FRANK Gallery honors cancer patients with art

For women and men who lose their hair due to cancer treatments, a scarf can be a way to maintain hope and a sense of vitality.

In producing scarves decorated with the words and stories of those impacted by cancer, local artist Peg Gignoux and poet Grey Brown said they attempted to reclaim the identity of cancer patients through their collaborative project, “Wrap Your Head Around It,” which premiered at the FRANK Gallery on March 10.

“A scarf is a billboard for women that lose their hair — sometimes their identity,” said Gignoux, who is a member artist at FRANK who specializes in textile art.

“I saw this project as a mechanism to engage people to give back to the cancer community and engage the cancer community in a meaningful, joyous way.”

Both Brown and Gignoux said the project was a culmination of their many years of work within the field of community-based art.

“(In college) I assisted teaching patients in residential care, and I saw how it empowered patients to write,” Brown said.

“It gave them a reason to get up in the morning, and they came together as a writing group, and they trusted one another, and they supported one another, and they found their voice.”

Over several months, Brown and Gignoux held a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project and worked with community members from all over North Carolina for 10 weeks between October and December.

Gignoux and Brown decided to bring the exhibit to FRANK because they said the local, community gallery it coincides with their project mission.

“This work took place in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Greensboro,” Gignoux said.

“The FRANK Gallery is dedicated to bringing outreach projects to their gallery, and it was an obvious choice for me because it’s part of their mission to communicate community work.”

Torey Mishoe, FRANK gallery manager, said the project has strong ties to Chapel Hill.

This evening, Brown and Gignoux will present the exhibition of their art scarves, show a film and answer questions at the reception at FRANK.

Some of the women who inspired multiple scarves will attend the event to tell their stories.

Mishoe said the potential community impact is one of the reasons why FRANK chose to exhibit this project.

“We’re really happy this project supports patients and survivors by providing a beautiful piece of artwork and a collaboration,” Mishoe said.

“I think it’s important in any community to be able to foster any people who need it.”

Both Gignoux and Brown hope the community will be inspired to create art that creates positive changes within communities.

“I think (viewers) will see the joy and the creativity and the beauty of many hands and many hearts at work and how expressive folks are with cloth,” Gignoux said.

“When you bring a lot of people together, you can do something monumental.”

arts@dailytarheel.com