COMPASSION IN ACTION
Once we embrace our connectedness to other humans, Theresa BrownGold tells us, we are moved to become a part of the solution. It is a transformation that BrownGold herself underwent as she uncovered tales of medical bankruptcy, insurance claim denials due to preexisting conditions, and even death due to lack of access to health care.
Through the process of approaching social issues by way of individual stories, BrownGold was moved to activism, using her art to open hearts and minds, educate, and influence legislation.
2012 Supreme Court Info not Slogan.mp4"I believe healthcare is a human right. Politicians have made healthcare political."
- Theresa BrownGold
In 2012, BrownGold was inspired to raise her voice--and her art--on behalf of the millions of people in the U.S. suffering from poor health care policies and the millions more who would lose their insurance if the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) was struck down. The artist and her husband took out a line of credit on their house to finance BrownGold's temporary move to Washington, D.C.
For five months, from January through May, in weather of all kinds, BrownGold spent five hours a day, two to three days a week--nearly 65 hours in total--standing before the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court with her art. She was there to bear witness to the lives of her subjects and to confront our legislators and justices with the human face of their decisions.
Out in public, she caught the eyes and ears of representatives, talked to curious passersby about health care, received the support and gratitude of some, and became a target for the fear, anger, and disdain of others. "I stood still like an anchored buoy while the world moved by in front of me in the unpredictable ocean of life," she later reflected. "As a performance art piece, this action showed me that human beings will staunchly defend a position if their identities are not separate from their opinions. Facts don’t matter." The experience affirmed her belief that we are all better, and do better for one another, when we make the choice to be guided, first and foremost, by compassion.
LISTEN TO THERESA'S ACCOUNT OF HER 2012 "I STAND" ACTION
Over the years, BrownGold has given presentations at senior centers, churches, universities and other venues, teamed up with advocacy groups to take her portraits on tour, and stood with her images on street corners, parks, and the steps of government power in cities throughout Pennsylvania and beyond.
Although she doesn't expect everyone to get out in the streets, she does believe that we all have the right and responsibility to hold our government representatives accountable. As her portrait stories demonstrate, the choices they make, quite literally, determine whether we live or die and what the quality of our lives will be.