Eric White Painting “Foyer” to Benefit Foundation Again
by Guest
My painting “Foyer” is based on my mother’s experience with oral cancer. The “Foyer” painting was originally created for and sold at a benefit show called Stages benefiting the LIVESTRONG Foundation. Stages opened in Paris summer of 2009 at Gallerie Perrotin and coincided with Lance Armstrong’s return to cycling.
My mother, Terri White Tate, has been a Registered Nurse for 40 years, with a masters in psychiatric nursing from the University of Michigan. Twenty-four hours of surgery left her disfigured, exhausted, unable to eat or talk normally and clinging to a 2% chance of survival. It turns out she had more time than predicted. It’s now been nineteen years since she started what she calls her “bonus life” in Sausalito, California. Her speech is altered, but she took up storytelling as a path back to a speaking career. She now performs “Shopping as a Spiritual Path,” her solo show about cancer and other challenges, which won Best of the Fringe at the San Francisco Fringe Festival. She now speaks and performs for cancer groups and health care organizations, such as The Cancer As A Turning Point Conference and Gilda’s Club.
I chose the title “Foyer” for a couple reasons. There is an entryway in the painting, which I saw as a threshold between life before and after cancer, it was a French word, and the piece was premiering in Paris. After the show I learned from a French friend that Foyer also means the epicenter of a disease.
Please help me support the LIVESTRONG Foundation’s empowering programs and services by purchasing a print of “Foyer”. Thirty percent of the proceeds from each print will be donated to serve those affected by cancer around the world. Visit my official LIVESTRONG Foundation Grassroots Fundraising Page for more information and purchase the print on my website.
Eric White
Artist and LIVESTRONG Grassroots Fundraiser
