ArtPrize: “Face It Together”

By Justin Tiemeyer - Contributing Writer

9/22/2024

“Face It Together” is a digital mosaic on display at the Amway Grand Plaza’s Pantlind Tower commemorating those who have uploaded their photos via the FaceFunding platform. Funds raised through the “Face It Together” initiative benefit the New Day Foundation for Families, which identifies families with a new cancer diagnosis that will reach financial toxicity during treatment and awards immediate grants for treatment, mortgage payments, car payments, utilities, and the like.

Though on display during ArtPrize and gifted some prime real estate in terms of venue, “Face It Together” is not an official entry, it has no number assigned to it, and you cannot vote for it to win ArtPrize. Rather, the folks at New Day Foundation for Families and Face Funding saw ArtPrize 2024 as a great opportunity to raise funds for people during one of the scariest parts of a cancer journey. Lowell resident Jesse Johnson-Brower represents FaceFunding, the platform that made this digital mosaic possible.

“It’s not just about raising money,” Johnson-Brower said. “It’s about showing real support and connection to those fighting cancer.”

Hence, “Face It Together,” a title that sums up the need for community when one is on a cancer journey. With a suggested donation of $10, anyone can upload a photo at facefunding.com, a picture of yourself, someone you support, or simply a favorite image. All of these funds go to the New Day Foundation for Families, broadening the concept of community from close friends and family to anyone in the world with an internet connection and some funds set aside to help someone else through a difficult time.

It is challenging to pinpoint and credit one artist or even a couple of artists responsible for “Face It Together.” It is a bit easier to come up with a list of suspects:

First and foremost, there is Kristie Hollingsworth, a former ArtPrize organizer who was diagnosed with breast cancer in August of 2022. Following a full mastectomy, Hollingsworth was committed to the idea that something good would come from her experience. Without Hollingsworth’s experience with breast cancer, “Face It Together” may never have come to be.

This is where Jesse Johnson-Brower came in. Along with Jeremy Burgin, Jay Irwin, and John Pottenger, he founded FaceFunding, which crowdfunds important nonprofit ventures using the power of selfies (and donations, too, of course). Without Johnson-Brower and company developing the framework for donors to upload their photos, there is no photo mosaic in the lobby of the Amway Grand Plaza.

“As a co-founder of FaceFunding,” Johnson-Brower said, “our mission was to infuse this emotional depth into fundraising. Through our platform, we enable individuals not just to raise funds, but to visibly show support. There’s something incredibly powerful about looking directly into the eyes of someone who stands behind you, especially during life’s toughest challenges.”

Then there is Catlin Whitington, current executive director of ArtPrize. Hollingsworth knew Whitington was the one to design “Face It Together,” just as she knew that her breast cancer journey would bring about good in the world. No Whitington, no “Face It Together.”

Finally, there is no such thing as “Face It Together” without the thousands of selfies uploaded to facefunding.com. In other words, this is not Hollingsworth’s project, nor Johnson-Brower, et. al., nor even Whitington’s, as important as all of these people have been, nor is it the sole work of FaceFunding or the New Day Foundation for Families. True to the idea behind “Face It Together,” the photo mosaic could not have been created without somewhere between one and ten cities worth of people; to say “it takes a village” would be an understatement.

“Unlike typical entries, our goal isn’t to compete for a prize but to raise funds and awareness,” Johnson-Brower said. “Ironically, despite being in the running for any official prizes, we’ve received incredible feedback and have been unofficially ranked among the top exhibits at ArtPrize.”

One criticism ArtPrize has faced in the past is that it brings droves of people to downtown Grand Rapids to enjoy art, but it does nothing for the people already there living on the streets and struggling to fund the basics of life. According to a 2022 KFF Health News investigation in association with NPR and CBS news, 41% of adults are saddled with medical debt, and one and five of those saddled with debt (about 8% of the adult population of the United States) have been forced to change their living situation, including homelessness, as a result. “Face It Together” links the aesthetic and the ethical by drawing in art lovers and soliciting their support to tackle the financial issues associated with a cancer diagnosis, issues that regularly drive families to lose their homes.

Those interested in donating to the emergent financial support efforts of New Day Foundation for Families through the “Face It Together” initiative may do so via the website facefunding.com. To see the powerful results of donors working together to help fellow community members during the scariest time of their lives, check out the “Face It Together” mosaic at the Amway Grand Plaza’s Pantlind Tower.