are tokens of remembrance: symbolizing the grief and loss (heartache and heartbreak) that people (especially women) experience when faced with infertility, miscarriage or other perinatal trauma. The idea is to add visibility to these losses, and to help reduce the stinging stigma of being “barren or impotent” for those struggling to build family. People who have been impacted will be invited to choose a heart to keep as a token of remembrance and small comfort. The HeArts for Baby Carriage will be part of an exhibit entitled Challenging Conception: The Art of Infertility in Chicago, http://bit.ly/artofifchicago2018 starting October 2, 2018 at The Open Studio Project https://www.openstudioproject.org/ in partnership with the ART of Infertility http://www.artofinfertility.org/#!/home/ an ongoing project raising awareness about infertility and offering support to those living with infertility since 2014 via art exhibits, workshops, oral histories, presentations, and more.
Infertility, the inability to get pregnant, impacts on average 1 in 8 couples. Each month that doesn’t result in a viable pregnancy is felt as a loss or lost opportunity. Likewise each assisted reproduction cycle that isn’t “successful”. Miscarriage is the loss of a pregnancy up to the 20th week. Stillbirth occurs between 20-40 weeks.
If you wish to help sew hearts, please commit to making a minimum of 6 – 10 hearts (more are welcome) by October 1, 2018. Please follow the template:
They may be hand or machine stitched, have an edge or no edge, but don’t forget to leave room for batting before closing! Red color fabric is the obvious first choice but other colors and patterns are welcome too (please feel free to repurpose baby blankets or clothes). Texture should be “comforting”. Feel free to get creative.
If you are in or near Chicago, I may be able to pick up or we can arrange drop off. I am not responsible for shipping costs. Feel free to email me at [email protected] with any questions or for mailing/drop off information. Please visit my website https://www.rainacowanarttherapist.com/ for articles on adoption, infertility and miscarriage.
There will also be a group workshop on Sunday, September 30, from 2-5 pm at the Open Studio Project in Evanston, IL. Follow link here for more info and to sign up:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hearts-for-baby-carriage-workshop-tickets-48432339431
rainacowanarttherapist.com