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Battles against breast cancer are told in display of aprons

ByMary Gottschalk

At first glance it's a collection of aprons decorated with photos, sequins, drawings, sayings and more.

Look closer and you'll be rewarded with a glimpse into the hearts and lives of courageous souls who have battled breast cancer.

Some have won the fight.

Some have not, so their accompanying narratives are marked with a small black ribbon.

"We All Have a Story to Tell" is the title of the exhibit of these aprons, opening Oct. 5 at Commuknity, 1345 The Alameda, as part of its annual breast cancer awareness programs.

Tosca Lewis' apron has a tree of life in the center representing herself. She surrounded it with the names of all the women she has known who have had breast cancer because, she writes, "I honor those who have gone before me for their courage."

Mary Ellen Presta's apron always brings a smile as observers read her warning, "Hand over the tumor and no one gets hurt!"

The late Carol Martinez used sayings and drawings she clipped out of a favorite angel calendar, while the late Karla Hansen trimmed her apron with a red feather boa.

Ginger Young found a single apron wasn't sufficient so she created seven, five of which are in the show.

Anne Cooney's apron is a tribute to her younger sister Mary Ann Gooldrup, who died of cancer at the age of 40. Cooney herself was undergoing chemotherapy at the time of her sister's death and was too ill to attend her funeral.

Dianne Portnoy attached four plaster casts to her apron. They depict the four most important people in her life--her husband, her two daughters and herself.

The single piece in the exhibit made by a man is by Wayne Gray in memory of his late wife Anne Mills Gray.

Gray made a sculpture of a coastal redwood with photos of his late wife and their life together. Anchoring the tree is a photo of Anne above a miniature apron wrapped around the tree trunk.

The genesis of "We All Have a Story to Tell" was a plain white apron that Saratoga artist Bonnie Stone sent to her friend Anne Gaigenbaum.

Stone wanted to support her friend as she battled a rare form of stomach cancer, so she sewed a large plastic pocket on the front and suggested Gaigenbaum fill it with notes, mementos and anything else that would help her.

At the time, Stone says she thought of an apron because her friend was such a gourmet cook.

It was only later than she started to think of all the symbolism an apron embodies--a shield to protect, a garment identifying servitude, a mark of freedom when the strings are cut and a soft, user-friendly item that wraps the body, much like a hug.

Stone then decided to send aprons to friends across the country ages 26 to 81, inviting them to decorate them as a way of "sharing past, present and future lives."

Those aprons became her first Apron Project, which she titled "No Fuss At All," using the phrase she recalled her mother and other women uttering as they agreed to do extra chores to help another.

After a lecture on that project, a member of the Bay Area Breast Cancer Network approached Stone and asked her if she would be willing to coordinate a similar project for women fighting breast cancer.

Stone agreed, but says to this day, "I can't tell you why I decided to do it.

"I have no background in social work, no background in medicine and I do not have cancer, but there are certain things we're meant to do with our lives."

BABCN sent aprons to women who asked to participate, and Stone kicked into her mode of facilitator and cheerleader.

She created a special newsletter she sent to all, encouraging them to do whatever they wanted to the aprons, including "cut it up or step on it." The newsletters were filled with "rubber stamps, collages, quotations and drawings."

Stone says, "The sky was the limit in terms of interpretation. I wanted them to feel comfortable. Some liked to paint, some used photographs. The whole idea was for them to tell their story."

The newsletters proved to be very meaningful to the recipients.

"There was one woman who signed up but said she couldn't do her apron because she was so sick with chemotherapy," Stone says. "She told me that every time she saw my envelope in the mail, she would take it with her to chemotherapy."

Throughout, Stone was careful not to use the word cancer, because she says she learned that some women avoided the word and became upset when it was used in connection with themselves.

In 1998, when Stone had collected 19 aprons, she fulfilled her promise "to get these out to the public" by approaching management at Westgate Shopping Mall. They gave her an empty store for a week.

"It was a most amazing experience," Stone says. "My personal feeling is that this instillation belongs in places like this. It doesn't belong in museums. John Q. Public is at shopping malls."

Stone also found that in many cases, women were reluctant to come in and would often wait outside while their husbands went in to look at the aprons.

Over the past decade "We All Have a Story to Tell" has been exhibited around Silicon Valley as well as across the country.

Each time it continues to increase awareness and educate.

In that decade, aprons have been added, and Stone has created eight auxiliary pieces that will be in the Commuknity show.

These are not aprons, but more like soft sculptures incorporating vintage clothing and accessories. One of the most striking is the "Coat of Remembrance" a pink coat that is covered with leaves, each one bearing the name of a member of BABCN who died of breast cancer.

Stone has stayed in touch with the women who created the aprons.

"I don't see them on a regular basis. I don't have coffee with them, but they are people who are a part of my life," she says.

"I will never be the same again after the Apron Project."

"We All Have a Story to Tell" is on exhibit from Oct. 4 through mid-November at Commuknity, 1345 The Alameda, 408.293.9333. The opening reception is 1 to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 5. The store's fourth annual Breast Cancer Awareness Benefit and Holiday Boutique is Nov. 4 and tickets are now on sale, with all proceeds going to the Bay Area Breast Cancer Network. For a virtual tour of some of the aprons, visit www.babcn.org.

Photographs courtesy Bonnie Stone

Anne Cooney's apron is a tribute to her sister Mary Ann Gooldrup, who died of cancer at the age of 40.

Wayne Gray made this sculpture of a coastal redwood in memory of his late wife, Anne Mills Gray.