Bravo for BRAvo

A bra made of pop-top tabs looked like chain mail and one covered with pennies looked like armor. A bra called "Safety Ore Bust" was made of hard hats, while a bra made of glass was called "Fragile--Handle with Care."

The BRAvo art challenge (read about it here) inspired creative people to pursue a safety theme, encouraging women to protect their, um, assets. Another common theme was hope--for a cure for breast cancer or for survival for sufferers. Bras were decorated in memory of women who had died of the disease or in honor of others who survive. An animal-print bra embellished with dog bones was titled "Fetch a Cure," and a bra covered with pink Hershey's Kisses was called "Kisses for the Cure." An elaborate feathered bra surmounted by a delicate stuffed doll was called "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" and accompanied by the Emily Dickinson poem.

The decorated bras at the BRAvo opening were impressive, but I was even more impressed by the number of people who came out on a rainy Friday night to look at bras, listen to terrific music, eat good food (including a bra-shaped cake!), and raise money for breast cancer research. My cancer-kicking posse was out in force, including the physician's assistant whose insistence that I get further testing probably saved my life and my cheerful oncologist and his lovely wife, the creative mind behind "Mind Your Melons." Friends and colleagues and cancer survivors crowded the gallery, while presiding over the event was my former student, Joy Frank-Collins, whose inspiration brought all these people together to gawk at bras both bizarre and beautiful.

Cancer is an ugly disease, but when the desire for a cure brings together so many talented people devoted to hope and safety--well, it's a thing of beauty.