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A Pasadena-based artist has spent this year using her pencils and paintbrushes to fight cancer, donating 100% of proceeds from art sales in 2020 to the American Cancer Society.
AM Studio LLC founder and CEO Alia Manetta says she has four passions: “art, science, philanthropy and business.”
In teaming with the ACS’ ResearcHERS campaign, which encourages women everywhere to take up the fight against cancer, she says she’s found a way to combine all four for a worthy cause.
Throughout 2020, Manetta donated her talent, “creating a large variety of different custom art pieces ranging from small drawings to murals to paintings, where 100% — not 5%, not 10% but 100% — of the proceeds would be donated to the American Cancer Society ResearcHERS movement, which is a movement that funds oncology grant funding,” she said.
The pieces have ranged from small drawings to murals.
The local community showed strong support for the project, she said.
“A lot of the Pasadena residents that I’ve met over the years have been a part of the charity campaign by purchasing art,” according to Manetta said.
The vast majority of the artworks are custom commissioned pieces.
Some of them reflect the stories of cancer survivors or pay tribute to those lost to the disease, she said. Others are commissioned by art lovers with no personal connection to cancer, but who want to contribute to the cause.
“We even had an entrepreneur reach out who was starting an ice cream shop,” Manetta said. “And he had us do a piece for his new ice cream shop that basically was a rendition of Huckleberry Finn milking a cow, where the milk that came out was his ice cream. And it’s framed now in his shop.”
Now more than ever, it’s vital to support those struggling with cancer and those working to cure it, she said.
“With this COVID pandemic, life can be hard in so many ways, but really, any cancer patient goes through so much.They already have so much to deal with, and add a pandemic on top of it,” she said. “I really believe that we have a better world because of [ACS]staff, our board, people who donate, people get involved; and together, we’re imagining a world free from cancer and helping make that a reality.”
“Cancer hasn’t stopped during this pandemic, and neither have we,” Manetta said. “I’m really, really thrilled to be a part of this and excited to get in touch with anyone else who also wants to be a part of this journey with us.”
Donations to the AM Studio fundraising campaign for the ACS can be made online at https://secure.acsevents.org/
More information on Manetta and AM Studio LLC is available online at https://www.aliamanetta.com/
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