SEPTEMBER IS PEDIATRIC CANCER AWARENESS MONTH AND KICKS OFF MY PROJECT

I've been incredibly nervous and incredibly excited to announce my newest art adventure. I am just putting it out in the world starting today. It is so meaningful to me, and I'm not sure how it will be received by people who don't know me. But I don't care. I'm doing it for my own reasons.

WHY KIDS BATTLING CHILDHOOD CANCER ARE GIVING THEIR 

TOYS TO THIS ST. LOUIS ARTIST

Using mega bloks by Fisher Price, artist Liz Sparling has created a 48 x 48 inch painting to aid in the war against childhood cancer. The mega bloks belonged to a courageous two year old boy who lost his fight to Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). The painting is the first of a series of 12 highly anticipated pieces, where she plans to feature 12 different families battling childhood cancer, using various items belonging to the children to change the composition of each artwork. 

“This project is a tribute, an awareness campaign, a public art exhibit, and a fundraiser,” says Liz. Reproductions of each artwork (as well as the original) are available to the public, bringing fine art prints and symbols of heroism in the forms of cell phone cases, throw pillows, canvas and poster prints, and even phone wallpaper downloads. All proceeds from the sale of reproductions go to the families featured each month, as well as to childhood cancer research programs chosen by the families. 

As a former cancer biology researcher and a current registered nurse, mother, and artist, Liz considers herself as a unique child advocate and sees this as an opportunity to connect the public with those in need through art. 

About 1 in every 300 children will hear the words “you have cancer” before the age of 18. Roughly 40,000 children are undergoing cancer treatment this year, and childhood cancer rates have been steadily increasing over the last 20 years, up 29%, despite recent scientific advances. Some speculate that our chemical laden environment is to blame. It has recently been discovered  that babies today are born with over 200 toxic chemicals detected in their bloodstream at delivery. These children need answers. And unfortunately, there is not enough funding to get to those answers quickly enough and things are going to get worse. Less than 4% of federal cancer research funding goes to childhood cancer research, only 3 new pediatric cancer treatment drugs have been approved by the FDA in the last 20 years, and children are dying every day waiting for promising new treatments that they’ll never see.

“By combining medicine, humanity, and art, I think this is an opportunity to raise awareness, increase financial support, and provide a little inspiration out there for kids who might need it,” she says. "Each month I'll be sharing one story of hope, strength, and courage. An accompanying painting will be created using the children's toys as inspiration, and reproductions will be available to the public. Because the symbol for pediatric cancer is the gold ribbon, each painting is created with gold leaf to stand as a representation of their fight, to share a piece of their courage with the world and leave their mark on it forever. These children represent the very definition of hero, and they want to share a small symbol of their heroism with you through art. So that we may be reminded in a world of overwhelming uncertainty and pain, there can also be an abundance of community, strength, and hope."