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[unTITled]: how a breast cancer survivor learned to say goodbye to her boobs

January 5, 2023 - January 21, 2023

[UNTITLED]: how a breast cancer survivor learned to say goodbye to her boobs
Octagon Center for the Arts Community Gallery

Curated by Tiffany Antone and Vivian M. Cook

Note that, in order to protect our community — and especially high-risk members of our community, such as cancer patients — masks will be required in the gallery and during all events for this exhibit. Thank you! 

Content warning: This exhibit (and accompanying performances) features some strong language and nudity, including photos from Tiffany’s mastectomy and radiation treatments.

January 5-21, 2023:

Exhibit on display in the Octagon Community Gallery 

Co-curated with Tiffany Antone, who recently went through breast cancer and a double mastectomy, this exhibit will offer space for community, connection, and healing through conversations around breast cancer and breast removal. Tiffany, and a community of artists with shared experiences of breast cancer, will showcase visual, literary, and performance artwork, and the Octagon will invite community members to participate in interactive art-making opportunities. This exhibit will interrogate our cultural obsession with breasts, bring light to the sometimes fraught (and oft-times under-realized) connection we have to them, and give voice to the myriad complicated feelings that comes with letting them go. 

From Co-Curator and Featured Artist, Tiffany Antone:  In fall of 2021 I had my first ever mammogram, which led to a breast cancer diagnosis and a double mastectomy.  Facing down the time-crunch of having to decide very quickly whether I wanted to also have reconstructive surgery, I found myself confronting an internal stew of contradictions.  I discovered that my relationship to my breasts was much more complex than I realized, and while having them removed was the correct health-wise course to take, reconciling myself to this new, now-altered, body has been a very tortuous experience. It is the complexity of this journey which left me yearning for ways to connect with others not only about breast cancer, but also about what breasts mean to them and what our breasts (or lack thereof) mean to the people around us. 

Octagon Class Discounts!

During the run of this exhibit, breast cancer patients, previvors, and survivors will receive a 20% discount on the purchase of an art class at the Octagon. Register in- person or call the Octagon Shop (515-232-5331) between January 5 – 21 to receive the discount. (Youth art camps excluded.)

Saturday, January 7, 2023: 

10:30-11:45 AM: Soulful Healing Yoga

Octagon Dance Studio

Join Melissa, founder of Soulful Healing Yoga, for a restorative yoga practice. This type of yoga is rooted in supporting the health of the body and the brain – rewiring functions of the nervous system – by enhancing the ability to reduce stress and process it; boosting the immune system; reducing muscle tension – imagine a sense of completely being able to let go! – and providing tools to learn how to relax and self-soothe. Each shape will be held in a supportive manner with no muscular strength required.

Combine this with yoga nidra, a “yogic sleep” in which the practitioner is in a state of consciousness between wake and sleep that allows for complete physical, mental and emotional relaxation. By allowing your physical body to fall into deep relaxation, you’ll withdraw from your senses and the world around to sink into greater inner awareness and in this meditative state.

This class will have seated and reclined positions, both on the floor. If you have a blanket, pillow or bolster, yoga mat, and blocks of your own, please bring them. If you do not have these items, no worries! Please let us know upon registration and they will be provided for you. If you prefer to do this class seated in a chair, please let us know as well.

This event is geared toward breast cancer patients, survivors, and previvors. However, anyone is welcome to join! No prior yoga experience is required. Please register (for free!) here by January 5th

 
1:00-3:30 PM: Writing Through Cancer Meets [UNTITLED]: how a breast cancer survivor learned to say goodbye to her boobs

Octagon Community Gallery

Bring your notebook and pen, and invite your muse to write to writing prompts inspired by the Octagon exhibit, [UNTITLED]: how a breast cancer survivor learned to say goodbye to her boobs.

After introductions and creating a safe space, we will write together for timed intervals. After each session of writing, participants will have the opportunity to read their stories to the group, which is healing on many levels, and a self-care surprise.

This afternoon of writing is led by Ana McCracken, founder of the Ames Writers Collective. For the past year, Ana has led virtual Writing Circle Wednesdays for the William R. Bliss Cancer Resource Center. Writing Through Cancer Writing Circles are inspired by the Amherst Writers & Artists method, which believes that everyone is a writer.

RSVPs for this free event are not required, but preferred. Please email ana@ameswriterscollective.org for questions and to RSVP. Visit ameswriterscollective.org for more information about Writing Through Cancer writing circles.

