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Mel Ahlborn |
| Addiction Madonna and Child Oil on canvas, framed |
Artist Statement: Art can sometimes do what dialogue, diplomacy, and demonstration cannot. Artists like Matthias Grünewald (The Isenheim Altarpiece, 1515) and Picasso (Guernica, 1937) used their art to speak out against plague and violence that threatened the communities in which they lived. In Addiction Madonna, I speak out against the suffering of innocents in my own community, raising up infants born in withdrawal to opioids. A new National Institute on Drug Abuse study finds a five-fold increase in babies born in withdrawal — the same as one baby suffering from opiate withdrawal born every 25 minutes. These babies are more likely than other babies to have low birth weight, respiratory complications, and developmental delays as they grow up. Lord Jesus Christ, only son of the Living God, have mercy. Bio: Mel Ahlborn is a mid-career American artist. In partnership with General Convention and ECVA, Mel Ahlborn created The Ubuntu Reredos, a 40x60’ multimedia altarpiece for the 76th General Convention of The Episcopal Church at the Anaheim Convention Center, July 2009. She has served as Board Member, past-President and CEO of Episcopal Church & Visual Arts, Inc., and producer of Visual Preludes 2003 and 2006 for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. In 2003 Mel was elected Fellow of the Center for Arts, Religion and Education, at the Graduate Theological Union Seminaries, Berkeley, CA. She teaches graduate coursework in Art and Religion, in the subject areas of manuscript illumination, visual preaching, and Visual Art and the Episcopal Church. Ahlborn is the originating Art Editor for Episcopal Café, a media community produced on Mt St Albans at the Washington National Cathedral. She has served as an Advisory Board Member for the Center for Christian Media Studies in Berkeley and Curator of Gallery 1055 in Diocesan House at Grace Cathedral in the Diocese of California. Mel Ahlborn is the Creative Director of the Illumination Studio. |
