Butchered Artwork Speaks Volumes Against Domestic Violence

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by: Michelle Major
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Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2010 Time: 2:50 PM

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April 12, 2010. Artist, Michelle Johnson Major, to display artwork butchered in an act of domestic violence at upcoming Amnesty International Human Rights Art Festival.

Michelle Johnson Major is no longer a victim. She is a survivor who is speaking out against violent crime. After an abusive husband butchered ninety-four of her paintings and then attempted to murder her, she found herself taking on the role of an advocate using her artwork to provide courage, hope and healing.

Her face was cut out of photographs and nearly one hundred paintings were slashed with a butcher knife before Major’s husband strangled her to unconsciousness and left her for dead in her hallway floor on August 10, 2008. Her paintings following the attack were gruesome and tortured visual representations of what domestic violence feels like to a victim. Yet her artwork became a source of personal healing and she realized her art had become a tool that could reach and teach others about the true definition of violence.

Michelle Major developed Be A Voice Arts. BAVA is her work and her story of moving from victim to one of courage, hope, and survival. She will be presenting at the Amnesty International’s Human Rights Festival held in Silver Springs, Maryland April 23-25^th. In addition to showing her artwork, Major will be discussing her role as co-founder and artist of the International Domestic Violence Memorial. She will also be unveiling a nationwide collaborative art project called The Wedding Voice.

On April 24, Major will be participating in an educational conference open to the public and press. This conference brings together eight women working with tremendous courage to raise awareness of this national epidemic. All of them are participants in the Amnesty Festival with their own arts/advocacy work, but will be coming together here to share their stories and answer questions. Although in many cases these women have suffered domestic or sexual abuse, they have turned the pain of that experience into the quest to educate and heal the general society, through outreach, advocacy and searing honesty. Each participant will spend about 10-15 minutes discussing their story and work, and then the conversation will be opened to the audience.

Michelle Johnson Major has risen above being a victim of domestic violence to become an advocate for other victims of violent crime. Instead of remaining a victim of a violent crime, she has developed an organization to help other victims heal. She has been called a courageous hero, an inspiration to others, and a powerful woman; all in contrast to being deemed weak, pathetic, and worthless by the husband that tried to murder her. Rising from the ashes of a nightmare marriage, to become a voice of hope for others and leading a thriving life is Major's story.

www.prsurvival.com