LENOX, MA. - Ventfort Hall is pleased to present Witness: Sharing Cancer Stories at Ventfort Hall. This is a quilt exhibit created by Francesca Olsen. The exhibit will be on display through March 31.
“Witness” is a show about the experience of young adults during and after cancer treatment. It’s designed to create striking visuals that draw attention to the alarming increase in young adult cancers–while there has been an overall decrease in cancer deaths, there has been a whopping 79.1% increase in cancer rates for people under age 50 across the world. This increase necessitates new methods and practices of care.
To develop the quilts for this show, Francesca Olsen spent time interviewing 17 young adults who were touched by cancer in different ways, from thyroid to leukemia to breast cancer at all stages. Their invaluable perspective drives work about balance, re-entering the world, dealing with caregivers and the medical industry, and building community among people who have been through cancer.
Cancer is often seen as an older person’s disease, but this is changing, and we need to draw light on how to address the needs of this patient population. Younger people are starting or building their careers. They often have young children to care for, or they are in the middle of taking care of aging parents, or doing both at the same time. They have fewer financial resources and less room to make mistakes, take extended time off, or find support.
After treatment, they’re often expected to go back to “normal” without much time to re-evaluate who they are and what’s important now. Like Olsen, they live with cancer and its indefinite treatment, or the constant reminder that cancer could recur. Many live with daily complications and severe after-effects from treatment.
Olsen’s quilts showcase this experience– “Witness,” for which the show is named, includes embroidered quotes from survivor interviews in the style of a temperance banner or Victorian-era community quilt. “Treatment” is an embroidered whole cloth quilt that shows a chronological list of all the drugs Olsen has had to take during her cancer experience. “Ribbon” deconstructs the metastatic breast cancer ribbon’s colors (pink, teal, and green). “Verification” is a quilted floral greeting card based on the world of the online cancer community that asks Is this happening to anyone else?”
“Witness” was created as a yearlong project supported by Artists at Work, a national workforce resilience program in the spirit of the WPA that is designed to support artists and their communities through artistic civic engagement. To date, AAW has provided 70 artists and culture workers across 11 states with a salary and health benefits, leveraging their power and creativity in partnership with over 80 cultural and community organizations throughout the nation.
The exhibit is included in the regular admission to the museum.
