Time to turn that daydreaming about breasts into a good cause.
The last phase of the Busted traveling art show—raising awareness around breast health issues and cancer—is coming home to Nelson on Thursday, September 20 (7 p.m.) at the Spiritbar in the Hume Hotel.
After six months of touring the West Kootenay with 15 plaster busts of 13 women—ranging in age from 17 to 71—professionally and artfully designed by 15 Kootenay artists, the show that began as one woman’s homage to her mother’s battle with breast cancer has come home to where it started.
Busted: Art Auction Extravaganza hosted by Sara Cadeau will see the final bids placed on the 15 busts next week, bringing the show to a close with some of the best talent in the West Kootenay as well, said show curator, artist, model and visionary Safire Jones.
Jones said it was bittersweet seeing the tour end, after she began it late last spring, less than one year after her mother died from the disease.
“It’s been an amazing journey and experience sharing heart warming stories with all of these women,” she said about the show’s odyssey. “This has been such a fulfilling project that is now coming to fruition.”
And that end is the Art Auction Extravaganza, the final chance to see the busts together in their colourful countenances, and perhaps bring a pair home on a successful bid.
The show at the Spiritbar begins with live music, multimedia—plaster casting (by Safire Jones) and painting (by Avrell Fox)—hoola hoopers, shadow dancers and body painters, all culminating at 10 p.m. with the end of the silent auction.
But not the end of the night. The music and gyrating on the dance floor continues until midnight.
The roster of singer and songwriters for the night is staggering, including Roxanne Hall, Lana Benson, Pauline Lamb, and Safire Jones, perfomance dance by Slava Doval and DJs Morning Glory and Lady V. providing an electronic presence to get you grooving on the dance floor.
“There will be a lot of women performing that night,” said Jones. “With all of the talented artists, models and performers involved with this project I am expecting to see a diverse audience in attendance at the Spiritbar where the back room lounge will be transformed into the “Busted Gallery“ auction site.”
The funds raised by the show will be split between national breast cancer support group Willow—run by breast cancer survivors—and a gift for Kootenay Lake Hospital’s oncology ward.
Willow is a support network for people living with a diagnosis of cancer, as well as those who are touched by the disease through a loved one, making sure no one faces cancer alone.
The organization (www.willow.org) helps people across the country with a wide range of supports, including peer counselling, self examination information, alternative and traditional treatments, a huge resource centre and links to other helpful organizations.
The highest bid for one bust so far has been $225, with a few of the 15 busts still without a bid. A startling fact considering the list of artists in the show reads like a who’s who of the West Kootenay scene: Sam Stevenson, Kelly Shepely, Rabi’a, Wendy Watkin, Cindy Moser, Christina Smith, Avrell Fox, Pixie Johnson, Natasha Smith, Cassia Barrett, Bubzee, Della Schafer, Safire Jones, Marin Patenaude and Alana Cronshaw.
The show has toured the Kootenay region—including Nelson’s Ourglass Studio where it started, Sleep is for Sissies café in Winlaw, and Esprit de la Femme Lingerie in Nelson—but it has been noticed around the world.
Jones said she has been contacted by women’s groups as far away as New Zealand with whom the show has resonated, wanting to stage their own similar events.
The pieces can still be viewed in Nelson at Esprit de la Femme on Baker Street until noon on the day of the show, as well as online at www.safirejones.com.
Come out early and support this beautiful, thought provoking project for a not-your-normal night out at the Spiritbar.
Tickets for the finale of the show are $5 to $50, on a sliding scale. There will also be a raffle for a “self care” basket.
For more information on the show, contact Safire Jones at 551-2799.