Virtual Trauma Art Exhibit Showcase
My husband says I should have a tattoo that says, "Nothing is ever just easy." He's not wrong. During the Great COVID Quarantine of 2020/21 my sister had been diagnosed with colon cancer in Indianapolis and it took a turn for the worst around Thanksgiving. The drive to Indianapolis was eight hours each time I took off from work and headed out. As I tended to her affairs and made arrangements for her three elementary school aged children I could not visit her due to COVID restrictions. However, she was on the first floor. I would call her on the cell phone and talk from outside her window. Since it was December and January, it was bitter cold so I went in costumes- Pikachu, Tigger, Bigfoot, or whatever I could find. After we talked so long, I would either do a dance for her or do art to display in her room. She believed that she would beat cancer and rally to go home to her children- even when she was in hospice. She was reaching for hope until the day she drew her last breath. "Reaching for Hope" was in her room until February 27, 2021 when she was greeted by our parents and the football stadium of cats she owned over the years, who had previously arrived in Heaven and were waiting patiently.
Artist Bio:
Peggy Owens thought for 39 years that she was born to be a teacher. She won the typical awards- Teachers' Treasures' Teacher of the Year, Pike Township Champion Teacher, Lilly Teacher Creativity Teaching Scholar, and others she is too old and senile to remember. She taught elementary school and administrator for an excruciating eight years until she paroled herself and went back to teaching children. When she retired in Indiana and moved to West Virginia she became a middle school art and gifted teacher. The was a surprise to all, but most of all, to her. Who knew that if a teacher simply passed the PRAXIS, she was suddenly certified to teach? Upon landing in the art room, she found herself pleasantly surprised and enthralled with art. Kandinsky's circles, Van Gogh's unusually placed body parts, and Picasso's unusual works captured her heart and monopolized her time. She was inspired by Dale Chihuly's glass as well as Duchamp's "Nude Descending a Staircase" and has made any number of "explosions in a shingle factory" of her own- although her explosions have been in her kiln. Based on this fact as well as how she bumbled into art accidentally, she has declared her title to be "Accidental Artist.
Other Submissions
Pittsburgh Baptist Church wholly aligns with biblical standards and doctrines for faith and practice. Not all
viewpoints of presenters and artists are reflective of the beliefs upheld by Pittsburgh Baptist Church.
We are honored to host each of these artists as they share their VOICE.