By Zach Collier
Early this week, celebrated Utah artist Mary Brickey was injured in a traumatic motorcycle accident when her brakes failed and she was thrown down a ravine. Although she lost her right leg from the knee down, her daughter Rachel says that she is in good spirits and suffered relatively minor injuries otherwise.
Brickey was the project manager for the team of artists that created the mural for the Latter-day Saint Rome Temple Visitor Center with her brother, Joseph Brickey. She has also won a spate of awards recently: The Zion Art Society Award for excellence in a new medium; Dialogue‘s Award of Excellence at the Certain Women Art Show; a full tuition scholarship to the Portrait Society of America Convention; and the Purchase Award at the Institute of Classical Art and Architecture Gala, just to name a few. Brickey works primarily with figurative subject matter, in oils and stained glass. She is passionate about advocating for and empowering women and marginalized parts of society.
The local art community is rallying around Brickey, with artists like Shari Lyon and Writ & Vision’s Esther Hi’ilani Candari and Brad Kramer stepping up to support her through fundraising efforts. Yesterday they announced an urgent call for submissions. Writ & Vision is holding an art show on November 4th at 6 PM in person and online, where all proceeds will go to Mary and her family. They are looking specifically for originals, art prints, or other handmade objects.
If you are an artist with work to give, submissions are due before November 4th at 10 AM. You can drop off your work at Writ & Vision, located at 274 W Center Street in Provo. Call 808-726-1006 beforehand to arrange a drop off time. For more information, email esther@writandvision.com.
“We are so grateful that our mom is still alive, and truly believe that this was the best possible outcome that could’ve happened,” says her daughter, Rachel. “There were so many people there within minutes that we know played a huge role in saving her life. Total strangers who we are eternally grateful for.”
For those who may not create art in physical mediums but would like to help, her family has organized a GoFundMe. You can donate here. You can watch her process for creating stained glass art below.
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