Record Number of Collages for Collage Mania American Cancer Society Fundraiser
Byron, Illinois, April 22, 2009- Collage Mania, a Fiberart For A Cause online fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, will be held on May 5-7, 2009. A preview of the collages (many small art quilts) will be available beginning April 29. A record number of artists, 161, have donated 383 collages. All collages will sell for a minimum donation of $80 on May 5 and a minimum donation of $40 on May 6 and 7. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the American Cancer Society. Last year Collage Mania raised $13,000 for the American Cancer Society in two days. Virginia Spiegel, founder and organizer, says that the goal for Collage Mania 2009 is $20,000.
The collages remain online as a resource for fiber artists. To see all the fiber collages donated for Collage Mania 2009, go to http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CollageMania2009.html.
In three years, Fiberart For A Cause (FFAC) has donated more than $165,000 to the American Cancer Society. Virginia Spiegel’s sister, Nancy Spiegel Rosman, is chair of the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life in Forest Lake, Minnesota. Their father is a colon cancer survivor. Spiegel was a minimally participating team member until April 2005 when she decided to try to increase her donation to the American Cancer Society by offering a few fiber art postcards online in exchange for donations. Her hope was to have three of seven postcards acquired by patrons and raise $90. Eventually she was making fiber art postcards full time to sell online for FFAC. Karen Stiehl Osborn asked if she could help keep up with demand by making and donating some postcards in memory of her dad. Artists and patrons worldwide adopted the FFAC. Donated fiber art postcards raised more than $10,000 in just four months. This success led to an invitation by the FFAC Honorary Chair, Karey Bresenhan, to exhibit and sell fiber art postcards at the International Quilt Festival - Houston in November 2005 where an additional $20,000 was raised in four days. Although the postcard project ended in 2006 after raising more than $100,000, FFAC has continued fundraising with other fiber-related activities including Collage Mania. All donations through Fiberart For A Cause are credited to the Forest Lake Relay For Life, but go directly to the American Cancer Society.