Breakthrough T1D

BREAK THROUGH T1D

In spring 2025, I partnered with the Greater Delaware Valley Chapter of Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) to lead a collaborative youth art project for their annual gala. This initiative grew out of a shared experience—like me, Rachel Jaffe, the gala auction staff lead, lives with Type 1 diabetes. After she learned about my work through Gravers Lane Gallery, Jaffe connected with me, inspired by my Islet Series and my approach to transforming the personal realities of diabetes into compelling works of art.

 Each year, the gala highlights a children’s art project, auctioning a piece created by T1D Youth Ambassadors and a volunteer artist. For 2025, I wanted to bring a new, significant dimension to this tradition by inviting participating youth to become true collaborators in both concept and material.

 Drawing directly from my Islet Series, I designed three pendants. The project unfolded at Tyler’s Metals/Jewelry/CAD-CAM studio, supported by my students. The process began with each child bringing in their used continuous glucose monitor (CGM) sensors. Over several months, the youth ambassadors diligently collected their used CGMs, and together, in a cathartic and communal act, we carefully extracted the thin platinum subdermal probes from their sensors. We then melted down these fragments in a crucible, alloyed them with several ounces of sterling silver, and cast the final pendants, transforming the raw materials of their daily management of T1D into lasting, symbolic objects of beauty and resilience.

 This approach parallels my broader artistic process. The children’s physical sensors—objects that are usually discarded, have become a powerful, collective material archive of resilience, community, and shared narrative. The project was not just technical but deeply personal: youth ambassadors, Breakthrough staff, and my Tyler students collaborated at every stage. I led the group through studio safety and creative exercises, offering insight into how wearable art can serve as a vessel for identity and empowerment.

In May 2025, the Islet | Pendant project culminated in a moment I will never forget: the youth ambassadors took the stage to present our collaborative work at Breakthrough’s annual gala. Watching them stand before an audience of their families, fellow diabetics, and supporters, sharing not only the finished pendants, but also the story behind their creation, was deeply moving. Their voices carried the spirit of the project—the months spent collecting CGMs, the cathartic act of transforming their daily medical devices into precious metal, and the sense of shared experience and pride that blossomed in the studio. For many in the audience, it was the first time seeing the resilience and creativity of young people with Type 1 diabetes honored so visibly and so publicly.

Seeing the youth ambassadors confidently explain their roles as artists, collaborators, and storytellers was a profound affirmation of what I hoped this project could achieve. Their presentation brought the process full circle, transforming what could have been a private or clinical narrative into one of collective empowerment and celebration. For me, standing alongside them and their families, I felt not just pride in the artwork, but deep gratitude for the opportunity to connect with a new generation of diabetics, their caregivers, and the wider community.

This project has left a lasting mark on my practice, deepening my respect for the resilience of the T1D community and reinforcing my belief in the power of art to create meaning, foster connection, and spark dialogue. More than anything, this experience gave me the chance to openly share my identity as a diabetic, my inspiration as an artist, and my passion as an educator with a group of children just beginning their own journeys with this disease. For many of these young people, diabetes can often feel invisible, intangible, or even isolating. Through this project, I hoped to offer them not only a way to transform the physical remnants of their daily management into something beautiful and enduring, but also a set of creative and emotional tools to help them reframe and process their experience. By turning something as clinical as a CGM sensor into a cherished piece of jewelry, we made the invisible visible, and the individual experience became a shared experience.

I am grateful to have shared in this transformative experience, and I hope that, in some small way, this project might inspire these young ambassadors to see their diagnosis as a source of strength, creativity, and connection. Ultimately, I want them to know that even the most intangible challenges can become tangible achievements—and that their stories are worth sharing.