Gulfport, FL – Brenda McMahon Gallery is celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Month and National Women’s Small Business Month this October with a themed celebration during Gulfport’s First Friday Art Walk that lasts throughout the month. The themed event, Women on the Rise – Watch Us Soar!, takes place on October 7th from 5-9pm and celebrates the achievements of women in small business and breast cancer warriors.
Gallery owner Brenda McMahon, who along with glass artist Susan Gott came up with the idea for the event, said: “Watch Us Soar! occurs during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and National Women’s Small Business Month, and we thought it a perfect way to celebrate women artists, business owners and breast cancer warriors. Our Gallery represents 20 regional artists, 16 of whom are women, and we want to celebrate each of their unique contributions.’
To honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Gallery’s Artist of the Month Susan Gott will partner with the Gallery to raise funds for women’s wellness. Gott has created a line of hand-blown glass ‘pink pumpkins’ for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and is donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of these pink pumpkins to the Sonia Plotnick Women’s Health Fund. McMahon, along with several other Gallery artists, are also donating a percentage of their art sales throughout the month to the organization, who will be set up outside of the Gallery during Watch us Soar!
During the event, BMG will honor another Gulfport female artist and entrepreneur as well, trumpeter Lindy Romez. Lindy is a musician and yogi, and she is on a mission to help bring mindfulness into people’s lives as a way to promote healing through her not-for profit-business, Calm One.
Said James Briggs, founder of Carroway + Rose and Vice-President of the Gulfport Merchants Chamber of Commerce: “Both Brenda and Lindy’s tireless and creative efforts in the community are an inspiration to all of us who aim to run a successful business that gives back to the community. It’s going to be a great celebration of the female spirit in Gulfport during the Watch Us Soar! themed Art Walk and throughout the month at the Gallery.”
###
About the organizations:
The Sonia Plotnick Health Fund provides financing to pay for women’s mammograms and breast cancer treatments as well as many other overall healthcare needs. The SPHF, named after Gulfport resident and lesbian activist Phyllis Plotnick’s mother who died of breast cancer in 1964, was established in 1997 and has served over 1,000 women and provided
more than $220,000 in healthcare grants to women.
Calm One, Inc is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded by former 82nd Airborne Division soldier and yogi, Lindy Romez (Jaya Devi) in 2019. It was originally inspired by the high rate of suicide amongst veterans and the increased awareness of the mental health crisis that exists within all demographics. Calm One offers guided meditations and tools that can help support anyone suffering from any kind of dis-ease in the mind and body complex through the practice of mindfulness. Visit www.calmone.org.