Living the Sweet Life:
Fall is a Celebration of Life
I
t’s fall again, and as with every October, I set about finishing the Art and Medicine Projects like Santa Claus so that everyone can get a calendar and give back to our community. The calendars have for some become synonymous with Alisa Murray Studios, especially for those participants over the years. This year, I have two projects and special dedications to make. I am presenting the second annual Small Miracles calendar. I am a member of the Texas Community Referral Network (TCRN-Sugar Land), and each year, we host the Sugar Land Bash. Last year, I created a special project with the TCRN-Sugar Land for The Snowdrop Foundation as the second organization for charity through the Alisa Murray Art and Medicine projects. In my Small Miracles’ project, each of the participants are children who have had or are currently going through cancer. All proceeds from Small Miracles benefits The Snowdrop Foundation which in turn, assists families via Texas Children’s Hospital. The 2012 Small Miracles calendar cover this year features Patrick Rider. Patrick came to know me through the project and also became a friend as well. He shared his time with us while visiting Texas Children’s and spending time in the afternoons playing Legos and swimming with James Edward. This spring, he lost his fight with cancer, and when his mother called to tell me the news, I couldn’t speak. His absence is still a very fresh wound even as I write this. I wanted to honor him and his family this year by placing him on the cover. On October 29th from 4 to 7 pm in Sugar Land Town Square Plaza, I will be there to sign calendars. Last year, I also wrote a song entitled Small Miracles and the band “80 Proof’s” lead guitarist Rudy Rios wrote the music. We recorded the song at the studios of Texas Music Marketing last year with the children in the calendars. The song was played last year, and this year the band will perform live! The calendars are $12.00 with an addi-
The Small Miracles 2012 cover features Patrick Rider.
tional $3.00 for shipping. They can be purchased at www.snowdropfoundation.org. This month celebrates the tenth anniversary of the first Art and Medicine project – my Hope and Inspiration surviving mothers of breast cancer calendar. The calendars have been an inspiration to many. It all began as a way for me to make sure that my good friend Joan Rosenthal’s daughter would have pictures with her mother. You see, for those of you who have been following my columns and projects over the years, you already know the “why.” But here’s the “why” for those of you new to me and my work. My mother was killed in an auto accident when I was eight and my uncle, who was a photographer, gave me pictures of her throughout my childhood. These became little treasures to me, and when my friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, our girls were little. I asked her to allow me to shoot her so I would have pictures “just in case.” A year later.... she was cancer free, and I asked her if she had met any other mothers during chemo. I decided I wanted to create a special project that would be a merger of my art and a way to fund medicine. My father and mother were both in the medical profession and both deceased. This was an additional way for me to honor them. Hence the creation of a division in my life’s work that I call the Art and Medicine projects. The calendar was born in 2003 and was featured on television immediately. Each year it has been featured both in fort bend
magazine • October 2011
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By Alisa Murray www.AlisaMurray.com Nationally recognized portrait artist and award-winning columnist.
print as well as via television interviews. I, as an artist, feel it is my responsibility to give back to my community in a way that benefits research as well as offers a unique and lasting portrait for these select mothers with their children. In 2010 the Hope and Inspiration calendar was featured nationally on the Today show. The current 2011 calendar was funded by The American Cancer Association and used as their fundraiser. My friend, Joan Rosenthal, now with two additional adopted children, was featured in the 2011 calendar as a special way for me to emphasize that life does go on and to honor her. She is also our cover story this month in Fort Bend Focus!
Alisa and Joan Rosenthal
This fall, I am gifting to Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital a second collection. The first, gifted in 2010 of my newborns, hangs as a permanent exhibit in the Labor and Delivery wing. The latest collection entitled The Hope Collection, is the tenure of my work with mothers who have survived breast cancer. The gift will be unveiled and hang as a permanent tribute to those who have gone through this disease. They are mothers, sisters, wives and each is an inspiration to us all. Call or visit www.alisamurray.com or like my page, Alisa Murray Photography on Facebook, for the date of the dedication. I look forward to many years of sharing my life’s work in such a way that serves others and inspires each of us to give of ourselves and be the best we can be! Take Care of You!