NEWS

Emily’s out to change the world through art and design

Making_a_Difference_columnEmily Boros-Rausch is a 21-year-old, fourth-year student at OCAD University. Her thesis is on medical textiles. An epidermolysis bullosa sufferer herself, she wants to design clothing with additional padding built in to the bandaging and clothing that will help to prevent injury for EB patients.

Here is her inspirational story.

Emily was born with the rare genetic skin disorder, which affects skin elasticity and causes skin to blister at the slightest touch. Because the risk of injury is very high with EB patients, Emily focused all of her energy on art instead of playing sports.

Inspired by other people she’d seen with more severe cases than her own, the Bayview and Eglinton area resident started fundraising for EB research and to raise awareness when she was only 10. She started by writing school articles and created artwork and jewellery, and her foray into fundraising mushroomed from there.

Art and activism play a large role in Emily’s life. It has taken her to Honduras, to work on a community mural at an orphanage, to Africa, where she helped in building a public school, and most recently to India, on a design exchange through OCAD University.

She has developed a greeting card business, Greets and Giggles, that produces handmade watercolour cards and, in turn, created Cards for a Cause, through which a third of the proceeds of these cards go to five different non-profits close to her heart.

Emily’s cards are sold online at www.artsbyemily.com or through Elle Hardware, at 695 Queen St. West.

Emily says she wants to design something that was not available to her when she was younger, and something that will “make a difference” in other people’s lives. Since EB is rare, not enough time or money is put into the necessary research for EB design, she feels. Emily believes art and design can change the world, and she wants to be part of that change.

Cheryl Bower, a midtown realtor for more than 30 years, tells stories of how she has been inspired by people and organizations she has met along the way.