Quotes from Writing Circle Wednesday Participants:

“I’ve come to regard Writing Circle Wednesdays as an integral part of my cancer treatment. As much as I appreciate the efforts of my medical team and support from family and friends, I still feel an “aloneness” in this journey. Writing Circle Wednesdays has proved a convenient opportunity to air my worries, concerns, hopes and fears that only another cancer patient can truly fathom. It is a safe space to share insights, tears, and laughter.” —NJ

“This has helped with chemo brain SO MUCH.” —KG

“Living with cancer is a lonely journey. Only those who have been or are on that same journey truly understand the emotions, fears and challenges we face each day. I was hoping to gain some insight into how others coped with their diagnosis. I not only gained that, but also came to understand more fully my own reactions to my personal cancer story. This was a valuable experience for me. I don’t feel quite as alone as I did.” —PP

Thursday, January 12, 2023:

7:00-8:30 PM: An [UNTITLED] Performance

Octagon Main Gallery

Join Tiffany, and a host of talented artists, as they share an uncensored look at their breast cancer experiences through poetry, short plays, narrative essays, and a dash of stand-up comedy. Told with humor, heart, and sincerity, this performance offers audiences an opportunity to connect more deeply to the artists’ journeys, and one another. 

Image: “Heavy Lift” by Tiffany Antone. 

 
Saturday, January 14, 2023:

1:00-2:30 PM: An [UNTITLED] Performance

Octagon Main Gallery

Join Tiffany, and a host of talented artists, as they share an uncensored look at their breast cancer experiences through poetry, short plays, narrative essays, and a dash of stand-up comedy. Told with humor, heart, and sincerity, this performance offers audiences an opportunity to connect more deeply to the artists’ journeys, and one another. 

Image: “Heavy Lift” by Tiffany Antone.  

 
3:00-5:00 PM: Make Your Own Boob Prints! Craft Day

Octagon Dance Studio

Before Tiffany’s mastectomy, she created an inkprint of her breasts, and she’s so glad she did! Tiffany’s inkprint is featured in the Octagon Community Gallery, and she invites community members to create their own breast-prints! This event will take place in the Octagon Dance Studio, with a private room available for individuals to actually create a print they can take home with them. Tiffany will provide guidance throughout the process!

Anyone who wants to create a breast-print is welcome to join! 

We particularly want to invite breast cancer patients, survivors, and previvors to register for this event. All boobs are welcome, but please note that Tiffany tried this on her reconstructed boobs, and it was a little more challenging. 

Please register (for free!) here by January 13th.

Image: Inkprint by Tiffany Antone

 

Questions about the exhibit? Email curator@octagonarts.org 

Looking for some resources related to cancer screening and awareness?
Check out Iowa Cancer Consortium and the William R. Bliss Cancer Center
Some additional helpful resources recommended to us: 
American Cancer Society
LGBTQ+ Guide for Cancer Screening
An article from the American Cancer Society about racial disparities in breast cancer statistics  

Thank you to our exhibit artists:
Tiffany Antone, Marla Andich, Summer Awad, Diana Burbano, Pamela Crouch, Hilde DeBruyne, Sharon Goldner, Carolyn Krueger, Kimberly Kruse, Amy McEntaffer, Molly McGuire, Karen Murphy, Connie Mutel, Angela J. Olney, Kelly Marie Schaefer, Rowen Schussheim-Anderson & Students at Augustana College
Art 253 Fiber Sculpture Class, Gaye Shannon-Burnett, Jill Sneed, India Snow-Watt, Mónica Toro Lebrón, Megan Wassom

Thank you to our exhibit photographers: 
Kamaura Kim (ArtForce Iowa) and Alyson O’Hara 

Thank you to our exhibit partners: 
Ames Writers Collective, Iowa Cancer Consortium, NormaLeah Ovarian Cancer Initiative, Soulful Healing Yoga, and William R. Bliss Cancer Center

NormaLeah  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to our exhibit funders:
City of Ames Commission on the Arts, Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities,* and Mary Greeley Medical Center. 

The Octagon Center for the Arts is also supported by the Iowa Arts Council and Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. 

 

 

       

*This program is supported by Humanities Iowa. The views and opinions expressed by this program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities Iowa.

Details

Start:
January 5, 2023
End:
January 21, 2023
Event Category:

Organizer

Octagon Center for the Arts
Phone:
515-232-5331
Email:
info@octagonarts.org
Website:
www.octagonarts.org

Venue

Octagon Center for the Arts
427 Douglas Avenue
Ames, IA 50010 United States
+ Google Map
Phone:
515-232-5331
Website:
www.octagonarts.org