'Field of Cradles' text/art installation

[susheli]

I am writing to share news about a text/art installation I will be exhibiting for the first time this May in Providence, RI, and also to invite you to participate.

I am a writer, forum-member and two-times survivor of severe pre-eclampsia. When I was on bedrest for many weeks during my second pregnancy, fearing for my unborn daughter's life, I was deeply touched by reading about babies lost to this terrible disease. I became determined to do what little I could to help fight for greater awareness pf preecmapsia and help raise funds toward preeclampsia research. This is how my project was conceived.

My project, entitled "I Gave You Words - Field of Cradles", has grown into a collaboration with over twenty mothers and four young women who are art students at the Rhode Island School of Design. The resulting text/art installation consists of 25 empty cradles containing a short poem, written from words shared with me by mothers who lost their babies to Preeclampsia or HELLP and printed on individually-woven blankets. A very talented composition student is working on a 'sound environment' using words and musical elements, some taken from lullabies, which will be played while the cradles are exhibited. The exhibit will be accompanied by panels that inform viewer about Preeclampsia and HELLP symptoms as well as the work of the PE Foundation, and there will be the opportunity to pledge support.

The first exhibit will take place in a few weeks on the main college green at Brown University, where over 5000 young women and men pass through each day. Further exhibits are planned throughout this summer, and my husband and I are hoping to raise the funds to travel to the hometown of each participating family in June of 2012.

Thank you so much for reading about my exhibit, if you have come this far. If you are interested in participating by sharing your and your baby's story with me and dedicating a cradle to his or her memory, please do write me at email at: susannah_pabot@brown.edu

Susannah (here also Sush)

[eleni]

I wanted to publicly thank Susannah for all she is doing with this project. It has been a pleasure working with her on this project thus far and we look forward to seeing the completed public art project. To all our readers and forum participants, please consider sponsoring this project to come to a public art space in your home town. Susannah will be happy to work with you and it could be a very effective public awareness and education activity that could make a huge difference in your community. We also have other ideas for how you could build this into a larger event or just keep it simple by having preeclampsia literature available near the art display.

We applaud Susannah's efforts to turn the sometimes tragic outcomes of preeclampsia into a force for healing, education and improving outcomes for other mothers and babies!!

Eleni Tsigas
Executive Director
Preeclampsia Foundation

[holly3372@msn.com]

Wow A friend of mine just passed your info to me today. I would love to be invoved

[susheli]

Dear Holly,

Thank you for your reply. Did you receive my email through your friend. I would love to include you, if you would like to be part of the project please write to me as soon as possible.
susannah_pabot@brown.edu

Susannah