Childrens Art Shows to Raise Support for Agent Orange Victims



Two children'ss art shows, will raise awareness of the debilitating effects of Agent Orange on children in the Vietnam War, and will raise funds for clinics and housing in the Vietnam Friendship Village Project. The village cultivates reconciliation and healing of the wounds from the Vietnam War, and helps many children deformed by Agent Orange.

We want to put a face on what is blandly called 'scollateral damage,'s said Dr. Elaine Struthers, the shows's organizer. One of the most serious disabling conditions children around the world face today is war. We are trying to tell of its effects on children.

During the months of May and June, Island Occupational Therapy will present multi-media art created by Struthers's children patients. The show Our Western Furniture will exhibit at The Black Drop café, 1530 Cornwall Ave., from May 2 to May 30. It will feature doll furniture accented by the poetry of James Fenton, whose prize-winning poetry series Our Western Furniture spoke out about the effects of the 20th century wars waged by the West in southeast Asia and Cambodia.

The show Children & War, featuring masks and found objects (modern art made from toy parts, broken plates, etc.) will be on display at the Bellingham Public Market, at 1530 Cornwall Ave., from May 2 to June 30, and at Children'ss Gallery Walk on May 4.

Furniture will sell for $10 and Masks for $20; checks made to the Vietnam Friendship Village Project are preferred. The village project will receive all sales proceeds.

The children who made this art have developed compassion and an international relationship for children in a faraway village who need their help, Struthers said.

For more information call Island OT at (360) 738-3051, or email Struthers.





Childrens Art Shows to Raise Support for Agent Orange Victims