Blending Art With Science
On April 7, 2018 over 100 people gathered at Boston Children’s Hospital for a special conference called Success Strategies for Individuals and Families Impacted by Fragile X. It was an inspirational day that included presentations by 2 fragile X researchers, Dr. Craig Erickson from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Carol Wilkinson from Boston Children’s Hospital. Both researchers are funded by FRAXA Research Foundation, the platinum sponsor of the conference. I am Director of Community Relations for FRAXA, and I invited my friend and artist, Maria Castellano-Usery to join us for the day.
Maria started Brushstrokes With Impact™, a campaign where she merges art, community, and raising money for causes she feels strongly about. Over the course of twenty-eight “Paint-a-Thon” events (which have taken place in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York) she has raised money for many good causes. At the conference she set up her easel at the FRAXA table and spent the day creating an 8”x8” painting that was given at the end of the conference to the winner of a raffle. Maria was well received by the fragile X community. So many people stopped by to watch and it was a unique experience of combining art with science. FRAXA’s mission is to find effective treatments and a cure for fragile X, the most common inherited cause of learning disabilities and autism. FRAXA invests money directly into research labs around the world.
The winner of the raffle was Cliff Lamb. His daughter Nicole was diagnosed with fragile X at Yale in 2017. Nicole is 9 years old. He and his wife Katherine have another daughter Natalie (12 years old) who was also tested but is not a carrier of fragile X. Cliff says, “Nicole loves the painting, especially the colors and the texture of the cloth.” She takes it off the wall to play like a toy, so Cliff needs to make sure she does not damage this work of art. Nicole is always searching for sensory input and she is very sensitive to background noise. Cliff knows going forward he needs to help her as she experiences sensory overload in places where background noise is high. Cliff is an electrical engineer and he spends much time analyzing the spectral analysis of background noise and ways to mitigate. Maria’s painting could not have found a better home! And FRAXA found some new friends.
Maria started Brushstrokes With Impact™, a campaign where she merges art, community, and raising money for causes she feels strongly about. Over the course of twenty-eight “Paint-a-Thon” events (which have taken place in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York) she has raised money for many good causes. At the conference she set up her easel at the FRAXA table and spent the day creating an 8”x8” painting that was given at the end of the conference to the winner of a raffle. Maria was well received by the fragile X community. So many people stopped by to watch and it was a unique experience of combining art with science. FRAXA’s mission is to find effective treatments and a cure for fragile X, the most common inherited cause of learning disabilities and autism. FRAXA invests money directly into research labs around the world.
The winner of the raffle was Cliff Lamb. His daughter Nicole was diagnosed with fragile X at Yale in 2017. Nicole is 9 years old. He and his wife Katherine have another daughter Natalie (12 years old) who was also tested but is not a carrier of fragile X. Cliff says, “Nicole loves the painting, especially the colors and the texture of the cloth.” She takes it off the wall to play like a toy, so Cliff needs to make sure she does not damage this work of art. Nicole is always searching for sensory input and she is very sensitive to background noise. Cliff knows going forward he needs to help her as she experiences sensory overload in places where background noise is high. Cliff is an electrical engineer and he spends much time analyzing the spectral analysis of background noise and ways to mitigate. Maria’s painting could not have found a better home! And FRAXA found some new friends.
