One of the first things I did when I joined the Art Unraveled group was to participate in a chunky book exchange which was then auctioned off in the silent auction at their conference. It was my first exchange ever and I had a lot of fun creating my page. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and I see now that I had a lot on this small 4x4 page. But the point is that I jumped into the deep end of the pool and participated.
The background is made up of an American flag, subway tokens, and the head of the Statue of Liberty blindfolded. The words "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." And, "..with Liberty and Justice for ALL!"
A rainbow ribbon - representing the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgender) Community; red, white and blue yarn representing all Americans, a disc charm - one side blue with red & silver stars and one side red with a blue star - A red satin ribbon - representing HIV+ and AIDS (I have lost over 30 friends to this disease). The two bells hanging off this ribbon give voice to those whose voices have been silenced in death from this disease. *
We were asked to complete the back of the page. I painted it red and included the following words to go along with my page in the chunky book:
The Real America..."Disenfranchised"
I thought about the powerful words in the poem "The New Colossus" by Jewish American Emma Lazarus that adorns Lady Liberty and wondered if they still apply today? "...Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." And the phrase, "...with Liberty and Justice for All". Today have we changed that phrase to read "...with Liberty and Justice for Some"?
*Note: World AIDS day is December 1st - what can you do to stop the spread of AIDS worldwide?
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