Over the next several weeks, we are excited to feature the artwork alongside excerpts of the stories from the thirteen families that participated in our 2021 Give Grief a Voice cohort.
The Give Grief a Voice project provides families who have lost a young child an artistic representation of their child’s life. A professional writer interviews the child’s family in order to ghostwrite the child’s story. Then, a commissioned artist turns the words of the story into a piece of art that the family keeps.
Buzzy’s Bees fundraises to cover all costs for writing and art – there is no charge to participating families. Both the writers and artists are paid per story.
If you have suddenly or unexpectedly lost a young child (stillbirth – 12yo) and are interested in participating, please fill out an application here. If you are a writer or artist interested in being a part of the program, contact Kelly Tilford at kelly@buzzysbees.com. You can donate to the project here and see photos from the event we hosted for the families here.
Artist: Lea K. Tawd
Acrylic on wood panel, 24 x 18 inches
“I didn’t want to take any photos without Bella, but my friends insisted. In the photo I am standing next to my son who has the biggest smile on his face and my hair is blowing in the wind. The beach is behind us and the sun is above. And somehow in the sunshine, there is an outline of Bella with a sunbeam shining down on my face. There is no other explanation, Bella wanted to be in that photo with us. She’s always with us.”
– Bella‘s Mom
