Mammography Art Initiative: Raising money by the inch


In the little spare time they have outside their busy study schedule, medical students from Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine have spent weeks working on three murals that will soon be cut into little pieces. It may seem sacrilegious to take scissors to artwork that has been toiled over so painstakingly, but it’s for a great cause.

The student-created murals will be for sale “by the inch,”at the sixth annual Mammography Art Initiative art show to raise money for free mammograpms and follow up care for underserved women in Miami-Dade. Organized yearly by HWCOM students during October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the event has raised more than $50K since it began in 2011. This year it will be held Saturday, Oct. 21, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Espace Expression in Wynwood. There also will be works on sale donated by local artists.

“The title and theme of this year’s show is Thrive,” says HWCOM student Caitlyn Gallagher, the show’s art director.  “We want it to be a celebration of the spirit of those currently struggling with breast cancer and those who have overcome the potentially deadly disease—the women who have not only survived cancer but learned to thrive beyond it.” The theme also encourages Miami’s thriving art community by promoting local artists and galleries. And, of course, the health of the South Florida community thrives through the free mammograms funded by proceeds from the event.

Presale tickets can be purchased online at medicine.fiu.edu/art and donations can be made at go.fiu.edu/MAIdonate. Light bites will be served along with white and rosé wine. The Espace Expression space is located at 317 NW 28th Street, Miami, FL 33127.