First Tuesday of Each Month

Pink Days at the Rose: Art workshops reduce the anxiety of mammogram screenings

Rigid, tense, anxious — such are the words used to gauge the mood inside a mammography testing site waiting room. But it doesn't have to be that way, now that the non-profit breast cancer organizations Pink Ribbons Project and The Rose are teaming up to reduce the testing trauma via active engagement in art.

It's all part of the Pink Days program, taking place at The Rose Galleria on the first Tuesday of each month. A different guest presenter directs each week, engaging women through art workshops before their screenings.

"A day that people might fear is now something to look forward to," Loubel Cruz Galik, executive director of Pink Ribbons Project, tells CultureMap. "Now, visitors will be able to do something a little relaxing while waiting."

Launching the event on Tuesday is artist Kermit Eisenhut, known for his fanciful character and animal depictions in acrylic. Needlework artist Terri King of At This Point Embroidery has also been enlisted, along with Wild Heart Art's Kay Kemp, who will lead a workshop on three-dimensional card making. Non-profits Sweet Notions and SOMObeads are collaborating on a fashion-forward seminar.

"We wanted a diverse group of activities to make sure someone would feel comfortable that they had the capacity to do whatever the task is," says Karen Campbell, who arranged the lineup of artists. "The activity had to be something that was creative to take their minds off the fact that they're about to have an appointment and are not always going to be comfortable. It had to be upbeat and simple, but also really substantive."

Campbell notes that several of the chosen artists reflect the contribution of women in the arts.

The Rose has collaborated with Pink Ribbons Project since 1999, but this is the first time an activity has taken place directly at a screening site. Says The Rose CEO and co-founder Dorothy Gibbons, "Women are notorious for putting ourselves and our health last. We thought, 'What would make people want to make a mammogram appointment and keep that appointment?' We wanted something educational, as well as fun, and that is what Pink Ribbons does so well."

Echoes Cruz Galik, "I think there is a healing involved in art, whether it calms your body or your soul."

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”