5/10/2006 4:00:00 AM Taking action Teen takes action for HIV/AIDS
Courier/Les Stukenberg
Michaela McShane poses in the Teenage Pregnancy Prevention office with some of her artwork that has gone into notepads, greeting cards and posters. The proceeds of the sales of the items will go to Northland Cares an HIV/Aids Support Clinic.
By HILARY DARTT The Daily Courier
PRESCOTT Michaela McShane has set out to spread the message that HIV and AIDS can affect anyone even in America.
As part of Teenage Pregnancy Prevention's (TAPP) Teens Taking Action program, Michaela, a 17-year-old junior at Prescott High School, created four HIV- and AIDS-related paintings that now decorate note cards, notepads, posters and postcards.
On World AIDS Day, Michaela said during an interview Monday, she worked an AIDS booth at a school event.
"I talked to a lot of kids about AIDS, and I realized that many of them didn't know; they thought it's something that only happens in Africa," she said, adding, "I thought, 'Wow, that's got to get out there.'"
In December, she began the four acrylic-on-canvas paintings. They combine bright colors with startling statistics.
Each painting features a different phrase: "Visualize a Cure," "Time is Running Out," "HIV Can Infect Anyone" and "Face It."
Statistics, written in black, include: In America, HIV infects one teen every hour; worldwide, that's one teen every 15 seconds; 37.8 million people throughout the world have HIV or AIDS; 12.1 million of them are younger than 25 and 15 million children are orphans because of AIDS.
Throughout the process, Michaela said, "I really started to care about the issue."
She said of the project, "It definitely opened my eyes, and hopefully it will get the message out to other people."
Diane DeLong, program coordinator for the Catholic Charities' TAPP, said the organization paid to have Michaela's paintings transposed onto the notepads, note cards, posters and postcards.
TAPP will accept donations for the items, and proceeds will benefit Northland Cares, Prescott's HIV/AIDS clinic.
"We wanted to make these things useful so people would have a daily reminder of this message," she said.
Northland Cares will auction off three of the original paintings at a May 21 auction (it takes place from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Hotel St. Michael).
Michaela said she feels good about promoting a cause she believes in, especially because she's doing that through something she loves to do painting.
Jessica Whalen, a health educator with TAPP and leader of the Teens Taking Action program, said Michaela's project also has an unlimited shelf life. TAPP can continue to sell the items with Michaela's paintings on them and continue to get the message into the community.
Although Michaela said the paintings were a lot of work, especially with the added concern about making them look good for the community-wide duplication they were destined for, she said it's neat to see her work on actual products.
